Editorial

Pope Benedict XVI continues to impress me with his understanding of people and his compassion. He combines sound doctrine with great insights into human nature.

A case in point is the Holy Father's message for the 2006 World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This will be celebrated on Sunday, May 7.

Don't have to be perfect. We often think of priests and religious as very holy people. And we hope they are indeed filled with holiness. But Pope Benedict - in his wisdom - tells us that one does not have to be perfect to be called to a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.

"Human frailties and limits do not represent an obstacle" to having a vocation, the Holy Father tells us. He adds, however, that a future priest or religious must recognize that God calls each person to repentance and holiness.

We recall that Jesus called imperfect men to be his apostles. We only have to look to Peter - who eventually became our first pope - to see his very obvious faults and failings. Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times. He was afraid to be allied with Jesus of Nazareth and huddled in the upper room with the other terrified apostles after Jesus was crucified.

But Jesus knew that Peter's faith would save him. He had confidence in him, so much so that he was the "rock" upon which he built his church. Peter gained strength and courage to spread the Gospel and ended up dying on a cross for his faith.

Open to God's love. Pope Benedict said that God's call is not addressed to the perfect, but to those open to God's love. God can change human hearts and make them capable of communicating the love of God to others. "The church is holy even if its members need to be purified so that holiness, a gift of God, can shrine through them in all its brightness," said the Holy Father in his message.

We've probably all heard men say, "I am not good enough to be a priest." Likewise some women might feel they are not good enough to consider entering the religious or consecrated life.

Yet, if thoughts of a church vocation are entering their minds, perhaps God is indeed calling them. They should listen to God through prayer and perhaps take steps to inquire and get help to discern whether God might be calling them.

We need people to serve. Today, the church needs people to serve as priests and religious. "Serve" is the important word here. Jesus himself said, "I come not to be served but to serve." He washed the feet of his apostles as a sign of the importance of that service.

The church desperately needs priests and religious who can serve God's people. This means all the faithful, of course, but it also includes the sick, the poor, the weak, the marginalized - all those in our society who need God's healing touch. And there certainly seem to be more of them every day!

All of us have very human weaknesses. Priests and religious are no different. Those who battle their own temptations and weaknesses can perhaps better understand the struggles of those they serve. That's perhaps why some of our later vocations are people who can empathize and counsel their parishioners and others so wisely and well.

I encourage all those who are considering a vocation to take heart. Don't worry about being perfect. As Pope Benedict says, you will receive all the help you need from God.

Pray, pray, pray. Pope Benedict also asked for special prayers for vocations to the priesthood, which is so essential for the celebration of the sacraments and for the ongoing life of the church. Prayer is something we can all do. So pray, pray, pray. Pray to follow your own vocation and pray for others to follow theirs.

Pray on this Sunday and every day that those called will recognize and accept that call.

Mary C. Uhler

Mailbag

	Mailbag policy We reserve the right to edit or reject letters. Limit letters to 200 words or less. All letters must be signed. Please include your city or town of residence. Send letters to: Mailbag The Catholic Herald P.O. Box 44985 Madison, WI 53744-4985 Fax: 608-821-3071 E-mail: info@madisoncatholicherald.org

Why does state pour money into embryonic stem cell research?

To the editor:

What a mismatch! There are now 65 diseases and conditions that have been successfully treated using adult stem cells.The number of treatments for embryonic stem cells is zero because these cells are too dangerous to put into a human person. With adult stem cell research, no one has to die to retrieve the cells. A living human embryo is always destroyed to retrieve the embryonic stem cells.

Cord blood which is normally discarded after a woman gives birth is rich in adult stem cells. Yet Wisconsin houses the national embryonic stem bank and has NO cord blood bank.

It is hard to understand why our state and Governor Doyle continue to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into embryonic stem cell research to the exclusion of adult stem cells. Governor Doyle just issued an executive order to spend $5 million to attract private companies to Wisconsin to engage in embryonic stem cell research. If one criticizes the headlong rush driving Wisconsin to be the embryonic stem cell capitol of the world, you are accused of hurting the Wisconsin economy and depriving people of jobs.

So, is the goal now to solve unemployment by destroying human life? And what about the inevitable "need" for cloning? Wisconsin scientists claim that cloning is not necessary to achieve their goals. It was no surprise, however, that these same scientists adamantly opposed recent legislation to ban all human cloning. And, that Governor Doyle vetoed this important bill.

Wisconsin deserves better than to be recognized as a state that prioritizes the destruction of human life for immoral social and economic gain.

Barbara Lyons, Milwaukee
Executive Director, Wisconsin Right to Life

Why meetings held during day

To the editor:

This is in response to Kathy's letter in the April 20th Catholic Herald. I am sorry you have been offended by the wording of the publicity for the meetings of the Catholic Daughters of Americas, Court Madison meetings. We thought that those who read it would assume that we meant women who were available to attend our daytime meetings.

We have our meetings during the day for a very good reason. Our court started out 75 years ago with evening meetings, but as the years went by, the membership grew older and the women did not care to go out at night. Our court won't be ready to go back to night meetings until the age of our membership changes and that won't be likely to happen for a number of years.

We are looking for new members, but at this time, we are looking for women who are recently retired and looking for something else meaningful to do. I would like to suggest to Kathy that if she can find a number of women who are working and would be interested in becoming members of our worthy organization, she contact me by way of the editor and I would be willing to tell her how to start a new CDA court for women in the working world.

Charlotte S. Carey, Madison

More homilies, less Da Vinci Code

To the editor:

Instead of acknowledging the existence of the book and movie entitled The Da Vince Code, the laity in all Catholic churches should hear homilies on the relationship of Jesus' Divine nature to His human nature and what constitutes blasphemy against God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and recognized saints whom we venerate, such as St. Mary Magdalene.

Charles J. Sippel, Waterloo