Discernment

I met with Fr. Bowen today. We discussed among other things the priesthood and where I should go from here. I thought it was a very productive meeting. He gave me some good advice, promised to make some calls for me to the vocations office to see about upcoming events. In the end he gave me a copy of JP2's crosier and a free copy of the may issue of the Magnificat (mini liturgy of the hours). One thing he said has really stuck out in my mind, he said that there hadn't been a vocation from his parish in a really long time. The parish is huge and fairly traditional. I can't understand why there has not been one single priestly candidate from their in recent years. The state of the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Baltimore gets worse if you look at the figures, only 199 priests in a Archdiocese with 500,000 laity. Its hard to believe that so many large parishes have only a single priest. A reduced number of priests leads to less interactions with the laity and an impression that priests are just there to be sacrament machines. Priests are the Church's front line soldiers and their role is of the utmost importance. I continue to pray everyday and to look for guidance from God's word on how I should best serve the Church and God's heavenly kingdom. Either way I still have over a year to discern my calling, while I study in nursing school.