Archbishop Buechlein to lead
vocations retreat

By Sean Gallagher

Men who are considering the possibility that God is calling them to the priesthood have a chance to pray about this with Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein at a vocations retreat at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House on Nov. 18-19.

This is the third year that the archbishop has hosted the retreat. It is open to men from their senior year in high school to age 50.

Father Eric Johnson, archdiocesan vocations director, described the upcoming retreat as an opportunity for participants “to step back a little bit from their day-to-day lives and spend a little bit of time with others in prayer and in discernment to try to come to a greater understanding of where God might be calling them, particularly with regards to the priesthood.”

During the two-day retreat, the archbishop and an archdiocesan seminarian will share their vocation stories. The archbishop will also offer conferences on prayer that will aim to give the participants tools that they can use in their own discernment.

In addition to the conferences, the retreat will include Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, eucharistic adoration and an opportunity for the sacrament of reconciliation.

The participants will also learn the practical steps that a man takes in affiliating as a seminarian with the archdiocese.

Father Johnson said that the archbishop’s presence during the retreat is helpful in a couple of ways. First, it helps the participants learn that their vocational discernment happens in the context of the overall life of the Church. No man, he said, comes to the priesthood in a vacuum.

He also noted that the archbishop’s long experience in priestly formation at Saint Meinrad School of Theology before becoming a bishop can be very beneficial.

“I think it’s good for guys to have the opportunity to hear that wisdom,” Father Johnson said, “to hear [about] his years of watching people go through the discernment process, to hear what it is that he feels that’s important to that process.”

Seminarian Joshua Cappel, a member of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis and a freshman at Marian College who resides at the Bishop Bruté House of Formation, participated in last year’s retreat.

He valued learning that he wasn’t alone in his thoughts about the priesthood and was also struck by the similarity of the story of the archbishop’s vocational discernment to his own and others on the retreat.

Cappel said that the retreat can be fruitful for men in various stages of their vocational discernment.

“Going will not hurt,” he said. “If anything, you’ll find your faith strengthened and you might feel a lot closer to God even if you don’t decide to become a seminarian or a priest.”

(Those interested in participating in the archdiocesan vocations retreat should call 317-236-1490 or 800-382-9836, ext. 1490. There is no fee.) †