This, in case you didn’t know, is National Vocations Awareness Week – specifically, the vocation for the priesthood.
It started Saturday and lasts until Jan. 14, according to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
This is an annual celebration to promote vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education. Parishes and schools are holding special events in and around Philly all week.
It’s a sensitive time for this topic. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is closing schools throughout the area after a Blue Ribbon Commission measured declining enrollment, and that same commission also pointed out a steady drop in the number of priests and religious faculty in our region – from 3,901 in 1960 to 282 in 2010.
So for anyone who has felt drawn toward this life, Saint Charles Seminary is hosting the Annual Gathering of Young Men on Friday, from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. – with a tour of the seminary, discussion with priests and seminarians and an Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament and Evening Prayer.
Sounds like a party.
The Vocations Office for the Diocesan Priesthood has more information.
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