Vocations director Fr. Corey D. Bruns (center) is seen with diocesan seminarians (left to right) Tommy Rhodes, Wes Wheatley, Hunter Dickens, Tuan Nguyen, and Hoan Tran, during a parish mission at St. Pius X in Owensboro in early 2026. COURTESY OF FR. COREY D. BRUNS
Letting Down Our Nets: Trusting the Lord to Send Our Diocese More Holy Vocations
BY FR. COREY D. BRUNS, OFFICE OF VOCATIONS
“Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer” is a spiritual motto attributed to Padre Pio that has “unofficially” been the motto of the Office of Vocations this past year.
Statistically speaking, we as a diocese need to have a minimum of 14 men in seminary each year to maintain our current number of priests in active ministry. We started the fall semester off with the acceptance of three men to seminary, moving our numbers from four to seven – only half of the numbers the statistics say we need to be “healthy” vocationally-speaking. That’s where worry could have come into play, but with hope and trust in God’s mercy, we as a diocese have turned to the Lord more intentionally with prayer and sacrifice this year for an increase in good and holy vocations to marriage, priesthood, and consecrated life – and God is answering our prayers.
Bishop William F. Medley smiles for a photo with two women from the Diocese of Owensboro who are aspirants with the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, while attending the National Catholic Youth Conference in November 2025. On the left is Amber Payne, who grew up at Immaculate Parish in Owensboro and attended Owensboro Catholic Schools and Brescia University. On the right is Aislinn Domantay, who served for several years as a teacher at Owensboro Catholic Middle School. RILEY GREIF | WKC
The Lord of the Harvest is turning the worry into joy as we see more men have the courage to stand firm in hope and respond to the invitation of the Lord in their life and discern their vocation more intentionally. Twenty-one men participated in Come & See weekends to our seminaries, where they asked the question of God: “Are you calling me to be a priest?” Thirty college men joined the Office of Vocations at the SEEK Conference for a meal and visit with Bishop Medley as we seek to form relationships and begin the conversation of vocation in people’s lives.
We visited six of our schools for vocation visits and participated in three Newman Nights with our college students at Western Kentucky University and Murray State University. An average of 35 people gather weekly at Sts. Joseph & Paul Parish in Owensboro for Vocation Tuesday to simply pray a Holy Hour and celebrate Mass as we intentionally ask the Lord to grant us many more holy vocations. Seven men will have begun and completed the application process for seminary for our diocese by the end of June, moving us from eight men in seminary formation to 15.
(Left to right) seminarian Juan Carlos Lazo Soriano, Fr. Julio Barrera, a seminarian visiting from another diocese, and vocations director Fr. Corey D. Bruns converse at Brescia University in Owensboro ahead of the October 2025 procession and closing Mass for National Migration Week. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC
These numbers are inspiring and humbling as we continue to build a culture of vocations within our diocese, firmly rooted in prayer and relationship with the Lord and one another, full of hope in the future our merciful God is giving us in calling forth more shepherds for his Church – lacking in worry, because at the end of the day, worry is truly useless.
God is the captain of this ship and we are sailing to deeper waters to let down our nets for a catch!
To learn more about discernment in the Diocese of Owensboro, check out the newly-refreshed website: owensborovocations.com.
Originally printed in the Diocese of Owensboro’s 2025-2026 impact report in June 2026.
