Word to the Wise
Monday, January 12, 2015 - Monday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 1:1-6 and Mark 1:14-20]"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they left their nets and followed him. [Mark]
This past week I preached a retreat for diocesan seminarians from various dioceses in Texas and also from the diocese of Charleston, SC. Although I have been preaching retreats for diocesan priests for many years, this experience was a first for me with diocesan seminarians. I have preached for our own Dominican novices and student brothers and that experience is very different from the one this past week. The response to the "call" takes a different flavor because the commitment in the case of a diocesan seminarian is to the territory and bishop of a particular diocese. For Dominicans, the commitment is to a world-wide fraternity which may be geographically organized but a friar may find himself easily working outside those boundaries. At one time or another, I have served in all four Dominican provinces in the U.S.A.!
The Gospel of Mark has Simon (Peter) and Andrew responding immediately to Jesus' summons, and then James and John. The words, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men..." seem to have been enough. Of course, Mark may be shortening a process that took awhile, but that's not the way the story goes here. In the case of those diocesan seminarians (and in my own case many years ago) it was a long period of agonizing in prayer and thought before making a commitment to a process of formal "discernment." The various dioceses make a great investment in these men knowing full well that at any point right up to the day of ordination, they can decide to leave! On the other hand, the seminarians are well aware that they are being asked to make a lifetime commitment. Sometimes I wonder if we should require that kind of discernment for marriage!
The power of faith can lead a person to make the commitment to full time service as a priest. That same power can sustain a person in the long years of service. But they do need our prayers and support, whether diocesan or religious order. I recommend making the effort to meet the seminarians of your diocese or the student brothers of any religious order serving your parish. I think their stories of responding to Jesus' call will strengthen your own faith and vocation. AMEN
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