Catholic Vocations Galore Update!!!

The Anchoress has another of her fine updates at Vocation watch: New sisters & brothers & WYD..
She links to a couple of these groups that are blogging from World Youth Day. I was struck by this part of a Sister that is Australia at WYD


Needless to say, after walking the streets of Sydney, Australia for a week, there isn’t a flicker of ambiguity about what I am about, and the powerful witness of the habit.“You are the first Sister in habit I have seen in twenty-three years!” said one woman.…“I just LOVE your robes…vestments…why your’e so young! Tell me, what ARE you?” exclaimed another Aussie. The stares are unabashed, and the cellphones and cameras are snapping pictures at furious rates. At times you feel like a bit of a tourist attraction as a five minute walk in the city guarantees a strangers request for a picture with you.

If this wasn’t enough, (and I give my word this is a true account) I sat in transit on the bus sure that the stylish, blonde-haired, twenty-something, deep into the tunes of her i-pod would remain indifferent to me…within five minutes she had removed her head gear and was inquiring about mine. With cordial curiosity and openness she asked question after question. I was the very first Sister she had ever seen.

There are lessons here of course. We need these numbers to grow but to do that we need to let people know about these orders. Why are these places getting vocations?

Catholics need to be asking these tough questions. New Orleans is going through a heartbreaking series of Church Closures right now. Part of that has to do with the aftermath of Katrina and population shifts. However much is the vocation crisis. Yet in some Diocese there is not this problem. Why? I think part of the solution is that that every day Catholics have to ask if we are in our communities and families are providing a situation where people can hear the call and to encourage that.