ON A WING AND A PRAYER
Sabu Aruthottiyil of King Jesus Ministries, Kerala, India, is one my of favourite evangelists who regularly comes on Shalom TV, a Christian charismatic channel. He recently spoke succinctly and pithily about the vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life. In a nutshell, his message was “don’t try to prevent your son or daughter from selecting the vocation to the priesthood or religious life.”
“It’s a sin to prevent your son or daughter from becoming a priest or a nun. You will be answerable to God one day,” he unequivocally said. Sabu’s message was aimed not only at some parents who were less enthusiastic about their son or daughter selecting priesthood as a vocation but also to encourage them to give their children for God’s work. In the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, one of the 22 churches under Vatican, vocation to priesthood has not been a serious concern unlike many European countries where there’s an acute shortage of priests. However, Catholic families prefer their children to select lucrative vocations like engineering or medicine and target a white collar job with a fat pay cheque.
In a metropolitan city like Mumbai, 14 students have enrolled into a minor seminary run by Kalyan Diocese, Bishop Thomas Elavanal said in a pastoral letter issued last week. This is not a poor number by any standard, especially at a time when the size of the family has contracted to father, mother and two children in Indian metros where housing is a massive problem. Even then, Indian priests tell me that parishes in many countries in Europe, North America and even Africa turn to Indian priests to run their churches and carry on the evangelization work.
Pope Francis last week said many parts of the world are experiencing a dearth of vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life. Often this is due to the absence of contagious apostolic fervour in communities which lack enthusiasm and thus fail to attract. “The joy of the Gospel is born of the encounter with Christ and from sharing with the poor. For this reason I encourage parish communities, associations and groups to live an intense fraternal life, grounded in love for Jesus and concern for the needs of the most disadvantaged,” the pontiff says.
Many churches in Europe are either lying closed or witness very few footfalls. This is also the case even in Rome, where Vatican is located and Pope governs the church. In Rome, you can see huge and magnificent churches, which can accommodate thousands of people and built several centuries ago, remaining empty even on Sundays. Why? The world has changed, technologically, socially and even culturally. “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience,” says the apostolic exhortation.
But that’s the case everywhere. Wherever there is joy, enthusiasm and a desire to bring Christ to others, genuine vocations arise. Among these vocations, we should not overlook lay vocations to mission. There has been a growing awareness of the identity and mission of the lay faithful in the Church, as well as a recognition that they are called to take an increasingly important role in the spread of the Gospel. Consequently they need to be given a suitable training for the sake of an effective apostolic activity, Pope Francis said in his message for the World Mission Day last week.
On the other hand, despite the scarcity of vocations, today we are increasingly aware of the need for a better process of selecting candidates to the priesthood. Seminaries cannot accept candidates on the basis of any motivation whatsoever, especially if those motivations have to do with affective insecurity or the pursuit of power, human glory or economic well-being, says Evangelii Gaudium. Nobody can afford to allow a wrong person to enter the vocation of priesthood.
However, Fr. Antony Pulluvila O.C.D, former Vicar Apostolic of Kuwait, once told me, “this doesn’t happen in our seminaries. The training is so intense and religious that only motivated, committed and people with a call from Jesus only come out as priests from Indian seminaries. People who lack in sincerity and commitment will not be able to continue in the seminary and become priests. In the seminary, we come to know within one or two years who will complete the studies and come out as a priest. Others drop out one after another.”
There’s no wonder that Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has produced many outstanding priests with charism. Many of them are doing a fabulous job in charismatic renewal services, parish and mission work across the world.
