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October 2007 Issue
Vocations, open to God's call - I'm
happy. Are you?
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A
few months ago I was invited to attend a family dinner
following a baptism. While I was chatting with the family
in the kitchen, one of the children asked his dad to
go to the car and get Simba. (For those of you who don't
know, Simba is the main character in the movie and Broadway
show The Lion King.) The child's father brought
back a stuffed toy in the likeness of the young lion.
Upon being handed the stuffed animal, the young child
proceeded to hug it with great joy. While we all delighted
in the joy this child displayed, I inquired what the
child's favorite part of the movie was. He immediately
broke into the song "Hakuna Matata", sung by the two
comic figures Timon and Pumba in the movie. |
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During the song, the listener finds out that
hakuna matata means "no worries for the rest of your days."
When the child finished singing, the adults began chatting
about how having a life with no worries, challenges, disappointments
or frustrations would be great. As I began to think about
it later that evening, I wasn't sure that a life of hakuna
matata would be so great. One of the things I like about priesthood
is that it is challenging. My life is one that stretches me.
In the end, when all is said and done, I know my life will
mean something. In addition, I've come to realize that the
experiences that are the challenges of my life are the same
experiences that bring me great satisfaction and joy.
From some of the comments that I've heard,
I have come to believe that many people have the impression
that priestly life is sad and unfulfilling. In fact, priestly
life is just the opposite according to priests. In a survey
of 1,172 priests from 15 dioceses across the United States
compiled between September 2003 and January 2005, Father Stephen
J. Rosetti, Ph.D. (author of The Joy of Priesthood) found
that 90.5 percent of priests either agreed or strongly agreed
to the statement, "Overall, I am happy as a priest." When
asked if they would do it all over again, 82.5 percent said
yes. In short, priests find great satisfaction and joy in
being priests. In a 2003 CNN poll of 5,000 Americans, only
62.9 percent said they were "happy with their current job."
When priests were asked a similar question
by Father Rosetti, ("Are you happy in your current ministry?"),
89.8 percent of the priests surveyed agreed. I found the results
of Father Rosetti's survey both interesting and consoling,
as well as affirming. I love what God has called me to do
and it is heartening to know that other priests feel the same
way. From what I have seen since ordination, the priests of
our diocese love doing pastoral ministry and find great satisfaction
in it. Evidence of this can be seen in the number of priests
who continue to serve as pastors well past retirement age,
and in the number of priests who weekend after weekend travel
to parishes to preside at weekend liturgies while their brother
priests are on vacation. I am continually inspired by the
dedicated and loving service my brother priests offer to the
people of the Diocese of Grand Rapids. Would I do it all over
again? Yes I would!
- Father Ron Hutchinson is director of priestly
vocations for the Diocese of Grand Rapids.
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