"What Lay People Are Looking for from Their Priests," Part III

The third installment of my recent talk to the priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati ...

3.     We need you to challenge us with the universal call to holiness.

One of my biggest linguistic pet peeves is when people ask the question, “Do you have a vocation?”  Of course, they mean, is the Lord calling you to the priesthood or to religious life?  But in reality every person has a vocation – first to love, to holiness, and then in a specified way to marriage, to priesthood or to consecrated life.

I wonder how many lay people actually know and understand this.  As lay people, we need to be challenged to live our lives radically united to Christ and His Church.  We need to be encouraged to give ourselves fully.  We need to be challenged to study our faith, to understand our faith, to grow in our faith.  We need to know that much is at stake for ourselves, for our families, for our society in our choice to surrender all to God and receive His call to holiness.  We need to receive ongoing support – challenging and loving support – in our journey with Christ.  We need to see the complementarity between the laity and the priesthood.