Ministry spotlight
Traveling chalice inspires more prayers for vocations

By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
January 4, 2007

SUN CITY —  Nearly every time Rosemarie Gilsdorf moved around her kitchen, headed from there to the garage or sat in the living room, a small, shiny gold object caught her eye.

For two weeks ending Dec. 30, each glimpse of the chalice sitting alone on her wooden dining room table prompted her to stop and pray.

Not anymore.

Now it is another St. Elizabeth Seton parishioner’s turn to do the same thing.

Members of the parish’s chalice apostolate take turns hosting the golden goblet for two weeks in their home. They set it in a prominent place as a visual reminder to pray for future and current vocations.

“Apostolate” simply means religious activity or works. Pope Paul VI’s decree on the apostolate of the laity in 1965 defined it as activity of the Mystical Body, the Church, directed toward bringing the world into a relationship with Christ.

For the chalice apostolate, the activity is simply rotating prayer.

“Whenever they see the chalice, they pray for vocations,” said Fr. Frank Bartel, St. Elizabeth Seton’s pastor.

The chalice, which has been used at Mass, calls to mind a priest’s role in consecrating the Eucharist.

“Without the priest, none of that could have happened,” said Charles Bolduc, coordinator of the parish’s chalice apostolate.

That need for priestly vocations spurred parishioners to form the ministry in October.

“What do we have to do to have the Eucharist? We have to have priests,” Bolduc said.

Aid to the vocation crisis

“A lot of people are still not aware that there is a vocation crisis and that we need priests and religious,” Fr. Bartel said.

Roughly 30 people participated in the diocese’s annual vocations discernment retreat Dec. 30. Despite that number, the total priests in the diocese has dropped 12 percent since 1987 and 28 percent nationally.

“Their job is to die and be consumed for those they serve,” Bolduc said. “And how do you say thank you? You pray.”

The prayers are petitions for vocations to ministerial life: bishops, priests, consecrated laypersons, deacons and nuns. They also pray for those currently fulfilling such roles.

That’s what Gilsdorf committed herself to when she hosted the chalice Dec. 16-30. The apostolate resource material suggests specific prayers and advises praying them at 8 a.m., noon and 3 p.m.

“You just feel different,” said Gilsdorf. “I do, I know.”

She once served as a eucharistic minister at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Peoria, but gave that up due to health reasons. Through the chalice apostolate, she prays for priests to consecrate the Eucharist.

She recently returned the chalice so another parishioner could take it home.

“We encourage the people who have the chalice to put a nice goblet in its place so they continue to pray for vocations,” Fr. Bartel said.

Bolduc said the effect of the chalice apostolate on its hosts is immeasurable.

“God keeps track of those things,” he said. “The idea is that the reward is something that’s so sublime, it’s immeasurable what could happen.”

Sharing the cup

Apostolate leaders plan to help more parishioners and other parishes share the cup and the responsibility of praying for vocations.

Fr. Bartel thinks the ministry is ideal for the elderly or homebound who he said make up a majority of his parish.

“It doesn’t involve a great deal of time commitment or energy in terms of having to go places and do things,” Fr. Bartel said. “It’s something that anyone can do.”

The chalice at St. Elizabeth Seton is reserved until mid-year. Fr. Bartel and Bolduc would like to see more chalices in circulation at their parish and others in the diocese.

“A lot of parishes have extra chalices so they can easily do this ministry or they can buy a small gold or silver cup,” Fr. Bartel said. “We want it to look like a chalice and not be a glass goblet or crystal.”

Bolduc would like to see parishioners donate chalices as well. The wives of highest-ranking Knights of Columbus members, fourth degree Knights, receive a chalice at their husband’s funeral Mass. If they don’t have plans for it, Bolduc suggests donating it to the parish.

“It already is a blessing in our parish,” Fr. Bartel said. Some parishioners are thinking about religious life.