Throughout the month of October, Whispers of the Spirit is going PINK for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Have you thought about donating your blog or website to going PINK for Breast Cancer Awareness Month?

Over the last several months, the contributors to Susurrationes Spiritus have been coming up with unique ways to reach those young people who are discerning the Lord’s call to Diocesan Priesthood. Until now, we have neglected to mention anything about religious orders, which has been a disservice to some. So, today, Susurrationes Spiritus expands its coverage to include vocations information for Religious Orders. In the near future, a new page will be added to the site to include contact information for various orders within the United States, including the Passionists, Dominicans, etc.

We cannot do this without your help! If you would like to help us in this endeavor by providing us with contact information for various religious orders, please email info@susurrationes.com.

From the Catholic New Agency:

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sep 17, 2009 / 10:27 am (CNA).- In an audience this morning with bishops visiting from Brazil, Pope Benedict XVI advised them on how to respond to the lack of priests, emphasizing that the shortage cannot be solved by having lay people substitute for the clergy.

The Holy Father began his address to the Brazilian prelates by pointing out the difference between the identity of priests and the laity. While the lay faithful share in the “common priesthood,” they are not ordained ministers of Christ and His Church. “Hence,” the Pope cautioned, “it is important to avoid the secularization of clergy and the ‘clericalization’ of the laity.”

Fulfilling the lay vocation, he explained, involves working to “give expression in real life – also through political commitment – to the Christian view of anthropology and the social doctrine of the Church.”

On the other hand, “priests must distance themselves from politics in order to favor the unity and communion of all the faithful, thus becoming a point of reference for everyone,” Benedict said.

When dioceses are faced with a lack of priests, the Pope emphasized that they should not resort to “a more active and abundant participation of the laity” since it could take away from their own calling.

“The truth is that the greater the faithful’s awareness of their own responsibilities within the Church, the clearer becomes the specific identity and inimitable role of the priest as pastor of the entire community, witness to the authenticity of the faith, and dispenser of the mysteries of salvation in the name of Christ the Head,” Benedict XVI stated.

“The function of the clergy is essential and irreplaceable in announcing the Word and celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist,” he insisted, saying that for this reason it is “vital to ask the Lord to send workers for His harvest; and it is necessary that priests express joy in their faithfulness to their identity.”

Looking to the future, the Pope made it clear that “the shortage of priests must not come to be considered as a normal or typical state of affairs.”

He exhorted the bishops resolve the crisis by combining efforts to “encourage new priestly vocations and find the pastors your dioceses need, helping one another so that all of you have better-trained and more numerous priests to support the life of faith and the apostolic mission.”

As the Church celebrates the Year for Priests and the 150th anniversary of the death of the “Cure of Ars,” Pope Benedict pointed to the French priest as a model for priests, “especially in living a life of celibacy as a requirement for the total giving of self.” This total gift of self is “expressed through that pastoral charity which Vatican Council II presents as the unifying center of a priest’s being and actions,” he reminded.

The Holy Father ended his address on a positive note, assuring the prelates that “many signs of hope” exist for the future of particular Churches. This future, he said is one that “God is preparing through the dedication and the faithfulness with which you exercise your episcopal ministry.”

From Zenit:

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, SEPT. 14, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A couple of years ago, when Benedict XVI visited with some students, two of them asked him a question that could have come from anyone, Catholic or non-Catholic alike.

They asked: “Is there someone or something by means of which we can become important? How is it possible to hope when reality negates every dream of happiness, every project of life?”

I think many people share these questions. The poor, the elderly, the sick, the immigrant, the stay-at-home parent or the 9-to-5 worker — nobody wants to be dispensable or to feel worthless or trapped. Unfortunately, many people feel that way in different areas of their life. And I think it’s a dangerous symptom that we can’t overlook. It’s a symptom that something about our culture is so unhealthy that its people lose hope.

But although the two students asked what seemed to be a secular question, the only good cure is returning to one’s original vocation: the call to love.

Often, when speaking about youth and the future of the Church, people bring up the “vocation crisis.” However, in order to respond to the crisis it is vital that we respond in a way that underscores the underlying sameness of the vocations.

However different each vocation is — priesthood, marriage, consecrated life — they each have the same goal. All are different manifestations of the vocation we all have in common: the vocation to love.

Each vocation requires a total gift of self. Each vocation endures for a lifetime. Each is a path on a journey by which we become more like God who is love. Each has a component that is loving toward each other, manifesting God’s love.

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you believe that the Lord is calling you to do something with your life to help build up the kingdom of God? Do you believe that calling is to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ? Here are a few words of advice.

Simply relax…just take a step and begin to get involved; start with your own parish. Become an active, participating member of your parish community, attending Mass and receiving the Eucharist frequently. Begin to fashion how you live your life according to the Beatitudes. All of us have our own extraordinary talents; share them with others.

Open up the conversation…talk to your pastor or a priest you feel comfortable with sharing the movements of your own heart and chat with them about what you are experiencing in your life. Join a prayer group that brings people who are experiencing something similar together so that you begin to see, you are not alone in your experiences.

Look for resources…many times, your Diocesan Vocations office website lists other sites that may be helpful for those discerning a call from the Lord. There are plenty of resources on the internet and support is available. Don’t be frightened to call the Vocations Office and speak with the Vocation Director. A phone conversation or talking over lunch does not mean that you are signing up for the seminary!

Finally, pray! Continue to bring your experience to prayer. Sit before the Blessed Sacrament and ask the Lord to show you what He wants you to do with your life. He will reveal the answer to you. However, it may take a little time, so do not get discouraged if you do not hear back from Him immediately. Everything happens in due time. Be patient.

For the next few posts, Whispers of the Spirit introduces a series on the role of the family in vocations. All vocations grow in silence. When young men are considering the priesthood, the first people they tell are their family members and the people they trust the most. It is the duty and responsibility of the family unit to support and encourage their children to follow the Lord’s call.

Ninth Day – Aug 4

St. John Vianney, Good and Holy Priest

O holy Priest of Ars, you lived in an age of much upheaval, in a time when men turned their backs on God. Your bishop told of a parish to which he wished to send you where there was no love. He assigned you to Ars and said that you would be the Priest who would enable the people to know the love of God. Not only did you draw these people back to God, but your saintly reputation soon spread and many people were converted to a life of holiness. You said that a good Priest, a Priest after Christ’s own heart is the greatest treasure that God can give a parish. Give us such Priests!

O great St. John Vianney, once again we are living in day of upheaval. There is much evil in the world. Obtain for our Priests the grace to persevere in faith and never to despair. May they walk with the Lord and trust in Him all the days of their lives. Obtain through your heavenly intercession, for each Priest the grace of modeling his life after that of Jesus Christ, that his people will know the love of God. More than ever the people need them to be able to bring the world to Christ. O great Priest of Ars, on this, your Feast Day, please pray for our Priests!

Recite the Novena Prayer.

Novena Prayer

O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served Him faithfully as His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never despaired but persevered in your faith until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that surround our Priests and intercede for them in all their needs and troubles especially console them in their most difficult moments, grant them serenity in the midst of crisis, and protect them from evil.

O St. John Vianney, Patron of Priests, I have confidence in your intercession. Please pray for us and our Priests! Please pray especially for the needs of Father(s) ____________ and for an increase in vocations to the Priesthood.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

(say 5x in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to receive a Partial Indulgence*)