Prof. Thomas O'Loughlin, in a version of a piece published last week in La Croix International, tells us that "If we believe that the Spirit is moving in the community of the baptised, then a ‘vocations crisis’ is nonsense. It is only a crisis of us failing to look, train, and empower."

Seamus Ahearne is thinking about what is to come. "Vocation is a big word. It isn’t limited to the wonderland of priesthood. Parenting. Frontline folk. This is ministry.  Any return from exile, needs an expansive exploration of Church, Sacrament, Priesthood, Ministry.  We cannot come back to celebrate what was. We come from the desert and the wilderness."

It is time for our church leaders to think again about some of their cherished "red lines" or boundaries that seem to be set in stone....