by Fr. Alec Sasse,
Vocations Director
When I became the Vocation Director for the Diocese of Lincoln in June of this year, I knew that I needed to find the right “sales pitch” for men who were potentially called to discern the priesthood.
“Give your life to Jesus and you’ll always be filled with peace…” “As a priest, you’ll never be bored…” “I mean, come on, you get to hold Jesus in your hands!” “Trust me, laundry gets a lot easier…” These were all true, but they didn’t quite resonate as “give your life away” true to me.
I found an authentic vocation sales pitch in an unlikely place. In the 1860s, Bishop Auguste Martin, leader of the newly-established Diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana, traveled to France, seeking to convince men to come to his new, rugged, humid diocese to serve as priests. Bishop Martin, himself a missionary to Louisiana, stood before the men and said, “We offer you no salary, no recompense, no holiday or pension. But much hard work, a poor dwelling, few consolations, many disappointments, frequent sickness, a violent or lonely death, and an unknown grave.”
Bishop Martin didn’t advertise wealth, comfort, or recognition. He simply offered these men the Gospel. Dwelling in our sanitized and manicured 21st century lives, we can forget that Our Lord himself gave a similar sales pitch: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt. 16:24).
Five men followed Bishop Martin back to Louisiana to serve as priests. All five died administering the sacraments to the dying population of Shreveport during the 1873 Yellow Fever outbreak. These men left everything behind to follow where Jesus called. They placed the spiritual needs of a people they didn’t even know before their own. They died bringing grace to sinners. Their last breaths were spent pouring out love in the face of death. Theirs may seem just a story to us, but to the desolate and lonely people of Shreveport, they were the merciful face of Jesus.
They were heroes. They are heroes! They became heroes because they responded to the grace which invited them to “lose their lives” for the sake of the Gospel. They took a risk and responded to a call which brought about a harrowing within. The result? There became space for true and authentic love. There became space for sacrifice. There became space for Jesus.
The Second Vatican Council stated that, “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.” We discover who we are by sacrificing who we think we are. There is something deep within each man which yearns to sacrifice to the point of death for one we love. The Apostles and the “Shreveport Martyrs,” as they’ve come to be venerated, found the one they loved – Jesus – and they gave all. In doing so, they discovered who they were: they were like Jesus, who “humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).
I would like the vocation sales pitch of our diocese to be like the ones which captured the hearts of thousands of missionaries over the centuries: the Cross, the Gospel, the Glory of loving like Jesus. No need to pamper it or dress it up. The Gospel speaks to the heart of man.
In the midst of their sacrifice, the Shreveport martyrs learned a welcomed lesson: joyful intimacy accompanies sacrifice. Each of the dying priests lived just long enough to see a brother priest coming to him with a smile and the sacraments, urging them on to Heaven. The priesthood doesn’t offer comfort, but it offers love. And that’s enough.
If you’re interested in talking about discerning the priesthood, contact Father Sasse at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
