Reflections by Father Daniel Mahan
The following texts are excerpts from the book More than Silver or Gold: Homilies of a Stewardship Priest, by Father Daniel J. Mahan, a priest of our archdiocese; they are reprinted here with the permission of the author.
The essays below deal with three topics:
- Priestly celibacy
- A vocations shortage?
- The call of Simon
Each can also be download as a PDF file.
More information about Father Mahan's book can be found in this article from The Criterion, our archdiocesan newspaper.
Priestly celibacy | A vocations shortage? | The call of Simon
Priestly celibacy
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is called “Good Shepherd Sunday.” The Scriptures speak of Jesus in the familiar and comforting image of the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and calls them each by name. He leads them through the valley of the shadow of death to verdant pastures and restful waters. The Good Shepherd comes so that the sheep might have life and have it in abundance. He is single-hearted in His service to the flock.
Our Holy Father designates Good Shepherd Sunday as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. We pray especially for those who are shepherds in our Church today, our bishops and priests. We pray for men who are in the seminary (including two of our own parishioners) and for young men who are discerning the call.
On this Good Shepherd Sunday I wish to speak about a particular aspect of priestly life that is a great blessing for our Church and for our world, and yet which is being called into question more and more. I speak of the gift of priestly celibacy.
Read more of this essay | Download the PDF version
A vocations shortage?
A pastor once took to the pulpit and told his parishioners: “We have a problem. The roof is leaking. It has been repaired time and time again. This time it needs to be replaced. The cost will be $200,000.” There was an audible gasp in the congregation. Then the pastor said, “I have some good news and some bad news. The good news: we have the money. The bad news: it’s still in your pockets.”
My friends, our roof is not leaking and even though there is a second collection today for seminary education, I’m not here to talk about money. But I do want you to know that we have a problem. A happy problem. The number of Catholics in our area and throughout the country is increasing. Furthermore, Catholics, especially young Catholics, are taking their faith quite seriously. There is an increase in demand for the sacraments of the Church, especially the Sacrament of Penance. There is an increasing demand for good teaching and pastoral presence in our parishes and in our schools.
The bottom line is that if our Church is going to thrive, we need more priests and religious to serve the Church. Now I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that contrary to what you might have heard, there is not a vocation shortage. If fact, there is a vocation surplus. God is not being stingy with vocations. The good news is that we have a surplus of vocations to serve the Church. The bad news is that they are still in your homes.
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The call of Simon
Every time I celebrate the Eucharist I make it a practice to pray silently for those young men whom I know to be considering or preparing for ordination to the priesthood. I pray as well for those men and women who are discerning the call to the religious life. I pray for them by name during the quiet time after the distribution of Holy Communion.
Many of the young people on my list enjoy the support of their families as they pursue their vocation. Sadly, others do not. Their families actively discourage them. “Is a religious vocation a good thing or a bad thing?” they ask. “Can a person ever be happy as a priest or a sister?” “How can anyone give up marriage, children and grandchildren?” “It seems like such a waste.”
If this is said today, I suspect that it was said 2000 years ago on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Simon was doing well for himself. Recent excavations have uncovered his house, which was larger than many in Capernaum. He was a small business owner: he had one boat, maybe more; he had James and John as his business partners, and most likely had hired hands in his employ. To top it off, Simon was a fisherman! He made his living on one of the most beautiful and bountiful lakes in the world. What a life!
And then Simon met Jesus. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
Read more of this essay | Download the PDF version