HAMMONTON – Bishop Joseph Williams joined the local community and those from Saint Mary of Mount Carmel Parish this month for breakfast, camaraderie and an honest talk on vocations.
“We have to make decisions in South Jersey. We do not have enough priests to cover all those who are getting sick, dying and retiring. We do not,” Bishop Williams said.
The annual Spring Forward Community Breakfast, which is sponsored by the Saint John the Baptist Society, took place March 8 after Mass at Saint Mary of Mount Carmel Parish. About 150 people gathered at Tomasello Winery.
“Each year, we try to find a speaker who brings everybody closer to the Word of God,” said Charles Sbarra, the society’s president. “This year specifically was for an increase in vocations.”
Bishop Williams told the crowd that when he was called to South Jersey, he set upon the task of cultivating vocations. His previous diocese, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., typically has 70-plus seminarians for 800,000 Catholics, he said. In the Diocese of Camden, there are now eight seminarians for 400,000 Catholics.
“Jesus is calling everywhere,” Bishop Williams said. “For some reason or another, it’s not being heard here in the same way.”
With the diocesan Office of Vocations adding more priests to its team last year, the Bishop explained that South Jersey remains committed to cultivating vocations. “As I said before, vocations – they’re not magic. They’re not coerced; they’re not fabricated. We’re not recruiting, we’re helping people listen.”
He recalled a conversation he once had with Bishop David Ricken, of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis., and the inception of the Fiat Prayer Society there. At the time of its founding, Green Bay had the lowest ratio of diocesan priests to parishes in the country, according to its literature, and was formed with the intention of getting more people in the diocese “engaged in praying for and encouraging vocations from our parishes.”
“Do we need that society here?” Bishop Williams asked, with multiple confirmations of “yes” heard throughout the room.
“We’re working on that,” Bishop Williams said. “What a gift it is when we say, ‘Jesus, there is an abundant harvest in South Jersey.’”
Father David Rivera, pastor of Saint Mary of Mount Carmel Parish, also spoke on his experiences with vocations to the priesthood. He recalled that when he was joining the seminary, there were two men whose parents were against their child’s call to a priestly vocation. In another instance, at a former parish, his preaching on vocations was not well-received. On both occasions, the feeling from parents was “not my son.”
Bishop Williams admitted that parents can be “more an obstacle to that vocation than a bridge, and that’s just the reality.” Some reasons for that hesitancy: Parents may want grandchildren or have a particular dream for their child.
“There has to be a real conversion,” he said, “and we have to know that vocations come from my parish and my family. It’s not out there. I’m not praying for vocations out there – [but] right here.”
Vocations directors in the Diocese, he said, are dedicating more time to engaging parents, hoping they will be open to discussing this calling with their children. “Vocations aren’t created. They’re discovered, they’re heard.”
In a similar way, Bishop Williams spoke about the vocation of marriage – and how he witnessed his father continually sacrificing for his mother, family and God. He recounted how his father, a doctor, would start his days early in the morning, dictating his medical charts as Bishop Williams and two siblings would practice piano. They would go to 7:30 Mass every morning. Even after 10- or 11-hour days at the clinic, their father would return home and give his wife some respite, wrangling their nine children.
“That’s what it means to be a man,” Bishop Williams said. “That’s what it means to love Christ. This is what it means to sacrifice for your bride.”
Though he originally aimed to be a doctor and father, too, Bishop Williams found that while studying chemistry in college, he didn’t feel the way he felt when reading God’s Word.
“I paid attention to that,” he said. “I’m not reading to get the grade to get into the medical school that I want; I’m reading because there’s something burning in me, and that was the Word.”
Among those in attendance to hear Bishop Williams’ witness were young people. With the youth ministry at Saint Mary of Mount Carmel Parish continuing to grow – currently at 50 members – Sbarra encouraged those in attendance to “keep praying, pick up your rosary, read the Bible.” He also presented the youth ministry with a check for $500.
“[Bishop] spoke today about how crucial it is for an increase in vocations here within the Diocese of Camden,” Sbarra said. “So having him come here and speak directly to them, I think it means a lot.”
Youth ministry member Alex Rodriguez, 16, of Hammonton, found Bishop’s speech inspirational. “It taught us, as youth, to really keep God first, because He’s very important – and maybe one of us could become a bishop, like he is.”
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
