I have mentioned before that I have an unusually vivid memory for odd things. If I could remember theological and formational information the way I remember movie quotes and song lyrics, I would no doubt be a professor somewhere. But such is not the case, sadly. However, I was recently thinking back to a conversation I had when I was still in college, and what a fool it ultimately made me seem, given the way my life has panned out.

I remember walking home from class one day as a senior in college when my mom called to tell me that a new coadjutor bishop had just been named for
Cincinnati. She couldn’t remember the exact details, but the reason she called was because apparently, he was coming from a small Midwestern diocese with far fewer Catholics but significantly more seminarians than Cincinnati. We spoke briefly about that good news, and I distinctly remember saying something along the lines of “Great, we could certainly use more good priests.” Shortly thereafter I hung up, probably assuming that our conversation would have little to no impact on my future plans. Less than three years later
I was in seminary under that very same Archbishop, and less than ten years later I found myself a pastor.
 
How often that is the case for many people. We recognize the importance of the work that must be done around us, or we see so clearly that God is calling people from our midst to do His work, but we miss the fact that He might be calling us. I was strongly in favor of having more young men say yes to God’s call, but it never dawned on me that I might actually be one of those being called. Likewise we hear in the Gospel, year-in and year-out, Jesus’ calls to action. “I am making you fishers of men.” “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few.” “Go therefore, and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” But it’s easy to convince ourselves that God is speaking to other people, not us.
 
I am completely convinced of the fact that the treasures of the Church, the treasures of our Faith,are the greatest gifts we can possibly have in life,
both this life and the next. Because of that conviction, I believe that we should stop at nothing to build up a culture where we are so in love with the faith that we can’t help but share it with others. To take a few concrete steps towards this mentality, I would like to  introduce to our parish two specific habits of prayer. Prayer, after all, is the foundation for what more than doubled the number of seminarians for the Archdiocese in the last ten years. At the conclusion of Masses in our region, after the prayer after communion, I want us to start praying the Amazing Parish prayer that can be found on the new prayer cards in the pew. My hope is that it will stir up the Spirit in our hearts so that the work of renewing the Church can take hold. Secondly, I want us to start praying the Angelus together as a parish. All over the world, at 6:00 am, Noon, and 6:00 pm, people pray three Hail Mary’s in remembrance of Mary’s “Yes” to God’s plan of salvation. We will have prayer cards printed for this purpose soon so you can take it home with you, but there’s no reason why we can’t start now.
 
If we are to see God’s plan for our lives and our parish community, we must always start with prayer. May the Holy Spirit stir up the grace of perseverance in prayer in each one of us, so that we can watch faithfully with Our Lord, and respond joyfully to His call.
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McC
  Heavenly Father, We thank you for gathering us together and calling us to serve as your disciples. You have charged us through Your Son, Jesus, with the great mission of evangelizing and witnessing your love to the world. Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern Your will for the spiritual
renewal of our parish. Give us strength, courage, and clear vision as we use our gifts to serve You. We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother, and ask for her intercession and guidance as we strive to bear witness to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.