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May 2008 Issue
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to Feature Articles
A
gift from God awaits future generations of priests
| Generation
X. A generation shaped by the end of the Cold War, the
inception of the Internet, an increasing divorce rate,
MTV and a lack of trust in leadership (especially institutional
leadership). These and many other infl uences were pivotal
in shaping the lives of individuals born from 1963 to
1981. That is my generation. Though, like all generations,
we were never going to get old, my friends and I are now
middle-aged. We are now the age our parents were when
we said to ourselves, like all kids do, “I hope I never
get that old.” Well, we are there! |
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It has been an interesting journey to this place in time.
I never would have imagined when I was in high school
typing class that I would be spending so much of my life at a
computer screen and not at a typewriter. I never would have
dreamt that my cell phone would be able to fi t in my pocket
and that it would receive my e-mail. Let’s admit it, I couldn’t
have dreamt up e-mail in my wildest dreams, or should I say
in my nightmares. And fi nally, I never would have imagined
I would be a priest, or how happy I would be in my priestly
ministry.
As the annual ordination day for our diocese fast approaches
I can’t help but think about my past and contemplate my
future. On Sept. 24, 1994, Bishop Robert J. Rose ordained me
a priest for the Diocese of Grand Rapids. It had been a long
road from junior high/high school when I fi rst thought about
the priesthood to the day when, as a 30-year-old, I laid in the
sanctuary of the Cathedral of Saint Andrew listening to the
Litany of the Saints while I prayed that I might be able to live
up to this great calling. Along the way there were times when I
couldn’t imagine anything for my life but the priesthood, and
there were other times when I wasn’t sure that I was meant for
priesthood or that priesthood was meant for me. However, in
every moment of my life from childhood to present day, one
thing has remained constant: attending Mass each Sunday
In years gone by I may not have always been as devoted to
my personal prayer life or formation in the faith as I should
have been, but I never missed Mass. In fact, at college and
graduate school, it was what got me through some periods
of self-doubt and personal turmoil. It wasn’t always easy
getting up on Sunday morning after a fraternity party or going
when so many of my friends and classmates found reasons
not to go; but attending Mass and receiving the Eucharist
were the anchors of my life, even if I didn’t realize it then.
Mass and receiving the Eucharist have been and continue to
be a stabilizing force in the midst of a pretty chaotic world.
With the diminishing numbers of priests, I worry for future
generations. Will they be able to go the Mass and receive the
Eucharist each Sunday? Will future Catholics reminisce about
a time when every parish had at least one priest?
I know that I cannot predict the future, nor can I know
what changes we will face in the coming decades, but it is my
hope that future generations will not face life’s doubts and
turmoil without Mass and the Eucharist each week. It is my
further hope that all of us will know that same security I have
experienced all my life. Encourage vocations to the priesthood
so that future generations won’t miss out on the great gift God
gives us in the Eucharist.
- Father Ron Hutchinson is director of priestly
vocations for the Diocese of Grand Rapids.
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