By Amy Guckeen, Special to the Catholic Herald

ST. FRANCIS — In the struggle to increase vocations, it may just be the one thing that could lead more and more men to the priesthood. And it all comes down to a little secret: priests are happy.

A 2002 sociological study by the Los Angeles Times surveying more than 5,000 priests has found that it’s true, priests are happy. Not only are they finding happiness in their vocation, but most would do it all over again if they could, a satisfaction that is higher than found in other professions such as law or medicine.

“Priests are very happy,” said Fr. James Lobacz, director of the Vocations Office for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. “Many say they would do it all over again.”

For Fr. Lobacz and his office, this is more than a good thing. Not only is Fr. Lobacz part of the happy crew of priests, but in turn, this happy crew of priests is inspiring young men to consider the priesthood.

“Somewhere along the course of a young man’s life, he may have met a priest or someone else involved in some sort of ministry, who’s happy,” Fr. Lobacz said. “Priests are happy. Young people are seeing this satisfied dynamic, which is leading them to that vocation.”

Fr. Lobacz is a reflection of that satisfaction and happiness. Since ordination in 1979, Fr. Lobacz has served as parish priest on Milwaukee’s south side, acted as vice rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, and acted as assisting priest for Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Wilmot.

For the past 12 years Fr. Lobacz served as campus priest at Cardinal Stritch University. Through his experiences, he has brought a unique outlook on why he entered the priesthood. It was God’s decision, not his.

Decision to become priest is God’s

“At some point when I was in the seminary, I realized that the choice to become a priest wasn’t my decision anymore,” Fr. Lobacz said. “At some point I shifted from saying, ‘Is this what I want?’ to ‘Is this what God wants?’ I was reading the events in my life as messages from God.”

Listening to God was not the only factor in Fr. Lobacz’s decision. Rather, people were also listening to him.

“I had priests who paid attention to me and listened to me when I was younger,” Fr. Lobacz said. “They took the time to listen. It’s that human connection. I had a very strong faith experience in my youth, and those priests inspired me to enter the seminary.”

Fr. Lobacz said that it is the listening of priests to those youths discerning that plays an important role in the decision-making process. And for him, the listening is one of his favorite parts of the job.

“It is very humbling to listen to young people articulate the moment of God in their lives,” Fr. Lobacz said. “They speak of their lives with God so beautifully. I’m just awestruck. It’s a very sacred time.”

For Fr. Lobacz, the connection between youth and priests is an important one as “the priesthood is kind of graying.” However this year’s number of seminarians in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is gradually starting to change that.

Increase in seminarians

“Our numbers have been increasing,” Fr. Lobacz said. “This year we have 34, which I think is a very good number. We have made a comeback from being in the teens just over five years ago, which seems to have come from a variety of initiatives.”

Fr. Lobacz, in his first year as director of the vocations office, is looking to increase these initiatives through plans that he hopes will increase the numbers of those entering the vocations.

“I have now been with the vocations office for six months and I am finding the work both challenging and rewarding,” Fr. Lobacz said. “The challenging part of the work is learning so many new things and creating new relationships that will help to promote vocations. The first task in the new year is to establish an advisory board that will create the plan and determine the goals.”

Some of Fr. Lobacz’s ideas that may be incorporated into the office’s goals include creating connections between seminarians and youth, creating new ways to enhance the presence of the vocations office on the Internet, and creating more parish vocations teams and continuing to form them to bring about awareness of vocations.

“Parishes play a big role,” Lobacz said. “We have 237 parishes in the archdiocese. Just think what our numbers would look like if every parish sent one person (to the seminary) every three to five years.”

Another issue to consider in the coming years is creating a deeper awareness of the ministry of deacons, which has a significant impact upon life in parishes.

“People don’t understand the ministry of deacons,” Lobacz said. “Perhaps if more people understood it, more people would be applying.”

In 2006, the vocations office will sort through these various ideas along with others, to put into effect a five-year action plan.

Be An Informed Catholic!


For the rest of this week's news, visit the Catholic Herald web site.

Click here to subscribe to the Catholic Herald.