Seminarian Tsunami

“Quem queris? Whom do you seek?” No words pierce more deeply than those of Christ, spoken personally and uniquely to each soul, but in our noisy streets and noisy minds, it’s easy not to hear or notice. It is not as though Christ climbs a stage amid flag-waving fanfare, picks up a microphone, and calls to us in a rich, sonorous voice. It’s not as though his speech is projected on a jumbo-tron and recorded on YouTube. Christ may not directly address us this way—but, as the participants at the recent St. Jospeph’s Seminary youth rally know, Pope Benedict XVI does :

Have courage! You too can make your life a gift of self for the love of the Lord Jesus and, in him, of every member of the human family. Friends, again I ask you, what about today? What are you seeking? What is God whispering to you? The hope which never disappoints is Jesus Christ. The saints show us the selfless love of his way. As disciples of Christ, their extraordinary journeys unfolded within the community of hope, which is the Church. It is from within the Church that you too will find the courage and support to walk the way of the Lord. Nourished by personal prayer, prompted in silence, shaped by the Church’s liturgy, you will discover the particular vocation God has for you. Embrace it with joy. You are Christ’s disciples today. Shine his light upon this great city and beyond.

The youth—some twenty-five thousand students, young professionals, seminarians, and religious—crowded around the electric-blue stage in rapt attention. “Have we perhaps lost something of the art of listening?” the pope asked, and no doubt the answer is yes . But that afternoon, no matter about claustrophobic crowds and beating sun and a five-hours’ wait. They were listening, and listening eagerly. “Do you leave space to hear God’s whisper, calling you forth into goodness?” the pope gently prodded. “What about today?”

What indeed about today? Judging from the response Fr. Luke Sweeney, Vocations Director for the New York Archdiocese, has received, the pope’s message has had rapid effect. As the New York Daily News reported , within just three days he’d received dozens of queries and application requests, a seminarian tsunami after an unprecedented drought:

For the first time in 108 years, St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers was preparing for a year with no new students. But, after the Holy Father’s whirlwind city tour, dozens have heard the call. “It’s been like a tsunami, a good tsunami of interest,” said the archdiocese’s vocations director, the Rev. Luke Sweeney. “I’ve been meeting people all week and have a lot of e-mails I haven’t had the chance yet to respond to. It has been incredible . . . . One said he came, saw the crowd, heard what the Pope said and then called us,” said Sweeney. “He said his questions and concerns were answered when he heard him speak.”

” The world needs heroes ,” Fr. Sweeney tells young men; “You have to be a real man if you want to become a priest.” The response to his challenge—the pope’s challenge— Christ’s challenge —certainly gives the Church reason to hope. Reason to hope, and reason to pray for the future fathers and shepherds of the Faith.