As a young boy, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis was torn between becoming a priest or a streetcar driver when he grew up. “My recollection was that he (the driver) sat there, and people gave him money,” he said. “I didn’t realize he had to turn that in. And he was always kind, so that seemed like really a great job.”
But the archbishop said he was blessed to have Capuchin Franciscan Fathers in his family’s neighborhood when he was growing up, and the priests “ran a vocations program for boys fourth grade through eighth grade.” It helped to meet the friars and see what they did, he said.
“It was really helpful for me to be a little bit more concrete in what it is that God might be calling me to do,” Archbishop Hebda said. From a young age, he had a sense that “maybe the Lord wanted me to serve as his priest.”
Archbishop Hebda recently discussed his vocations journey in advance of Vocations Awareness Week Nov. 5-11 during an interview with “Practicing Catholic” radio show producer Kayla Mayer for an upcoming episode.
Sometimes, discerning a vocation can be somewhat scary, Archbishop Hebda said. And it shouldn’t be, “because we have a God who loves us so much that if we’re really trying to do what he’s asking us to do, he’s never going to let us go astray,” he said. “He’s never going to let us make terrible decisions that aren’t going to be for our good.”
Always remember that the calling comes from God, the archbishop said. “It’s the work of the Holy Spirit to make … clear to us what it is that God wants us to do.”
Asked how the faithful can support vocations in the archdiocese, Archbishop Hebda said pastors and parishes can pray for vocations in the prayers of the faithful, “the intercessions we offer each time at Mass.”
“That’s one way … we as a community can begin to pray for those young men and young women who are discerning God’s call,” he said.
A second way is through Eucharistic adoration, Archbishop Hebda said, calling it “a privileged place for us to really be placing before our God the needs that we know.” Pray that the Lord provides more priests, deacons and consecrated women “in all the different varieties that give us more really committed … people who are just devoted to the Lord and serving his Church,” he said. “I think that the prayer part of it is huge.”
Third, don’t be ashamed or afraid to reach out to someone, Archbishop Hebda said. “If you know somebody and you see within them a priestly vocation, or you think that they would be a really good woman religious, don’t be afraid to share that,” he said. “It’s often in those exchanges that something that’s already dormant in the young person’s heart takes life.”
To learn more of Archbishop Hebda’s thoughts on vocations, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Oct. 27 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Oct. 28 and 2 p.m. Oct. 29.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Jeff Cavins, who teaches at The St. Paul Seminary, leads pilgrimages and contributes to “The Catechism in a Year” podcast with host Father Mike Schmitz, who describes a new offering designed to apply scriptural wisdom to one’s life; and Lisa Gleason from St. Maron in Northeast Minneapolis, who describes her church’s upcoming bake sale with traditional Lebanese items.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
