By Fr. John Adamski

Several weeks have passed since my last appearance in this column. It’s been a busy time for vocation activities: weekend programs for young people, visits to seminaries, sessions with applicants, etc. This is the time of year when plans are being made for next fall. One effect of this recent activity has been my increasing awareness of the seriousness of young people who might be considering a vocation of service within the Church.

All too often in the past few years, the decline in numbers of young people interested in Church service has been ascribed to many reasons which related to the generosity and dedication of today’s young people. While that may be true in individual instances, my impression is that we may have been passing the buck. The CARA report released some weeks ago supports this feeling when it describes the lack of enthusiasm on the part of priests today as the principal reason for the drop in vocations during the past seven years.

Back to the questions of seriousness. Isn’t it possible that the adult Christian community, those who have made definite commitments for their lives, has not been serious enough about the value of the commitment? If priests, sisters and lay men and women do not seem to take their commitment to Christ seriously, how can we expect others to do so –especially when we’re asking them to give their whole lives? It may be too easy to become casual or routine, or even worse, apathetic, about commitments which we have made in our lives. If we each don’t take our vocation seriously how can we expect others to make serious commitments to the same style of life? Of course, we may insist that others, especially young people, are just misreading the signals and indicators which they pick up from us. Even if that is true at times, doesn’t it also tell us something about our need to communicate more effectively about things which are very important to us? The questions could continue on perhaps be a painful examination of conscience for many of us.

The great majority of young people with whom I’ve been recently are quite serious about their relationship with God. They appear quite determined to avoid the hypocrisy of acting as though there was substance where they may not be any. They seem interested in a very honest and genuine prayer life which may not develop without some very pointed and difficult questions about meaning, purpose, etc. These questions should challenge those of us who hope to share answers or, at least, directions. The lessons of our own experiences will probably be much more valuable than standard answers which may seem too removed from the practicalities of everyday life.

If we are making sincere efforts in our own lives to respond to God’s call, we should be ready and willing to share those efforts with young people—communicating in a way which they might be able to understand. I think that the history of the past ten years may show that we, both individuals and groups of Catholics, gave the impression of being very concerned with things like a change in language for worship, revision of Church ceremonies, etc. to the point of forgetting about the purpose of all these things.

These young people are also very serious about what they have to offer with their lives. They are concerned to be in a situation which gives them opportunities to use their own special talents, develop their interests, accomplish their goals of serving others. I think that the fathers of Vatican II pointed very clearly to the importance and purpose of ministry in today’s world. Perhaps many of us have not taken that direction as seriously as we might. If we, particularly priests and sisters, give the impression being underdeveloped personalities who are only interested in trivia, are we being serious about our responsibility to continue Jesus’ work in our world? How sincere are parents today in their Christian commitment and what sort of encouragement do they give their children regarding a vocation to the priesthood or religious life?

The Church as institution and we as individuals will need to continue genuine renewal efforts to make sure that we are in fact applying the principles of Jesus’ teaching to the most difficult and demanding issue of contemporary society.

Each day many of us see the signs of Christ’s presence in his people today. If we are serious about continuing the leadership role in our Church, we may need to develop our skill at communicating that seriousness more effectively. Of course, this doesn’t mean that our lives are without joy, peace and happiness in reasonable measure. Seriousness doesn’t mean being somber. It does demand an honest appreciation of the values and problems which do exist today in the dedication of a person’s life to the service of God’s people.