The Vocations Office of the Pater-son Diocese encourages men desiring a life of serving Jesus as priests. This work is accomplished through prayer and various programs under the leadership of Vocations Director Father Edward Rama and his staff in close collaboration with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and the faithful of the diocese.
The Vocations Office holds a Day of Discernment, which includes Mass, a holy hour of adoration, and recitation of the rosary, followed by food and conversation, on the first Saturday of the month at 10 a.m.
Father Charles Lana, assistant vocations director, said, “The Day of Discernment has been going on for several years and has allowed young men who are considering the priesthood a safe space to enter into quiet prayer to try to unlock where the Lord is leading them for their lives and find encouragement with others like them in a fraternal way.”
Another vocations outreach is the Jeremiah Project. Usually held one Friday night a month from 7 to 9 p.m., the evening consists mostly of games and sports, but also a short talk and an opportunity for prayer. The Jere-miah Project will be held at the Academy of All Saints in Parsip-pany on Oct. 25 and Dec. 20.
The Vocations Office recently released a new three-step plan to pray, cultivate, and call.
“Under ‘pray,’ we have encouraged parishes to have a holy hour once a month with a parish priest and to pray specifically for vocations to the priesthood. Every Thursday, we’re asking priests to celebrate a Mass for vocations,” Father Lana said. “Step two is ‘cultivate,’ where one of our main initiatives is to create a parish vocations ministry, to nurture vocations in the parish. Finally, under ‘call,’ young men are invited to consider a life of service in the church.”
The Project Andrew dinners and the weekend Discernment Retreat with Bishop Sweeney are of great value, Father Lana said.
Project Andrew is a night of prayer followed by dinner, the sharing of vocation stories by either priests or seminarians who are present, concluding with a question period.
The dinners will be held Sunday, Sept. 29, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Boonton, from 6 to 8 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 18, at Assumption Parish in Morristown, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.; and on Sunday, Nov. 2, at Our Lady of Fatima & St. Nicholas Parish in Passaic, from 6 to 8 p.m.
This year, Bishop Sweeney will hold a weekend Discernment Retreat at the Loyola Retreat Center in Morristown from March 2 to 9, 2025. Many young men from Project Andrew sign up for the weekend, “so it’s a continuation of the process of early discernment,” Father Lana said.
The Vocations Office also holds a yearly Quo Vadis Retreat at Shiloh Bible Camp in the Hewitt neighborhood of West Milford in June.
“One of the things Father Ed always mentions is the transformation of the young men by the end of the day. They are attached to cell phones on arrival. After a day of swimming, zip lining, rock climbing, and then listening to talks about vocations, there is the separation from technology,” Father Lana said.
Carlos Vargas, 28, a diocesan seminarian, is in his third year of theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange.
Since 2018, Vargas has participated in many vocations events, such as Quo Vadis retreats, Pizza Night with the Bishop, and, more recently, Diocesan Altar Servers Day, Religious Gathering, and Project Andrew with Bishop Sweeney.
“For individuals contemplating a religious calling, allocating time to partake in Eucharistic adoration with Jesus is paramount, particularly when it culminates in the healing and rejuvenation facilitated by the sacrament of confession. Individuals can profoundly and attentively discern the voice of the Lord within the tranquility of their hearts,” Vargas said.
Reflecting on vocations, Father Lana said, “Maybe the greatest challenge is trying to help young people, young men in particular, be open to this calling and know that it’s something they consider. It’s an option that God might be leading them to.”
