by Father Mitchel Zimmerman
Looking for a good job? We have some available!
Admittedly, the jobs offered through the vocation office have some unusual job requirements.
We blatantly discriminate against married folks, because Jesus himself was never married. We require lifelong celibacy. We put you through a battery of tests and interviews to determine your maturity and aptitude.
Finally, we require that you give some evidence that Jesus himself is asking you to apply for this job, that it is his will for your life. We have good jobs available. The priesthood is an amazing job, with benefits that are out of this world, as we like to say. Because of these unusual requirements, however, we are not flooded with applications.
A lot of people have asked me if the economic downturn will lead to more guys applying to the seminary. I honestly don’t know. Since a call to the priesthood is so different than other jobs, I don’t expect a direct jump in the number of applications for seminary simply because young men are having a hard time finding jobs.
What I do know is that circumstances that force us to trust more in God and less in ourselves give us a better chance of hearing what God has to say to us. Difficulties in our lives do make us stop and wonder if God is really close to us, if we can trust him, and if he might calling us in a different direction.
I pray that the times we are in might make it possible for a few more men to see signs that God is calling them to make a radical gift of themselves through the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
We will wait and see. I continue to invite all the young, unmarried men of the archdiocese, whether they have a great job or a crummy job or no job, to make it a priority in their personal prayer to be more open to the calling of the priesthood. Not only is it a recession-proof career, with benefits in this world and in the world to come, but it is a special invitation from the Lord to teach others how to store up for themselves treasure in heaven and, what is more, to live a life yourself that bears fruit that will last forever.
I can’t promise that the application process will be easy. Jesus, through his church, asks a lot of his priests. Yet he is never outdone in generosity.
Come and see! Be in touch with the vocation office by visiting our Web site at: www.kckvocations.com.
