On the Road for Vocations
By Pat McEntee
Associate Vocation Director

At the Catholic Festival of Faith in Chicago, Archbishop Francis Cardinal George, OMI, signed copies of his book, The Difference God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion and Culture, for attendees. Glenmary’s associate vocation director Pat McEntee met the archbishop and had the opportunity to speak briefly to him about Glenmary.

As associate vocation director for Glenmary, I am always seeking new ways to connect with potential vocation seekers. October afforded me a wide variety of opportunities. My first stop was a visit with a vocation prospect in Illinois, on my way to our exhibitor booth at the Catholic Festival of Faith in Chicago. Both occasions were joys.

The Festival of Faith brought thousands of visitors past Glenmary’s booth. As usual, many people stopped to talk, and as usual, a number of people shared stories about their experiences with Glenmary. I continue to be amazed at the frequency of these occasions. The areas we serve are in Appalachia and the South and Southwest. However, this trip took me to an upper Midwestern city, and people were still visiting to tell me about their Glenmary connections and memories.

Compared to many other religious orders, Glenmary Home Missioners is tiny. However, we obviously make a huge impact. That seems to be a hallmark for us. What we lack in numbers, we make up for in zeal and impact.

On the final day at the Festival of Faith, Chicago Archbishop Francis Cardinal George, OMI, signed copies of his book, The Difference God Makes: A Catholic Vision of Faith, Communion and Culture, at the booth around the corner from ours. I had the opportunity to meet him and tell him briefly about Glenmary.

Closer to home, I participated in “Cast Your Nets,” a rally-style vocations event hosted by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The archdiocese conducts three of these events per year. This one was held at St. Luke Church in Beavercreek, Ohio, for the Dayton Deanery. High school and college students came from all parts of Dayton and even from outside the area.

Late this past summer, I decided to assemble a list of college and high school campus ministers in the states near our Cincinnati Headquarters. I contacted them to offer my services for any programs with which they might need assistance, as well as to introduce them to Glenmary Home Missioners.

In response, I was asked to help with programs at two Northern Kentucky schools. The first was a high school service event with Holy Cross High School in Covington, Ky. I led a group of 20 juniors to a volunteer opportunity at a Head Start program in Covington. The program was at a preschool for children from low-income families. We split up the group up among several different classrooms full of three- and four-year-olds. The morning was spent reading to them, playing games, and singing and dancing. We finished by sharing lunch with the children before heading back to Holy Cross to process the day and close with a prayer service.

The other event was a “Busy Person’s Retreat” at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky. In all my years of working with youths and leading retreats, I had never been involved in a busy person’s retreat. I was technically the leader, but the event was very interactive. In my one-on-one meetings with a retreatant named George, we used the planned readings merely as a guide. As was suggested, we allowed the Holy Spirit to guide our conversation. We met for 30–60 minutes each day for four days. Some days, our conversation revolved around the Scripture. Other days, we barely got to it. Regardless, the presence of the Spirit was obvious.

I look forward to similar experiences in the future. I am planning more events with these schools, a vocations fair with Marian University in Indianapolis, and hopefully others.

If you know of any events going on at your school in which Glenmary could participate, please contact us and let us know!