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Francis Olaer
Francis Olaer

Students crave more information on vocations

By  Francis Olaer, Youth Speak News
  • May 31, 2013

In our society, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the Catholic identity, even in Catholic schools where some people believe external forces are gradually eroding the Catholicity of the school system.

But events such as Ontario’s Wellington Catholic District School Board’s first Vocations Day bring us back to the roots of Catholic education in this country, to the religious orders that brought Catholic education to Canada more than 300 years ago.

The air was saturated with bustling noise, exclamations of “oh and ahs” at St. James Catholic High School in early May. As part of Catholic Education Week celebrations, around 200 students gathered with eight religious orders, including the Franciscans Minor, the Jesuits, the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of Notre Dame and the Redemptorists.

This event is unique because students campaigned for it to take place. Students belonging to the school’s Principal’s Advisory Council organized and volunteered to set up, contact religious orders, procure media equipment, inform the press and invite students to the event.

Volunteers spoke to me about the importance of and need for a vibrant clergy. One Grade 11 student told me that vocations are important because these shepherds of the Christian flock are needed to keep our brothers and sisters in faith on the correct path.

The Salesian representative, Fr. Dominic Tranh, entertained a crowd of students with card tricks and linked humour with faith by introducing them to the works of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Other representatives engaged students in one-on-one conversation to explore the meaning of faith in their lives.

A priest from the Consolata Missionaries was “deeply impressed” by the spiritual depth of some of the event’s student attendees. High school students can be inspired by men and women religious.
Events like Vocations Day inform students not only of the great sacramental significance of the clergy but also its seldom mentioned network of charitable institutions designed to maintain their dedication to helping the least of their brothers and sisters. More than ever, students need to realize that religious life is not some farfetched existence, but living life in the footsteps of God.

As for its future, St. James’ administration looks forward to making Vocations Day an annual event.

(Francis Olaer, 18, is a Grade 12 student of St. James Catholic High School in Guelph, Ont.)

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