Pray for seminarians, diocese asks

Friday, Apr. 10, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — The men enrolled in the seminary for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, as well as those who may be considering such a path, are in need of prayers, said Deacon Ricardo Arias, director of the diocesan Office of Vocations.

“It is important to pray so the Lord speaks to the heart of many young men, leading to their generous answer to be servants as priests of religious in our Diocese of Salt Lake City,” Deacon Arias said. 

“In a very special way we are called to support our seminarians through our prayers,” he said, adding that he thinks the seminarians need to know that they are not alone in their vocational response, but that the community “prays and walks side by side with them.”

Currently the diocese has seven seminarians. All are at different levels of their studies of theology and philosophy; in June two of them will be ordained to the priesthood and one more as a transitional deacon.

“Seminarians are critically important to the diocese because we have far more priests retiring than we do being ordained,” said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City. “There has been this graying of the clergy that has been going on for decades. We really need new priests to fill in the ranks, so we’re very grateful to God for the gift of vocations, and for the generous men who respond. We’ve been fortunate thus far in that, in most cases, we’ve been able to assign a pastor to every parish here in the diocese, but that’s not going to continue unless we are able to have young men enter the priesthood.”

To promote vocations, at Advent a special devotion was begun in which each parish has been assigned a week to devote 40 hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition with a special emphasis for vocations in the diocese. 

Those men considering a priestly vocation follow a process that usually takes from six months to a year, depending on factors such as their parish life, their religious experience and their education, said Deacon Arias. 

He added that a very important part of the process is to discover if the prospective seminarian is really a prayerful person who has a solid and real commitment to the Church and is willing to serve the needs of the community.

The responsibility to promote vocations in the Church “is every Catholic’s task,” Deacon Arias said. “Because of our baptism we are all followers and witnesses of Christ. We are all called to be an active part of the promotion and support of vocations in our parishes, families, schools, universities.”

Those who feel a call to the religious life, or have questions about it, should contact their parish priest for guidance, Deacon Arias suggested. 

The diocesan Office of Vocations also can provide information; call 801-456-9398.