him, knowing that the first requirement for a person who is to accept the Lord's call is to come to know Jesus himself.  A line from the homily of Pope Benedict on the day of his inauguration can be applied to the priest as a man of prayer:  "There is nothing more beautiful than to know Christ and to speak of others of our friendship with Him".  At the very heart of a priest's life and work is coming to know Christ more intimately.    Those of us who have been in ministry for many years know that the Christ for whom we search in prayer we meet constantly in the people to whom we minister.

Speaking of vocations in this current year I would like to introduce a personal note.  I am celebrating twenty-five years as a Bishop in this year 2008.  Because it is a milestone in my life I would like to mark it in some particular way.  And what better way could I choose than putting once again before the people of the Diocese the importance of vocations to the priesthood?  The invitation of men to join the priesthood must be a priority for people, priests and Bishop. 

I am very happy to be able to say that I have spent twenty-three years as a priest and now twenty-five as Bishop, in all of that time being very fulfilled and happy in my ministry.  Never for a moment have I regretted the fact that I responded to what I believed to have been a call of Christ to be his priest and a witness to the Gospel.

I entered Maynooth in 1953.  Back then it was easier to hear the call of Christ, I believe.  Success in life was less tied to well paid occupations.  It was easier to talk about the possibility of being a priest when many of one's school mates had made that choice. It was easier for parents to be supportive of their sons who chose the priesthood when there was less fear that a man might be unhappy in his choice at a later date.  All that I accept but I still can say that there was some fear and some uncertainty in my mind at that time.

Some of my own classmates assumed that I would choose priesthood, something which annoyed me at a time when I was far from sure that it was for me.  The President of St Mel's College where I went to school took the same view and put it up to me on a particular day when I met him in the grounds of the school.  At first that did not really please me either!  And yet both he and my classmates did help me to decide.  It is reassuring to hear that others think you can do something.  There is a lesson to be learned for all of us here and now from that. Men who are unsure of themselves and their suitability for priesthood need a word of encouragement now more than ever. I ask priests, parents and parishioners to put vocation to priesthood to somebody they think could be a priest.  Even though he may say that it is not for him, nothing is lost and he may well be happy to have had the suggestion put to him.

We will launch the Year for Vocation on the 13th of April in St Mel's Cathedral.  As it happens this is the Sunday nearest to the twenty-fifth anniversary of my ordination as Bishop of the Diocese.  The best Jubilee gift I could receive would surely be a new enthusiasm for vocations and more applicants for the seminary for the years ahead.

+Colm O'Reilly.