John Burger has the scoop:
The Second Vatican Council described the Eucharist as “the source and summit of the Christian life.” A parish in the Midwest seems to be demonstrating how the sacrament instituted by the Lord on Holy Thursday is also the source of vocations to the priesthood. When asked why they thought so many young men from Saints Peter and Paul parish in Naperville, Ill., were priests or seminarians, one person after another affiliated with the parish pointed to the parish’s focus on the Eucharist, including the presence of a perpetual adoration chapel. “I am of the opinion that the chief cause of so many young parishioners being open and willing to follow God’s call for their lives is the perpetual adoration chapel,” said James Guarascio, 22, a lifelong parishioner who is studying to become a priest for the local Diocese of Joliet, Ill. He described the chapel, which was initiated 12 years ago, as a place where people are “free to encounter Jesus intimately whenever.” “Innumerable prayers are being offered up in support of the priests, seminarians and vocations,” Guarascio said. “A haven of silence and encounter exists where people can calm themselves in the presence of God and actually listen to where he is calling them.”
Read it all. There’s a lesson here for anyone willing to learn from it.
And today we celebrate...