The email was simple. A sister was asking me what we charge for advertising for one of the youth websites we maintain. Of course, it’s always good news to hear that people need us.
Almost always.
I was curious about her religious community, and so I checked out their website.
Hmmm…. Signs of trouble. The site was heavy on social work, and light on devotion. Habits were rare. And there was one thing that stood out like a sore thumb. Where the site talked about living arrangements, it talked about two sisters who lived in an apartment. One sister prayed the traditional Liturgy of the Hours, and the other simply lit candles and read poetry. The second sister, as the website explained, felt that this was a sufficient spiritual exercise.
I don’t know about you, but in my mind this does not cut the mustard. I cannot justify putting the hard-earned efforts of our team into promoting a community that does not appear to live as a Catholic religious community should. Would you agree with me that reading poetry is just not the same as praying the Liturgy of the Hours?
So I wrote back to the sister, explaining that our ads ran only from December until March, and that I wasn’t taking any new ads at this time.
Paying the mortgage
Now, if you’re a business person, you know how difficult it is to get good work. Doing religious work is no different, even in good economic times. You might spend thousands of dollars in marketing, or hours of precious time, to get a good return for your effort. Any family man who has started a business knows the anguish-filled times when he has sat across the kitchen table from his wife and has to say, “Honey, it’s going to be difficult paying this month’s mortgage.”
And yet, I had to turn down this large religious community, which probably had a big vocation budget. The reason was that our goal here at Vocation Promotion is to proclaim from the rooftops about authentic religious life – communities faithful to the Magisterium — those who live the common life, who have a devotion to Christ in the Eucharist, and who wear the religious habit. And we connect those communities to potential vocations through our monthly Vocation Promotion Program.
But I had to say no to this sister. Now, members of my own family are not the only ones who suffer. Our group, Vocation Promotion, also employs people who write articles and blog posts, programmers and artists. These people take a hit, too.
Eager young Catholics
Our Come & See Vocation Promotion Program finds young, eager, faith-filled Catholics who may have a religious vocation. And then connect them with good religious communities. And we do it. Sr. Isaac, of the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, Oak Forest, IL, said,“The help and support we received from TreeFrogClick was an incredible blessing and inspiration to our community and together we look for a renewal of religious life and a growing in holiness by reclaiming cyberspace through Jesus and Mary.” (See more testimonials.)
We can find vocations. Did you know that 56% of those who “liked” our Facebook page “Holy Vocations” are Catholics between 18 and 24 years old? Or that we can target young single, faithful Catholic men or women and send them to a religious website? For example, we recently ran an ad for the priesthood for one of our religious communities. They got 22 clicks to their website in less than 24 hours.
Our articles, blog posts, videos and newsletters are reaching thousands of young, faithful Catholics. I can’t image sending these young, impressionable people to a religious community whose leadership is wandering around in the modernist darkness, clueless as to what religious life is all about. Oh, I know there are many good individuals in some of those communities who struggle every day, sometimes heroically keeping the norms of religious life as best they can. But it’s only fair for me to send the next generation of consecrated persons to communities who are going to foster their vocations properly and put them on the path to authentic religious life. The community should at least be heading in that direction. These new vocations have already begun to turn the wheels of the new evangelization.
The communities we serve are seeing real interest from single Catholics as a result of our work. And these communities are able to find and nurture these prospects through the internet. Read more about us, or read our newsletter archive.
We as Catholics need to keep the process going — to reach these vibrant young people, and with the right message. My eight-year-old son, who has shown an interest in prayer and religious matters, has asked me, “Dad, what should I be when I grow up?” My answer to him is, “When a boy grows up, he can make one of two choices: either become a priest, or do anything else.”
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To start your program, contact Kevin J. Banet today at 708-557-9491, or contact him via email.
A One-Minute Solution to Your Greatest Problem Let me help you get over the hurdle of your greatest vocation obstacle. Tell me below of your biggest problem right now, and I will send you a sure-fire solution, at no cost. I’ll keep it completely confidential, of course.
