The Diocese of Brooklyn has begun the Year of Vocations called for by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio. Led by Father Sean Suckiel, the diocesan vocation director, this is a remarkable time to reflect on the gift of priesthood and religious life in the Church and in the world.

There are so many programs for parishioners to get involved in this Year of Vocations, but there are two things that each of us can do during this time when we pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send us more happy, healthy, holy priests and religious.

The first is obvious: we can pray. And we can pray not only for more priests, but priests who will be good shepherds for our people, after the Sacred Heart of Christ, priests who will, in every single aspect of their lives, configure themselves to the Lord Jesus and his cross and the three file priestly munera of teaching, preaching, and sanctifying.

We can pray for the young men, open to the possibility of a priestly vocation enrolled at Cathedral Prep and Seminary in Elmhurst, the collegians and pre-theologians at Cathedral House of Formation in Douglaston, the discerners at the St. John Paul II House of Discernment in Cypress Hills, and the major seminarians who study in their final few years before ordination at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie; the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy; the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Kearny, N.J.; Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.; Saint John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Mass.; and Saints Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, Mich.

We can also pray for their priest formators who teach and model their priesthood for future priests. Priests of the Diocese of Brooklyn teach at St. Joseph’s Seminary, the Pontifical North American College, and Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Second, we can learn about vocations and what it all means by checking out the revamped website, brooklynpriests.org! This marvelously designed, interactive website offers us a great resource to learn all about the work and lives of priests in our diocese.

This is a crucial time in the life of the Diocese of Brooklyn. We hope that many more men and women, having been encouraged by priests, religious, families, and parishioners, will be able to embrace the call that the Lord Jesus, the gentle Good Shepherd, never fails to send.