National Vocations Awareness Week

“Have You Ever Asked Anyone to Be a Priest?” 

Fifteen years ago, I was sitting in the congregation at Mass in Surfers Paradise when the priest preaching the homily asked a simple question: “Have you ever asked anyone to be a priest?” The priest was Fr Peter Glabonski, then Associate Pastor of the parish. Looking back, I can honestly say it was one of the most significant moments of my life. 

Until that point, I’d never seriously considered that God might be calling me to the priesthood. But in that instant, I knew – deeply and unmistakably – that God was speaking to me. And when God speaks, it is usually transformative. 

It was an experience filled with both joy and fear. Joy, because I suddenly realised that God knew me, loved me, and was inviting me into something greater than I had imagined for myself. Fear, because I had spent much of my life succeeding at whatever I put my mind to, only to become bored and move on to the next challenge. I was scared that Priesthood would simply be another achievement or career path rather than lifelong calling—a vocation that would require me to entrust my future completely to God. That one question changed the direction of my life. 

From 2–9 August, we celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week. It’s an opportunity to pray for more priests, religious sisters and brothers, deacons and seminarians. Here in the Archdiocese of Brisbane, we certainly need to pray that the Lord continues to call generous men and women to serve His Church. But Vocations Awareness Week is also about something even bigger. It’s about helping every one of us ask the most important question a disciple can ask: “Lord, what are you asking of me?” 

Our vocation is much more whether we’re called to married, single, religious or ordained life. Through Baptism, every Christian receives the same fundamental vocation: to follow Jesus Christ. A disciple is, quite simply, a student of Jesus – someone who learns from Him, walks with Him, and gradually becomes more like Him. And that calling never expires.  

Whether you’re eight or eighty-eight, retired or working full-time, married, single, ordained or widowed, God continues to call you today. He continues to invite you to discover new ways of loving, serving and building His Kingdom. Perhaps that means volunteering in a ministry you’ve never considered before. Perhaps it means becoming more generous with your time or your resources. Perhaps it means discovering gifts and talents you’ve never realised God intends to use for the sake of others. Whatever our circumstances, God is always asking us to take one more step in faith. 

This weekend’s Gospel, the feeding of the five thousand, reminds us that beneath every human hunger lies a deeper hunger – a hunger for God Himself. Whether we recognise it or not, every heart longs to be filled with the love, purpose and peace that only Christ can give. When we begin to discern God’s call upon our lives, we discover that He never asks us to give something up without first offering us something infinitely greater. His vocation for us is not about losing ourselves, but about becoming the people He created us to be. 

So during National Vocations Awareness Week, between this Sunday and next, let’s pray not only for those whom God may be calling to the priesthood or religious life, important though that is. Let’s also pray for ourselves. May we have hearts willing to listen. May we have the courage to respond. And may we allow God to reveal His abundant love and mercy in our own lives, so that, filled by Him, we can joyfully go and proclaim what we have received in ways that those around us can understand, encounter and embrace. 

“Have You Ever Asked Anyone to Be a Priest?” 

Vocational blessings – Fr Josh