The contagion of joy: How altar serving sparks vocations

Monday, September 1, 2025

*Fr. Richard Vigoa - St. Augustine Catholic Parish

BLOGGER PROFILE

When I walk into the sacristy before Mass and see a group of altar servers bustling about, searching out their cassocks, tying cinctures, lighting candles, whispering instructions to the new kid, I can’t help but smile. They may be middle-schoolers, teenagers, or even young adults, but they know they’re about to do something that matters. And again and again, I’ve watched how those little gestures, carrying the cross, holding the missal, setting the altar, become the first steps in something far deeper: the stirring of a vocation. I know, because that’s where my own vocation began.

Pope Leo XIV touched on that very point in his recent address to more than 350 French altar servers who had made a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome. He urged them never to treat their ministry as routine but as a privilege: “The Eucharist is the treasure of the Church, the treasure of treasures.” Serving at the altar, he reminded them, is not simply “helping Father”, it is stepping into the mystery itself. And then he gave them a challenge: “Remain attentive to the call that Jesus might make to you to follow him more closely in the priesthood.”

Those words ring true in my own parish. By God’s grace, several young men and women from our community are now discerning priesthood or religious life. Their journeys are varied, some are drawn to the Society of Jesus, one to the Legionaries of Christ, another to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, while others are preparing for service in our diocesan seminary. One of them, a talented University of Miami football player, has shared with me that once he graduates, he hopes to enter formation. And a young woman who once sang faithfully in our parish choir is now discerning with a religious community. Each story is different, but all of them trace their beginnings back to the sanctuary: to the reverence, the beauty, the mystery they encountered, and to the joy they saw in their priests.

That’s the truth: altar serving plants seeds. But it’s the pastor’s life that waters them. A priest’s joy is contagious. His visible love for Christ and his willingness to give his life away speak louder than any program or initiative. Young people aren’t inspired by efficiency or polished management, they’re inspired by authenticity, by joy, by holiness lived transparently in front of them.

And this is what Pope Leo wanted to underline. The so-called “vocations crisis” is not just a problem to be solved; it’s an invitation to rediscover the joy and beauty of the priesthood itself. “What a wonderful life a priest has,” he told the altar servers, “meeting Jesus each day in such a unique way and bringing him to the world!”

History bears this out. For centuries, the altar has been the seedbed of vocations. St. John Berchmans, the young Jesuit saint of the 17th century, first felt his call while serving daily Mass. St. John Bosco, who would go on to inspire generations of youth, discovered his vocation while serving at the altar in Piedmont. Even Pope St. John Paul II recalled that his own vocation was nurtured by watching the silent witness of priests at Mass during the dark years of Nazi occupation. Again and again, the pattern repeats: the sanctuary is more than a place of service, it is where God whispers a call.

There is, quite simply, no greater task in the Church than bringing souls to Christ. That mission gives meaning to every Mass, every homily, every late-night hospital call. And when young people see that mission embodied with joy, they begin to wonder: Could God be calling me too?

This is where the whole community comes in. Parents encourage their children to serve. Pastors celebrate the liturgy with reverence, while parishes foster vocations by drawing the faithful into the daily work of prayer and support for those discerning God’s call. In a world that tells young people to chase money, comfort, or status, the Church must dare to show them something greater: the adventure of holiness.

So, the next time you notice an altar server carrying the cross or lighting a candle, focus on it. That simple act could be the beginning of a lifelong call. It could be the seed of a vocation, encourage it.

Because the Eucharist is, indeed, the treasure of the Church. And from that treasure, Christ still whispers: Come, follow me.