2025 Vocations Awareness Supplement
In hope, God sows seeds of vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life
As the Church in the U.S. celebrates National Vocation Awareness Week during this Jubilee Year of Hope, we turn our attention once again to the mystery of God’s call to priesthood, consecrated life and diaconate.
This year’s Vocations Awareness Supplement highlights the stories of men and women from our archdiocese who have responded with generosity to that call. Behind every face is hope for our Church in central and southern Indiana. Behind every story is the same grace at work—the word of God planted in the heart, nurtured by prayer and sacrament and brought to life in community and hope.
In his first general audience earlier this year, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the parable of the sower
(cf. Mt 13:1-17), offering an image that beautifully illuminates the call to vocation. Our Holy Father noted that Jesus scatters the seed of his word freely—on the path, on the rocks, among the thorns and on fertile soil. “God is confident and hopes that sooner or later the seed will blossom. This is hope, founded on the rock of God’s generosity and mercy.”
That vision of God as the patient sower is at the heart of every vocation. How often, as archdiocesan vocations director, I find folks whose hearts are not yet prepared to realize their vocation, yet the Lord never tires of calling! He continues to cast his word into his sons and daughters, trusting that it will take root when and where hearts are ready to receive it. Even when the soil seems unpromising, God is patient and he hopes; he knows that his word carries life within it.
You can never fully explain a vocation, especially a priestly or religious vocation; something happens inside you. That “something” is the coming to life of the seed of vocation in the human heart. The sower continues to sow, and his seed is alive. Some of those called to the priesthood or religious life recognize God’s voice early, while others discover it later in life, often through struggle or surprise. Some find fertile soil in the prayer of their parishes; others wrestle through dry seasons of doubt or resistance. Yet God’s word—once planted—will not stop growing. “The word of God makes fruitful and provokes every reality,” Pope Leo reminds us.
This is the essence of a vocation: it is not a human project, but a divine initiative. God calls, God sustains and God brings the harvest. Our task is simply to listen and to offer a generous, loving fiat. For that, we look to Our Lady as our model. Surrendering to the Divine Sower is the key.
For those discerning a call to priesthood, diaconate or religious life, this is a message of great encouragement. The Holy Father urges us not to lose heart, even when we feel unworthy or unsure: “If we realize we are not a fruitful soil, let us not be discouraged, but let us ask him to work on us more to make us become a better terrain.” God himself prepares the ground; he does not demand perfection, only openness.
During this Jubilee of Hope, we are reminded that the future of the Church depends not on human planning but on divine fidelity. The Lord continues to sow the seeds of priestly, diaconal and religious vocations across the world—and here, in our own archdiocese. Each man or woman who responds “yes” to God’s call becomes a living sign of that hope. You will read about some of them here in this supplement.
May this week renew in all of us the desire to pray for and support those discerning a vocation to the priesthood, diaconate or consecrated life. May our parishes, families and hearts be rich soil where those seeds can grow. And may we never tire of trusting that the Lord of the harvest is still at work—sowing, nurturing and bringing to life new witnesses and agents of his mercy and love.
(Father Michael Keucher is director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, dean of the Batesville Deanery and pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville and St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Shelby County. Contact him at mkeucher@archindy.org.) †