Chai Brady
Fr Seamus McEntee (right) and Fr Bill O’Shaughnessy A vocation to priesthood is a call to be more, bring more and give more, Fr Séamus McEntee of Dublin Diocese tells Chai Brady
“There’s change in the air,” according to the new director of vocations in the archdiocese of Dublin, and coming out of a pandemic, which has been a time to reassess life’s purpose for many people, young men need to be given every opportunity to discern their calling.
There are a host of new possibilities for lay involvement, such as the role of catechist, parish pastoral worker and permanent deacon, which has further emphasised the importance of the unique ministry of priests, according to Fr Séamus McEntee.
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Fr McEntee will continue in his roles as a chaplain in DCU as well as the national chaplain and Dublin diocesan chaplain for St Joseph’s Young Priests Society. A man with several hats on, he is certainly an example of the qualities sought after in those discerning a priestly vocation, as he says, it’s a fulfilling but challenging life. Fr Bill O’Shaughnessy will be joining him as the new assistant vocations director.
“The pandemic has been a positive time for men to reflect on their calling, their role, where they want to go and what gives them meaning and purpose in life,” Fr McEntee told The Irish Catholic.
“I’m seven years ordained since June 3, and I can honestly say it’s a life worthwhile and a life that’s different. If it’s a call from God, God would always call us to more, to give a little bit more and to be more in society and in the world.”
His own vocation journey has taken many directions. Fr McEntee has degrees in business and was a car salesman for 10 years. There was a time he was looking into joining the Jesuit community and was with the Missionary of Charity Fathers for 5-6 years in India and Mexico, but both did not work out.
“I’ve an awful lot of life experience to bring to my role as a vocations director for the archdiocese of Dublin,” he explains.
“Some men are going to be older, who might be more interested, they have a bit of life experience. Some may be more educated and they are then considering what they are doing is not for them and want to try something different, they have more gifts and talents to give.”
Strong leadership
Fr McEntee praised Archbishop Dermot Farrell, the relatively new archbishop of Dublin, for his “strong leadership”, adding “I think that will add a great source of stability and freshness and newness to our diocese and our way of thinking, behaving, acting and growing as Christians in the community in Dublin”.
Dioceses across Ireland are facing several crises coming out of the pandemic, which has been almost all-consuming, a huge drop in finances being one of the obvious impacts. The decline in vocations to the priesthood however, has been a longstanding conundrum.
Currently there is one person en route to become a priest in the Archdiocese of Dublin, which Fr McEntee says is “probably the lowest it has ever been”.
Numbers
He said: “It’s not a numbers game, whether it’s one or whether it’s 10 or whether it’s 100, they have to be good, well-rounded, wholesome men who want to give their life to God.
“A man today in priesthood has to be a man who is multi-gifted or multi-talented or be able to adjust, or be able to take on more, because more and more is going to be expected or asked of priests as well. The challenge is there.”
While it is certainly challenging, he said those interested “have to be able to take care of themselves as well, with the supports of the fraternity of priests and the diocese as well. We give all of those supports”.
Over the past two years in particular they have seen an increased interest in vocations, with Fr McEntee saying he has been accompanying a number of men during the past few years who are discerning.
“I would be very hopeful that next year we will have a number of men entering what’s called a propaedeutic year [the beginning of the formation journey],” he said.
Fr McEntee is also on the Council for Vocations of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference which has been trialling online ‘Come and See’ events during the pandemic, which are aimed at giving people an idea of what a vocation to the priesthood means.
“Munster had a virtual ‘Come and See’ and they had 35 or more men from different parts of Ireland and many of them were from the Munster province. So, there is an appetite out there we will be looking at, hopefully when things start to open up a little bit, we will be having more physical ‘Come and Sees’,” he said.
“We’re going to have an event before Christmas, maybe in St Paul’s on Arran Quay, a small prayer event, a Holy Hour or something like that, and we will be inviting men from the archdiocese of Dublin to come together physically.
“For me, and the team, it’s a new start, a new beginning and I’m very much looking forward to getting stuck in as it were, into promoting vocations and finding new ways, maybe looking at setting up a Facebook page or tweaking and updating our websites and trying the social media avenue perhaps a bit more and just getting the word out and getting things in motion, getting the awareness out there, putting vocations to priesthood on the radar, even if it is a tiny blip for men.”
Aware
The vocations office of the archdiocese want to make men aware, whether that’s through parishes, families or social media, “that the Church is alive and active and going forward and moving forward, we’re not closing down, in fact the opposite”.
“It’s when the going gets tough, we get tougher, the tough get going, we want to send that out there, that we are serious about what we do, because salvation is serious and salvation is essential. It’s an essential service,” said Fr McEntee.
“We really want to help men discern God’s purpose for them in their lives and for them ultimately to find happiness and to be happy and to bring that love and mercy that they have encountered in their own lives, through having that foundational relationship with Jesus, to others and help transform the world.”
Fr McEntee added that if there is anyone thinking they have a vocation to be a priest or is interested in finding out more about being a priest in the archdiocese, they can contact him or Fr O’Shaughnessy at vocations@dublindiocese.ie or they can visit the website: dublindiocese.ie/vocations