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Trends in Catholic Religious Vocations |
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Results of Annual Survey on"Trends in Catholic Religious Vocations":
Continued jump in interest in religious vocations attributed to desire fordeeper spirituality and easier access to information via the Internet
Nearly 70 percent of Catholic religious communities have seen a jump in vocation inquiries in the past year, according to a survey conducted by VocationMatch.com, the leading online religious vocation discernment website. Sixty-nine percent of the communities responding to the website's annual "Survey on Trends in Religious Vocations" reported increased inquiries into religious life. Discerners-those interested in religious life-are primarily under 40 years old and say they are looking at religious life because of a desire for deeper spirituality. Most are quite serious about exploring religious life, and nearly 20 percent plan to enter religious formation in the next 12 months.
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William Kaliyadan: with roots and wings |
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by Cathy Chesley, Photography by Sarah Jane von Haack
“Good parents give their children roots and wings,” observed Jonas Salk, the discoverer of the polio vaccine, “roots to know where their home is and wings, so they can fly away and exercise what’s been taught them.” Dr. Salk apparently knew a lot, not only about diseases, but about families. And if he were to meet Father William Kaliyadan, a La Salette Missionary and the Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Lebanon, Salk would recognize a bright example of his wisdom.
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Icon of Our Lady of La Salette: A Meditation |
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 Meditation suggests sustained contact with the deeper layers of reality, a careful surveying of the unseen but real context in which we live our lives. It connects us to our roots in God and to our irrepressible desire for God.
This month we feature a unique icon of Our Lady of La Salette. This is appropriate for a number of reasons, the first of which relates to the nature of icons and the access to the inner world they offer. Icons are often described in terms such as these: prayer enthroned on wood, merciful grace made nearly tangible, gates to the realm of the unseen, points of intersection between the world we see and think we know and the world we do not see and should know better.
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