Revival of Catholic faith opens doors
One of the many Baptisms at St. Mary’s Catholic Center at Texas A&M
Vocations are on the upswing, and potential candidates seem to be especially attracted to cloistered communities, more than active ones. So, it’s time to make your community’s charism known to the growing number of single persons seeking their God-given vocations.
Let’s step back for a minute. Do you love your Catholic faith? Here are three signs of Catholic vitality today:
1) Youth on fire. You’ll be happy to know that there’s something very good brewing in this country. At Texas A&M, St. Mary’s Catholic Center attracts between 4,000 and 5,000 college students to Mass each Sunday. They have graduated more than 130 priests and religious from their campus ministry. This is only one example. Another example is at the University of Illinois’ main campus at the Newman Center.
2) Bishops speak out. Perhaps events like the recent strong stance of the U.S. Bishops in the face of the horrific HHS mandate has drawn a lot of attention to the beauty of our faith, and in turn, religious life. Our leadership is taking a stand.
3) Cyberspace Catholics blog. And just look at all the Catholic bloggers, many of whom are converts, who boldly and articulately tell their stories of how their eyes were opened to the fullness of truth.
Can we assume that there is a revival of the Catholic faith in the U.S.? Duh. Small so far, but significant.
Get linked
Closed away from the world, contemplative communities have given their all to God. They do so not because they are running away from the evils of the world — it’s because their divine Spouse is such an attractive alternative. But the traditional ways that such communities have attracted vocations are quickly fading. Recommendations from priests and local contacts are just not as strong as they used to be.
These communities need to get linked to the world through the internet, to take advantage of the growing number of young Catholics who make it their meeting place in the digital world.
Pope Benedict XVI has promoted the Church’s use of the web. At the 46th World Communications Day on May 20, 2012, the Holy Father said,
Attention should be paid to the various types of websites, applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning, as well as making space for silence and occasions for prayer, meditation or sharing of the word of God.
Cloistered life ads
Your ad will be attractively designed
And now, cloistered communities can take advantage of the most popular of websites devoted to cloistered life, as judged by Google: CloisteredLife.com, run by the Institute on Religious Life (IRL). This website dominates the top four positions when one searches for this term under Google. The site attracts 2,200 unique visitors each month, as averaged over the last six months. The average visitor spends 2.5 minutes browsing the website.
Your cloistered community now has the opportunity to take out an ad for only $75 per month — a low fee compared to other Catholic sites, who charge hundreds of dollars. If you need an ad made (like ad at right) we can do that for a one-time fee of $100.
Act quickly, because ads are placed from top to bottom on a first-come, first-served basis. And there are only so many ads spots available.
Free booklet that brings vocations
One more benefit — If you respond to this three-month ad for Cloistered Life by July 31, 2012, I will send you free, a booklet of prayers about which the Poor Clares of Santa Barbara, CA said, “After we put this booklet out for people to use freely, our vocations inquiries increased incredibly.” Read the full story about “Lord of the Harvest ? Vocation Prayers of Bl. John Paul II.”
Call Kevin Banet, Vocation Promotion editor, to set up your ad and article by phone or email on our Contact Us page.
