CHARLOTTE — This Nov. 3-9 marks the annual celebration of National Vocations Awareness Week across the United States. The week is dedicated to promoting vocations of priests, deacons and consecrated men and women religious (nuns and brothers) through prayer and education. It’s also a time to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these vocations, which is particularly important for families of young adults.
“The influence of parents and grandparents can be so crucial in encouraging young men and women to discern a vocation,” said Father Brian Becker, vocations promoter with the Diocese of Charlotte and first-year program director at St. Joseph College Seminary. “First and foremost, the constant prayers and sacrifices of parents bear so much fruit for their children.”
Father Becker notes that parents and grandparents should never underestimate the impact of their encouragement. “So many young men and women that I speak with cite their parent’s explicit encouragement of vocational discernment as a help to them in finding God’s will. Many parents think, ‘Well, my son knows that I would be very happy if he entered seminary.’ But in fact, many young men and women need to hear this said again and again by their parents, to overcome the fears that they have of following God in this path. Don’t be afraid to give your children some extra encouragement!”
Currently, the Diocese of Charlotte has 46 seminarians discerning a call to the priesthood.
National Vocations Awareness Week began in 1976 when the U.S. bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the liturgical year for special recognition of those discerning vocations. In 2014, it was moved to the first full week of November.
Prayer for vocations
God our Father, we thank You for calling men and women to serve in Your Son’s Kingdom as priests, deacons and consecrated persons.
Send Your Holy Spirit to help others to respond generously and courageously to Your call.
May our community of faith support vocations of sacrificial love in our youth and young adults. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Vocation resources
If you or someone you know is contemplating a vocation, talk with your pastor, reach out to the diocese’s vocations promoter, read up on consecrated life and the various religious communities that exist, and contact communities that interest you. Many offer “come and see” days or retreats that are opportunities to learn more and meet others who have accepted God’s call to religious life.
For young men and women, there are summer discernment retreats offered by the Diocese of Charlotte and hosted at Belmont Abbey College: Quo Vadis Days for young men, and Duc in Altum for young women. Information about 2025 retreats is posted online at www.charlottediocese.org/vocations.
Diocesan Vocations Office
- Father Christopher Gober, Vocations Director: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- Father Brian Becker, Vocations Promoter: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
General information
- www.foryourvocation.org: Set up by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, dedicated to the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life for both men and women. They are also on Facebook and YouTube. There are resources for parents and teachers, questions to ask yourself if you feel God is calling you, videos of vocation stories from priests and religious all over the U.S., and more.
Considering becoming a deacon?
If you are interested in serving as a permanent deacon in the Charlotte diocese, visit www.charlottediocese.org/vocations/diaconate to learn more about who deacons are, what they do, and how to become one.
Ready to take the next step? Contact Deacon William Schreiber, formation director, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
I am often asked, especially by my college students, why I became a priest. I’d usually say: to serve and to save! And they’d say, “What?”
So I’d explain further: To serve God and to help save souls for the Kingdom! As easy as that sounds, it is quite deep and tough.
When I look back and remember how my priestly journey began in Lagos, Nigeria having worked briefly at a parish before becoming the Secretary to the Cardinal and the Archdiocesan Master of Ceremonies, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that someday I’d be ministering to parishioners and college students on the other side of the Atlantic, approximately 5,500 miles away from home. I guess it is part of the calling to serve and to save!
After my ordination and first Mass, the only thing that I could think about was how blessed I am. Yes indeed, God has been so good to me, and I am continually amazed at how the Lord has continued to bless me in ways that I never thought possible. Over the past few days, I have had the opportunity to look back and reflect on what this past twenty years have been like. I keep coming back to the sentence: “My heart is full of joy.”
Celebrating the sacraments with the people and for the people has been a cause of great joy for me. While working temporarily at a parish in the Archdiocese of New York while I did my graduate studies at Fordham University, and now journeying with college students in my current assignment, has been an immense blessing for me as I am continually energized when I see my young friends who are trying to work through a very difficult stage in life. There is a great zeal and heart in these students as they wrestle with life’s big questions and challenges and figure out how they can reflect Christ to the whole world. I am so Impressed and amazed with all they do on these campuses and for themselves. Again, my heart is full of joy. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen wrote, “A priest is not his own.” This phrase does not merely give reference to the ministerial life of a priest but to the joys and sorrows of his whole life. A priest is a public person and thus needs to be aware that a certain vulnerability is necessary for the life of the people to shape him and to help him grow as the man of God our Lord called him to be. I thank my students for helping to shape me into a better priest so I can continue to serve and to save!
Finally, thank you all for your prayers, your support, your sacrifice, and your love as you continue to inspire me to be the best priest that God has called me to be.
Know that you reflect the love of Christ and for that, my heart is full of joy.
Father Marcel Amadi is director of campus ministry at Wake Forest University.