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Priests, religious host vocations fair
By Sylvia L. White, The Catholic Sun
May 1, 2008
TEMPE — Fr. Don Kline, the diocesan vocations director, knows discerning religious life isn’t easy.
The priest left the seminary twice — “once for a girl, once for the monastery. I wrestled with God,” he said.
Fr. Kline joined the 24 religious congregations that promoted vocation awareness April 20 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish.
In addition to the all-day exhibit, a panel discussion helped interested Catholics discern their religious vocation.
“If you’re Catholic, you should at least be open to a religious vocation,” Fr. Kline said. He joined the other priests, religious and students on the panel for a friendly exchange of ideas.
“What fears do you or your peers have about religious vocations?” the priest asked the group.
Andrew Gillespie, a freshman at Seton, said, “I’m failing religion.”
“I was failing religion,” Fr. Kline said. “Look where that got me.”
One girl said, “I want to get married,” then later asked, “Did you ever want to get married?” The response was an almost unanimous “yes” by the religious sisters.
Sr. Ellen Sinclair, SDS, a canon lawyer who works in the tribunal, pointed out that many people date, get engaged and then marry within a span of a year or two.
The formation period in the process of becoming a sister is five to eight years.
“That’s lot more time before you say ‘yes’ forever,” Sr. Ellen said.
Fr. Bernard Green, parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, said that “to be a genuine Catholic married person today is not easy.”
“Being a priest or religious is not a way of running away from life, but entering life on a deeper level,” he added.
“Fr. Justin, that has a nice ring to it,” Fr. Kline said to Justin Sieczkowski, a sophomore at Seton Catholic High School.
“That’s what my grandma tells me,” Sieczkowski replied.
“Your grandma is very wise,” Fr. Kline quipped.
After the discussion, Sieczkowski said he “thought it was great how we got to interact with the priests and nuns and they shared with us their everyday life — not just talking about the Bible. It was just personal talk.”
Melissa Weber, fair coordinator, estimated that 225 people attended the vocation fair throughout the day, ranging in age from 50 down to about 12 or 13 years old.
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