Vocation shortage? There’s no such thing.

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 11, 2024

Let’s stop talking about a “shortage of vocations” in the Catholic Church. There’s no such thing.

A vocation is a calling from God. Unless we plan to second-guess the Almighty, we should be confident that God knows exactly how many priests and religious the Church needs. He is calling exactly the right number of young men and women to the priesthood and religious life.

Yet most Catholics agree that we are experiencing a shortage of priests, a shortage of male and female religious. Certainly there are fewer priests and religious, relative to the Catholic population, especially in the Western world. There are two possible explanations for this fact:

1) God in his infinite wisdom knows that the Church today does not need as many priests and religious, for reasons that we do not understand. If that is the case we should stop complaining and trust in Providence. But it seems unlikely. Doesn’t the Lord want his Church to grow? Doesn’t growth require more priests to administer the sacraments, more religious to instruct the children?

2) God is calling many more young men and women, but they are:

• not listening for the call, or
• not recognizing the call, or
• not responding generously to the call, or
• not being encouraged to respond, or
• all of the above.

We can address all of these problems:

• first by praying—not for vocations, but for appropriate responses to the vocational calls;
• then by teaching young people how to listen—a skill that is sometimes lost in this era of constant stimulation by cell phones and social media;
• next by introducing young people to intelligent, faithful priests and religious who can serve as role models as well as answering questions;
• finally by promoting the understanding that we all hear God’s calls on a regular basis—that we all have “vocations” to answer every day, not just in choosing a state in life but in fulfilling the demands of our particular circumstances every day.

When a priest or a nun is asked when he or she began thinking seriously about a vocation, the answer is often disarmingly simple: when someone asked. (“Have you thought about becoming a priest?” “Have you considered entering a convent?”) So if you wonder about a young person’s future, and sense an interest, ask the question!

And speaking of asking the question…

Am I alone in noticing that an awful lot of young and faithful Catholics remain unmarried? Too many energetic, attractive, and eminently marriageable young Catholics enjoy active social lives, but remain stuck in the “friend zone.” They meet regularly in groups, and have fun together, but few romances blossom. Repelled by the excesses of the pick-up bars and the hook-up culture, they do not date. That reaction is understandable, even laudable. But in every generation until now, God has called most young people to a vocation in marriage. Or rather, to be more accurate, God has called Jack to Jill, and Jill to Jack. Are they still listening, or has God’s call been lost in the background noise of the singles bars?

Again our society—and especially our Church community—must help young people learn to listen, and to act on the call when they hear it.

A friend of mine, the pastor in a parish with a large population of young singles, mentioned his frustration with the young men who would cluster around him after Sunday Mass, to talk about saddleback chasuables and Scripture translations, leaving a group of pretty young ladies unattended nearby. The head of a Catholic media outlet spoke with disdain about “all those wonderful Catholic bachelors who get together on Saturday nights to drink beer and discuss social encyclicals.” I myself lost my patience when, at a wedding reception, three different fellows asked me for background information about a particularly lovely bridesmaid. If you’re interested in her, I asked, why are you talking to me?

You want to play the part of the traditional Catholic male? Great. Be a man. Talk to the girl. Ask the question!