Thursday, July 26, 2007

Catching up on reading ....

From the May 2007 Columbia Father Michael P. Orsi writes on vocations to the priesthood in America and the "priest shortage". I am not sure I agree with all his conclusions, but I want to quote one part in particular:

Who of us educated prior to Vatican II cannot recall daydreaming about being a priest like the ones we read about in our Catholic-edition history books or in the inspirational stories found in our Catholic readers? Who can ever deny the desire felt, if only for a moment, to becom a priest after an iteinerant vocation recruiter extolled the virtues and visions of his order's founder? All these experiences helped to define the priesthood, and inspired many to want to emulate such hallowed figures in their vocations.

Well, I didn't have the Catholic-edition history books or Catholic readers in my parish school-I was in school after Vatican II, and these books had been replaced. But we had these same tossed-aside books at home, and yes I can vividly recall these daydreams.

The same issue has Russell Shaw showing how dissent from Catholic moral teachings lowers human dignity. Mr. Shaw also takes on Daniel C. Maguire's (Marquette U) pamphlets which try to make the case for contraception, abortion, and same-sex marriage. If you can find a copy of the May issue, both articles are worth reading. Unfortunately neither are online.

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