On this Sunday the Church reminds us of the role of ordained ministers, especially those ordained to the priesthood, in the life of the Church. It grieves me to think that in the Palmerston North Diocese there has been no local man ordained as priest since 2002. Thus, twenty-four years without a man from our parishes proceeding to ministry where he will minister among his own people. The other dioceses of New Zealand have had their vocations to priesthood so what has gone wrong for us? I do not know. What I do know is that we need to pray for vocations to the priesthood and encourage young men to consider the possibility of the priesthood for themselves. Anyone called to the priesthood needs to know that he will serve the people ahead of himself and that he, like his flock, needs to enter the gate of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus: "(Jesus says) I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture." (Jn 16: 9) Each one of us has a primary vocation in baptism and it is through this mode of being we are called to serve others. By taking up the cross and resisting the temptation to live only for ourselves we will discover the true meaning of life and the fulness of love that only Jesus Christ can give: "I (Jesus) came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (Jn 10: 10)
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