I. The Reason for a Synod
I was privileged to participate in both sessions of the Synod on Synodality in Rome, and one of the strong recommendations of that international gathering of Church leadership was that individual dioceses ought to undertake a synod to address concerns at the local level.
I returned from Rome, therefore, filled with enthusiasm to celebrate a synod here in Winona-Rochester. But I didn’t want this to be an open-ended affair during which we would debate a variety of matters of controversy within the Church. I felt such an exercise would be beyond the authority of a local synod and hence finally fruitless.
Therefore, as the Shepherd of the Diocese, I proposed two matters for consideration, which I felt were of paramount importance to the flourishing of our local Church. These were evangelization (getting more people in our pews) and vocations (getting more priests at the altar). Why these two?
Why Evangelization?
Evangelization has been the principal preoccupation of the Church universal from the time of the Second Vatican Council until today. One could argue that the master theme of the documents of Vatican II is evangelization, which is to say, the carrying of the light of Christ to the nations. Cardinal Francis George of Chicago consistently taught that Vatican II is best construed as a “missionary Council” whose purpose was to bring the Good News to the modern world. Accordingly, it was not so much about “modernizing” the Church as “Christifying” modern society.
Pope Paul VI, in his great document Evangelii Nuntiandi, said that the Church doesn’t so much have a mission to evangelize; rather, it is a mission to evangelize. Pope John Paul II famously made the “new evangelization” – new in ardor, new in expression, new in method – the central theme of his papacy. And Pope Francis declared that his encyclical Evangelii Gaudium, a sustained reflection on the joy of proclaiming the Gospel, was the key to understanding his entire Petrine ministry.
There was also an impetus coming, as it were, from below. Numbers of Catholics attending Mass on a regular basis have been in steep decline for the past 50 years. At the beginning of the 1960’s, upwards of 60% of baptized Catholics attended Mass weekly and the Fathers of Vatican II thought that number was too low!
But in the years following the Council, that figure declined, in our country, to around 25%, and even lower in Europe andAustralia. The COVID pandemic made matters worse. When I arrived in this diocese three years ago, our October count of parishioners attending Mass yielded the figure of only 18% of baptized Catholics in the pews on Sunday. Last year, the number had improved to 21%, but may I say that this percentage is still pathetic.
Jesus told us to reach out to all nations and announce the Gospel. Vatican II reminded us that the Eucharist is the “source and summit,” the beginning and end, of the Christian life Yet 80% of our own Catholic brothers and sisters in our diocese are not
attending Mass. This simply should be unacceptable to all of us. Hence, we need to evangelize!
Why Priestly Vocations?
Some of you may recall that when I was delivering the homily at my Mass of installation three years ago, I invited the seminarians of our diocese to stand and they did so, 20 strong. Spontaneously, and, frankly, not knowing that much about the Diocese, I more or less blurted out, “Let’s double their number!” This cry was met with sustained applause and I see my intervention now as under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
For since coming here, I have realized how much we need priests. We have around 100 priests in Winona-Rochester, but that number includes 29 retired men,7 religious, and 17 from other dioceses currently serving here with the agreement of their bishop In all, we have around 65 active priests to serve 88 parishes; hospital, high school, college, and military chaplaincies; the chancery office, and IHM Seminary. If all of those not belonging to our diocese suddenly had to leave, we would be in dire straits. Moreover, a number of these active priests are scheduled to retire in the next five years.
Now we do indeed have encouraging news. Since I have arrived here as bishop, I have had the joy of ordaining six men to the priesthood, and, please God, I will ordain three more this coming June. It is worth noting that this represents more ordinations than many large archdioceses have had in recent years. And though we have not reached my desired goal of 40 seminarians, we have 24 studying at our own IHM Seminary, St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Mundelein Seminary outside Chicago, and the North American College in Rome.
Still, given pastoral demand and the number of our elderly men still in ministry, we need more priests. Additionally, a deep desire of my heart is that we might find more Hispanic vocations in our diocese. There is an ever-increasing number of recent immigrants, many Spanish-speaking, and we need priests of their own culture to serve them.
If I might put this in a wider theological context, Pope John Paul II famously said ecclesia de eucharistia (the Church comes from the Eucharist). But eucharistia de sacerdotibus (the Eucharist comes from priests). Therefore, by an inescapable logic, no priests, no church.
The Synodal Process
So, in order to address these two great concerns, I summoned a synod into existence, only the second completed synod in the 136-year history of our diocese. Initially, an organizing committee was formed, with representatives from different parts of our diocese and with different areas of interest and expertise. They laid out a program according to which a number of regional gatherings would take place throughout the Diocese, in preparation for a grand synod assembly in Mankato inAugust of 2025, concluding on the Queenship of Mary. Accordingly, prepatory synodal meetings took place in the spring of 2025 and the task placed before the participants was a practical one, namely, how to get more people in our pews and how to get more priests at our altars. I instructed them that the nature of their discussions should be pragmatic rather than theoretical. They were not to speculate about the whys and wherefores of
evangelization or about the theology of the priesthood; they were to come up with realistic and practical means by which both evangelization and vocational recruitment would be best fostered.
The various gatherings produced literally hundreds of proposals all of them interesting, all of them born of a real passion for the Church. But in a follow-up process, these hundreds of suggestions were distilled down to about 30, which then became the subject of discussion at the Synod in Mankato.
That gathering included 226 lay people, consecrated men and women, and clergy from Winona to Pipestone, from Mankato toAlbert Lea. The Synod commenced with a beautiful Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Mankato and proceeded through a day and a half of intense table conversations and wider discussions among all of the participants. At the close of the dialogues, a vote was taken to determine which of the 30 or so proposals had the greatest support of the entire Synod. Finally, these tallies were presented to me in the anticipation that I would write a letter summarizing them and giving my final recommendations.
Subsequently, the results of the votes were presented to the Presbyteral Council and then to all of the active priests at our yearly gathering at Lake Okoboji, and finally to the Synodal Prepatory Commission for their reaction and advice.
What I would like to do in the remainder of this letter is to present my own assessment of the synodal results, to put them in a somewhat wider framework, and to make some very practical suggestions and recommendations in regard to our two central issues.
II. Evangelization
Let us look at evangelization first. I have been studying this matter for years in connection with my Word on Fire work. I have concentrated especially on the problem of disaffiliation: why so many people, especially the young, are leaving the Catholic Church When I was a young man in the 1970’s, roughly 3% of our country would have identified as religiously unaffiliated. But today, that number has risen to 26% and it’s even higher among those under 30
Faith and Reason
There are, obviously, many reasons for this, but numerous studies have been conducted in recent years, which involve asking the disaffiliated themselves why they left. The first thing they tell us, in survey after survey, is that they no longer believe in Christian doctrine, they didn’t find answers to their questions when they were going through Catholic school or religious education, and, perhaps above all, that religion and science are in conflict with one another.
To illustrate this last point, I’d like to draw our attention to two Pew Research Center studies, the first from 2016 and the second from 2018. When asked in the first survey why they left the Church, one half of the respondents said “lack of belief in
religious teachings.”1 And when asked the same question in the second survey, 60% said the same thing.2 Also in both cases, respondents correlated their lack of belief to the challenges posed by the sciences. It’s important to note that this was, in both surveys, clearly the number one reason given.
Christian Smith, a sociologist of religion at Notre Dame, has produced research that strongly confirms this.3 For the overwhelming majority of his interviewees, the reason they left the Church was that religion seems illogical and repugnant to science. Across the religious groups, 59% agree with the statement that religion and science conflict with one another. And guess which wins in their minds.
Though it is clearly not the only cause of disaffiliation, bad or inadequate catechesis is a major contributing factor. We must get better at forming our young people (and our adults) intellectually.
This is also borne out strongly in the findings of our local Synod. One of the most voted for propositions is the following: “Build the Domestic Church by providing a resource toolbox for families to integrate faith. This could include, but is not limited to: encouragement to tell Bible and Saint stories; how to talk to children about how faith is expressed in parents’lives; how to pray at home; ideas for Catholic art and decor; list of online resources, apps; ways to celebrate feast days and liturgical seasons at home; how to have difficult conversations about the faith (marriage, gender, science, etc.).” Other popular propositions were “Expand catechesis for children and adults” and “Provide ongoing formation for the newly initiated (OCIA, Confirmandi, etc.), including small groups and digital content.”4
Our people indicate that better education, clearer catechesis, and convincing apologetics are essential to the task of evangelization, both in drawing people to the faith and in preventing them from disaffiliating from the Church. Avery strong suggestion from our Synod is that the Diocese provide training in concrete methods and practices of evangelization. It furthermore stated that companies of evangelizers should be organized in every parish: “Form parish evangelization teams with monthly gatherings to practice and share experiences.” In sum, many feel the desire to evangelize but lack the confidence to engage in it.
Welcoming Communities
Asecond theme that emerges strongly in the research on disaffiliation is the absence of welcoming communities. It appears that many people have left and are reluctant to return because they don’t feel that Catholic parishes are inviting and attractive. They also speak of
1 Pew Research Center, “Why America’s ‘nones’left religion behind,” August 24, 2016, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/08/24/why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind/.
2 Pew Research Center, “Why America’s ‘nones’don’t identify with a religion,” August 8, 2018, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/08/08/why-americas-nones-dont-identify-with-a-religion/.
3 Nicolette Manglos-Weber and Christian Smith, Understanding Former Young Catholics: Findings from a National Study ofAmerican Emerging Adults (University of Notre Dame Press, 2014).
4 Frequently mentioned programs include Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, the Neocatechumenal Way, programs from FORMED, the Augustine Institute, Word on Fire, etc., or other small group opportunities.
clericalism, mistreatment by church personnel, and the sexual abuse scandals of the past several decades.
One of the more heartbreaking themes that I have come across in the course of my researchisthatmanywhohaveleftsaythat,whentheystoppedshowingupforMass,noone reachedoutto them,nooneexpressed concern, noonewonderedwhere they hadgone. Not surprisingly,wefindrecommendationsofourSynodaddressingthisaspectofevangelization: “Ensurethatallparishentrywaysandgatheringspacesarewelcomingandintentionallydesigned forfellowship.” “Explorestrategicconsolidationsofresourcesandcollaborationamongparishes to foster vibrant communities and better stewardship.”
The faithful of our diocese realize that the friendliness and spiritual vibrancy of our parishes are indispensable to inviting new people to join us and preventing our own from leaving. Important are opportunities for new parishioners to meet one another, to get to know the pastor, and to hear about the work of the parish. Given the sad statistic mentioned above, I would also urge a conscious and compassionate outreach to those who have stopped attending Mass. Relatedly, I am a great believer in the virtue of a parish census. When I was a young deacon, my very wise pastor suggested that a good pastoral exercise for me would be to call or visit all those still on the parish registers but who had not been to church for a long time. My contact would simply be one of friendly invitation. I know the practice bore fruit in my own spiritual life, and I think it was beneficial to the parish as well.
Beauty
Athird motif that arises frequently in the research around evangelization is the importance of beauty, especially in relation to the Mass. I have long argued that the “third transcendental” is of particular significance today. When I speak of the transcendentals, I’m referring to the famous triplet of the good, the true, and the beautiful. At a time when appeals to truth and goodness are often met with resistance “who are you to tell me what to think or how to behave?” appeals to the beautiful are less threatening, and more winsome.
Stephen Bullivant, a theologian and researcher from the UK, has delved into issues of disaffiliation and he has asked the disaffiliated themselves whether there are any values they still remember and cherish from their time in the Church. In Bullivant’s studies, time and again those who have disaffiliated remember with fondness the beauty of the Church that they left.5 Here are some representative quotations:
• “The Catholic Church has been a major cultural force in European history. It has, at times, supplied a necessary spiritual discipline. I respect it for that.”
• “The Church has a fine artistic and liturgical tradition.”
• “I love Catholic theology, liturgy, devotion, art, and music.”
5 Stephen Bullivant, Catherine Knowles, Hannah Vaughan-Spruce, and Bernadette Durcan, Why Catholics Leave, What They Miss, and How They Might Return (Paulist, 2019)
• “Much of the great music and art was brought about by the patronage of the Church.”
I can testify that at my discussion table during the Synod gathering in Mankato, this issue of beauty inspired a good deal of passion and energy. Several expressed the sentiment that many of our churches have become too drab, too bland, frankly, too ugly, and that, accordingly, they don’t have evangelical attractiveness.
Now I fully realize that when we turn to the topic of beauty, there can be philosophical differences regarding what qualifies as beautiful. I certainly don’t hold that only one or two styles of, say, ecclesial architecture or sanctuary design could be considered beautiful. In the course of the great Catholic tradition, Roman basilicas, Romanesque churches, Gothic cathedrals, and Baroque chapels have certainly all qualified as beautiful, though they represent radically different styles.
On the other hand, beauty is not simply, as the cliché has it, “in the eye of the beholder,” making aesthetic judgments just a matter of subjective taste. St. ThomasAquinas held that beauty is as objective as the other transcendentals of truth and goodness. It occurs, he said, at the intersection of integritas (wholeness), consonantia (harmony), and claritas (radiance). When something coheres as one integrated thing (wholeness), when its parts hold together in a symmetrical and balanced way (harmony), and when its form shines forth so that we say, “that’s what that thing is supposed to be” (radiance), we call it “beautiful.” This is true of a human face, a golf swing, a strategic plan, or the Mona Lisa.
When assessing the beauty of our churches, sanctuaries, and chapels, might we apply Aquinas’s categories? And might we ask even more pointed questions about whether our structures and buildings can bear the weight of Christian revelation, whether they can adequately express the great truths of the faith? An architectural design might be aligned to contemporary sensibilities, but does it articulately speak the language of Catholicism? I think that this theme, so stressed at the Synod, should be the subject of ongoing conversations at both the parish and diocesan levels.
As I hinted above, much of the concern about beauty focuses upon the Mass, the Eucharistic liturgy, and those practices and sacramentals related to the Mass. Once again, Stephen Bullivant’s work is helpful.6 He shows that many of the disaffiliated still retain positive memories of the Mass. Here are a few quotations:
• “I enjoy the ritual of Mass and the tradition. I like the fact that it is the same wherever I go.”
• “The Mass will always be a comfort and no matter where I am it feels like coming home when I go to Mass.”
This instinct is clearly ratified by the testimony of those who participated in our Synod. Here is a characteristic quote: “Promote catechesis on Mass etiquette, emphasizing preparation, sacred silence, and proper reception of Holy Communion.”
6 Stephen Bullivant, Catherine Knowles, Hannah Vaughan-Spruce, and Bernadette Durcan, Why Catholics Leave, What They Miss, and How They Might Return (Paulist, 2019).
Other Recommendations
Onetheme thatsurfacedinourlocalSynodandthatfiguresprominentlyinthestudiesof disaffiliation istheroleofthefamily,especially fathers,inpreventingyoungCatholicsfrom departing theChurch. ChristianSmithhassaid thatoneoftheclearestindicatorsthatayoung person will stay connected to the Church is that his or her family discussed religious matters in the casual environment of the home.7 If a child’s considerations of religion were sequestered to Sunday morning Mass and perhaps religious education, he or she would tend toward disaffiliation. But if the faith was the subject of conversations around the table, children tended to stay close to the Church.
To make this even more pointed, study after study has shown that the father’s role is of particular importance. If Dad prays and goes to church, kids typically pray and go to church. This pointed recommendation received a number of votes at our Synod: “Form and mentor fathers in leadership roles in home and parish life.” I would imagine that there are many fathers of families who would like to play a more active role in the religious formation of their children but don’t have the requisite instruction and encouragement. We should work hard at the parish level to provide both.8
One suggestion that was made by our Synod, which figures prominently in the studies on evangelization, is to use the new media in a creative way. There is no question that the emergence of social media has been a boon to the mission of the Church. At a time when fewer and fewer young people spontaneously come to our parish programs or to Mass, we have the means to reach out to them, precisely where they “live.” In many ways, we are experiencing a springtime of apologetics and evangelization through various social media ministries.
Accordingly, we find this suggestion from our Synod proceedings: “Expand diocesan digital outreach through social media, podcasts, and curated Catholic resources.” I have proposed, both at the USCCB meetings and at the international Synod in Rome, that every diocese in the country should identify a bright, articulate, and technologically savvy person to lead and coordinate a social media outreach for evangelization. And I would encourage every pastor in our diocese to do the same at the parochial level.
III. Vocations
It is no secret that the priesthood has been passing through a painful season. The scandals of the past many years have harmed the people of God, weakened the Church in its evangelical mission, and undermined confidence in the priesthood. At the height of the troubles,
7 Amy Adamczyk and Christian Smith, Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation (Oxford University Press, 2019), 53–54.
8 Men’s groups already securely established in our diocese consist of Troops of Saint George, Knights of Columbus (specifically their initiative Cor), and That Man is You. Other programs parishes may want to consider include The Men of St. Joseph, Fraternus, and Men’s Holy Hours.
some twenty years ago, many priests were ashamed even to appear in public wearing the Roman collar. Given the passage of time and the massive institutional reforms put in place to address this problem, the worst of that season is behind us.
I believe in fact that a time of renewal is upon us. It is fascinating to note that the number of seminarians during the time of scandals really did not go down significantly. And as a former seminary professor and rector, I can testify that those young men discerning a vocation during that time had a keen sense that they were called upon to contribute to the spiritual renewal of the priesthood.
There is something else afoot in the wider culture, namely, a growing interest among young men for the spiritual life. Raised on the speculations of the new atheists that the world comes from nothing and returns to nothing, and that there is, accordingly, no purpose to life, no meaning to existence, they are hungry for what will satisfy their souls. And so, in increasing numbers, they are willing to listen to the voice of God. The Church should be ahead of this curve, inviting young men to the radical self-gift of a priestly vocation. Many commentators on the scene today stress that the Church has made things too easy, especially on young men, who enjoy a challenge. Pope John Paul II in particular proved that the young respond when they are summoned to spiritual and moral heroism.
Afirst proposal that I would make is to assure that the seminarians in our diocese are visible to our people. When I was coming of age in theArchdiocese of Chicago, I am quite sure that I never saw a seminarian, either in my Catholic school or at Mass. And so, when I began to feel the stirrings of a vocation, I had very little idea what the life of a seminarian was like. I had no model to emulate. I love the fact that in our diocese, the seminarians, both from IHM Seminary and St. Paul’s Seminary, are frequently present for liturgies and other public events. I cannot think of a better way to recruit candidates for the priesthood than to show that young men like themselves have already begun to walk the path toward ordination. I regularly see our seminarians, not only at the grand festive liturgies, but also at Totus Tuus, Camp Summit, prayer services at abortion clinics, fundraisers, parish activities, etc.
An excellent and related suggestion that emerged from our Synod conversations was to produce “day in the life” videos about our seminarians. We could easily have a film crew follow some of our seminarians as they make their way through the day: praying, playing, studying, ministering, etc. This might serve to clear up some misconceptions that people have and to demonstrate how beautiful and healthy seminary life can be. And this film could be propagated widely through social media.
Another very concrete proposal that the Synod made was to encourage social interaction between priests and laity. Inviting priests to meals and to share in family activities is a way to normalize the priesthood in the minds of lay folk. This also means that priests need not be expected to attend every single parish meeting or activity, allowing them the time and energy to engage with parishioners in social settings. Some years ago, Time Magazine did a cover story on the level of satisfaction experienced by people in a variety of fields of endeavor. To the surprise of many, the vocation with the highest degree of job satisfaction was clergy person. Studies done
within the Catholic Church on the lives of priests also bear this out. Time and again, and despite the recent difficulties, priests report very high levels of contentment in their work. I wonder how many people know this? I wonder how many Catholics fall into the trap of believing that the priesthood is a sad and lonely life, one that parents wouldn’t wish for their children. Bringing priests and laity together is a good way to dispel these myths and misconceptions.
Still another intriguing proposal from our Synod is that lay people should “adopt” a seminarian. This means that they would commit themselves to supporting a seminarian financially, spiritually, and through friendship. They might offer novenas, make spiritual sacrifices, invite the young man to family events and activities, regularly communicate with him all of which would be greatly beneficial not only to the seminarian but to the supportive family as well. The Synod participants made mention too of vocational support groups, who pray, fast, and support priests or seminarians 9
One vocation-related topic that generated a good deal of energy at the Synod was altar serving. Many Synod participants shared that numerous studies over the years have indicated that there is a tight correlation between serving at Mass and the discovery of a vocation to the priesthood. Not every young man who serves becomes a priest, of course, but many seminarians testify that their years of serving at the altar played a significant role in their discernment. Therefore, if we are interested in more seminarians, we should perhaps put a renewed emphasis on the role of the altar server and especially encourage young men to this ministry. Do we have specialized and on-going training for them? Do we take them on spiritual retreats in order to enhance their experience of the Mass? Do we cultivate among them a camaraderie, a sort of esprit de corps? Do altar servers themselves actively recruit other young men to join them?
Some years ago, when I was serving as Rector of Mundelein Seminary in the Archdiocese of Chicago, I heard a story about one of our older priests. On the eve of his departure from the parish to take up residence in an assisted living center, he celebrated Sunday Mass. At the conclusion of the liturgy, he took off his shoes and placed them at the foot of the altar. Then he turned to the congregation and asked, “Who will fill these shoes?” It was a beautiful challenge to the parishioners to raise up from among their community a future priest. I was so impressed by this narrative that I sponsored a program at the seminary called “Who Will Fill These Shoes?” The structure was simple. I invited every pastor in theArchdiocese to find one young man in his parish who would make a good priest and to accompany him to a day of reflection at the seminary. We filled the main chapel at Mundelein, which seats about 800, with eager candidates and proud pastors. I spoke to them about the priesthood, seminarians were on hand to respond to their questions, and Cardinal George celebrated Mass for them. Afterwards, we had a festive lunch. I would like to do something very similar in our diocese. The gathering could be in Winona or Rochester or Mankato. The locale would matter less than the participation of the pastors and their candidates.
Along with this major event, we should revive the practice of “Andrew Dinners” around the diocese. These are named for St.Andrew, the erstwhile disciple of John the Baptist, who
9 Examples of these include the Serra Club, Seven Sisters, and Six Fasting Brothers.
asked Jesus, “Where do you stay?” to which the Lord responded, “Come and see.” In each of the regions of our diocese, pastors would invite young men who are interested in the priesthood to dine together, to talk about the priesthood, to “come and see” whether the life of the priest might be for them.
IV. Conclusion and Challenge
I would like to conclude this letter on a note of challenge and encouragement. Those who participated in the Synod were men and women of great faith and their work has produced a plethora of valuable insights and proposals. But I do not want this Synod to be forgotten or its conclusions summed up in a document that gathers dust on a shelf. Thus, I ask the Diocesan Curia, the Presbyteral Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council to supervise the implementation of the Synod’s findings. Furthermore, I am appointing a diocesan Synodal Implementation Committee to facilitate this process in the individual parishes.
Furthermore, I want us to come to terms with the fact that progress in both evangelization and vocations is measurable. This doesn’t mean that we don’t care about quality, but that we can quantify the progress of our endeavors in some way. At the end of the day, I want the number of seminarians to increase, and I want the October Mass count to go up. To this end, I am asking –challenging – the people of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester to take the following concrete steps:
Bring One Person Back to Mass
In my travels around our diocese, I tell my people that each of them should become an evangelist, and I have made the following simple suggestion: bring one person back to Mass during the coming year. Everyone, myself included, knows someone who ought to be coming to Mass but isn’t. It might be a family member, a friend, a co-worker. Take the time to invite that person to return to the source and summit of the Christian life. You might even find that this invitation functions as a conversation-starter, an opportunity to elicit and respond to questions, to clear up misconceptions, to assuage fears, etc. If successful, we would double our October count in one year! 10
Beautiful Liturgical Celebrations
The stress upon the via pulchritudinis (way of beauty) is massively present in the testimony of our Synod participants. Here are just a few of the propositions that received much conversation and support: “Restore and universalize sacred art and sacred music within parishes aligned with Church teaching and tradition;” “Promote truth and beauty by displaying Catholic
10 In accord with this instinct, the Year of Mission for the Eucharistic Revival produced free, accessible resources for bringing people back to Mass. “Walk with One” (www.eucharisticrevival.org/walk-with-one) was the initiative aimed at identifying and accompanying one person in exploring their faith and drawing closer to Jesus. Similar outreach initiatives are available fromAscension Press and theAugustine Institute.
art, sacramentals, and other signs of faith in homes, workplaces, and parishes so that they are recognizably Catholic;” “Encourage public expressions of faith through prayer, processions, and sacramentals in daily life.”
To this end, I would encourage every parish to consider both the environment of the church, and also the way in which liturgical celebrations are carried out. I ask that our priests pay careful attention to the prayers and gestures of the Mass, avoiding succumbing to “going through the motions” out of habit, but rather prioritizing the study of the rubrics.11 It is of paramount importance that we pray with the mind of the Church, carrying out the prescribed rites in a faithful and reverent manner that will heighten the transcendent quality of the parishioner’s experience of Mass. It is incumbent upon the laity to come prepared for Mass and actively participate spiritually in the source and summit of our Catholic life. Families and individuals should be encouraged to pray with the readings before Mass, observe a respectful silence in church to allow for prayer before and after Mass, and highlight the Mass as a place of meeting of heaven and earth.
Invite Men to Consider the Priesthood
Every major study of priestly vocations that I have read emphasizes the following: the single greatest factor in bringing a young man to the seminary is the encouragement that came from someone that he loved and trusted. When a parent, a relative, an older friend, a confidant said, “you would make a good priest,” a powerful seed was planted in the young man’s soul. So, I would encourage everyone in our diocese: when you notice a person who has the gifts intelligence, kindness, prayerfulness, devotion to the liturgy, care for the suffering and the poor tell him that he should think about the priesthood. Don’t assume that someone else is doing it; you do it!
When I was a senior in high school, I took a course in advanced English. The professor was Mr. White, a wonderful man and a deeply inspiring teacher. One of the requirements of his class was that we keep a daily journal. It didn’t matter particularly what was in it. It could be poetry, a diary, essays, or stories, but we were to write something every day. In the spring of that year, I received my journal back from Mr. White and it was filled with comments, some praising my writing, some constructively critical of it. But alongside one of my entries, there was the simple remark, “Have you ever considered the priesthood?” The piece that he was commenting upon was not on a religious topic and it had nothing to do with vocational discernment, but he saw something in it that prompted him to make that remark. Well, it had a deep impact on me, and I remember it to this day.
What I would love to see is every one of us undertaking the challenge to notice and encourage those in our parishes whom we think may have a priestly vocation. My goal is to have the priests and people of each deanery raise up one vocation every year. With five deaneries, that would mean at least five new seminarians each year!
11 Found in the Roman Missal, General Instruction of the Roman Missal, and other pertinent ritual books.
Vocations Prayer
Christ Jesus explicitly told us to pray for workers in the harvest and none of our programs or efforts will be successful unless they are informed at every step by prayer. In order to unite our efforts in praying for priestly vocations, I am asking that the following prayer be offered after the General Intercessions at every Mass in our diocese: Heavenly Father, Giver of all good things, Your Son told us to beg You to send workers into Your rich harvest, and so we have the confidence to ask You to raise up an abundance of priests in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester. Send us good and holy men to respond to your call to lay down their lives in service to Your people. We know that the Church comes from the Eucharist and that the Eucharist comes from priests. Therefore, Gracious God, send us priests to build up Your Church, through Jesus who is High Priest and Lord forever and ever. Amen.
Eucharistic Adoration
I would make a final suggestion in regard to this central concern of the Church universal and of our particular Church: pray! In the Bible, nothing great is ever accomplished apart from prayer. When we raise our minds and hearts to God, we join ourselves to God’s will and we tap into God’s power. Furthermore, evangelization is not so much about finding the right program to implement, but rather it is about seeking holiness and letting that holiness – the presence of God within us – radiate to those around us. In this way, we not only speak of God, but we first and foremost bear witness to Jesus Christ in our daily lives.
In this vein, one of the strongly supported recommendations from the Synod was: “Establish frequent, consistent, and regionally accessible opportunities for EucharisticAdoration in every deanery.” It is worth emphasizing that young people have proven remarkably responsive to the practice of EucharisticAdoration. I feel that this might have something to do with the need for simplicity and focus, given the prevalence of the constant buzz and distraction of social media and electronic devices. Many young priests and religious credit their vocation to spending time in EucharisticAdoration and this practice is known to revitalize parishes and attract non-Catholics to the Faith.
At one time, each deanery of our diocese had one designated parish with a Perpetual Adoration chapel, where the faithful adored our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament 24/7. In order to make EucharisticAdoration more accessible to our people, I am asking that deaneries once again make the effort to recruit more adorers in order to return to this reality. Additionally, since not everyone will be able to easily travel to a Perpetual Adoration chapel, I would like to see every parish hold a day ofAdoration at least on a monthly, if not a weekly, basis. The parishes that have this practice can attest to the fruits of this prayer, and those who have yet to do so can take this opportunity to catechize their parishioners on the beauty and importance of Eucharistic Adoration.
It is one of the signal privileges of my life to be the shepherd of the WinonaRochester diocese. My own faith has been extraordinarily strengthened as I move about our sprawling diocese and experience your vibrant commitment to the Lord. I look forward with great enthusiasm to working with you to raise up more priests for our altars and to bring more people to Christ Jesus.
I place all of these efforts under the maternal protection and care of Mary, the Mother of God, patroness of our diocese, Queen of the Clergy, and Star of the New Evangelization.
Sincerely in Christ,
Most Rev. Robert Barron Bishop of Winona-Rochester