When Archbishop Miller appointed me the Vocation Director of the Archdiocese of Vancouver in April 2019, a priest friend joked by saying, “Congratulations on becoming the Vacation Director!”
I indeed have flexible hours, as I get to decide how I want to spend my time. The difficulty is that I seldom have any hours to spare.
I did not know what to expect as I began my new role. Would it be like being a salesperson, trying to “sell” the idea of the priesthood as a viable career option to potential prospects?
Would it be like being a customer service representative, handling inquiries and addressing concerns to allay the fears and doubts of discerners?
Or would it be like being a handyman, fixing problems and making upgrades to the various formation programs for seminarians?
I would say there is a bit of truth in all of these comparisons. But after having been in this role for the last six months, it has become clear to me that the work of vocations is properly a ministry and that my role as the Vocation Director is to minister to a particular group of people with a special calling from God.
Knowing that the priestly vocation comes from God, I do not try to persuade young men to enter seminary but to ask themselves the question, “Is God calling me to the priesthood?”
I do not try to downplay the demands of being a pastor but to remind the discerners that the first priests Jesus chose were simple fishermen.
I do not try to mould seminarians into a certain model but to maximize their freedom to be the disciples the Lord wants them to be.
And the Lord is calling. I have been visiting high schools to have “‘Vocations Lunch” meetings with a pre-selected group of students who are faith leaders in their school community. At every meeting, I have asked them, “Have you ever felt a calling to the priesthood?” Without fail, some hands would go up – as many as seven in one school.
I facilitate a monthly gathering for adult discerners who have felt a calling to the priesthood. This invitation-only group has grown from six men to 13 in the last six months. Another discernment group called “Come Follow Me” under the leadership of Deacon Greg Barcelon includes four young men, bringing the total number of engaged discerners in Vancouver to 17.
Ten senior seminarians spent the last week at St. Anthony of Padua Church, learning about parish renewal through the Divine Renovation Network. God-willing, they will be ordained priests within the next four years and help build missional communities. Seven seminarians are harnessing their missionary impulse by planning to go on mission trips this summer to Yukon, New York City, and Vietnam.
As their vocation director, I am continually edified by these men’s sincere desire to give all of themselves to Our Lord in the ministerial priesthood. Each of them is precious. Each of them has so much potential to do so much good in the Kingdom of God.
Despite the general crisis of manhood in our society and the ecclesial crisis of clerical sexual abuse, I remain hopeful that Jesus will continue to inspire good men to follow him and to feed his flock in our archdiocese. I would like to humbly ask the faithful of the Archdiocese of Vancouver to join me in praying for the seminarians and the discerners during Lent so that they may configure themselves to Christ our Saviour ever more deeply.
Father Paul Goo is Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Vancouver. He can be reached at pgoo@rcav.org.
