FAMILY BULLETIN

Where do priests

receive their formation?

Introduction:

Dear Parents:

Our society is urgently in need of strengthening our faith; it is faith in Jesus Christ, which gives meaning and direction to life that supports authentic guidelines for society and Christian communities to follow.

Priesthood is a vocation, a special call to follow Jesus more closely and give your life for the Gospel. A priest today must live his vocation and mission in a society that is subjected to rapid changes; he must work in a world, held under the enormous power that the means of communication exert over it. This Present technology can be used for good and for evil.

The need to adequately respond to a changing society, to the new challenges that proclaiming the Gospel implies calls for new requirements in priestly formation for the seminarians as well as for those who are actually in ministry.

It is important to remember that vocations to the priesthood normally emerge from the families and communities where faith is strengthened. We need to strengthen the Christian values in our families and communities since priestly formation is not solely a work of the teachers at the seminary; but it begins within the family and continues in the Christian community where the priest ministers.

Let us delve deeply into this matter and let us commit to the part we play in this formative process of our priests.

Message

The family is the domestic Church. It is the first church that a child encounters. During the baptism of their children, parents are given the Christian task of assisting their children to grow in virtue and in a life guided by the Light of Christ. Therefore, “It is in the family that parents are by word and example… the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children. They should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each child, fostering with special care any religious vocation." (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1656).

Ø Pray as a family daily. Include prayers for those who are living their vocation in the service of the church, for those who are in the process of discernment and pray that one of your children may receive the call to be a Priest or Religious.

Ø Teach your children to pray so that they may discover and use the talents that God has given them. Help them to dedicate a time to give thanks to God in a daily basis. Encourage your sons and daughters to get involved in parish projects, organizations and charitable activities.

Ø Allow your children to experience Christian values through your example as you take the mandates of the Gospel seriously and value vocations to church ministry. Let them see that you are open to the will of God in your life.

Ø Attend an ordination to the priesthood or a profession of vows by a Religious. Answer questions your children might have about priesthood or Religious life.

HOW CAN WE FOSTER VOCATIONS TO THE CONSECRATED LIFE?

Ø Ask yourself if you have built a family where Christ’s virtues can flourish or if all that comes through cable channels, some internet sites, some videogames and movies are influencing your life and that of your children.

Ø Always speak about priests and religious with respect, especially when you have a difference of opinion. Be careful when constructively criticizing the church and never be part of gossip. Do not tolerate any humor that spiritually devaluates religious life or priesthood. Invite your parish Priest, Religious Brother, Religious Sister, to your house or tell them in the presence of your children that they are welcome to come to your house.

HOUSE OF FORMATION

Young men who aspire to be priests are formed in the seminary as pastors following the example of Christ.

The seminary is an educational community of the Church. Its life revolves around the human, spiritual and pastoral formation of the future presbyters.

Ø The seminary contains the “seeds of hope” The young men who know by intuition that God has given them “the seed of Priesthood” join the seminary with faith and courage, at the amazement of some and the criticism of others, to discover, nourish and help this gift of God to grow in the service of others.

Ø The seminary is the “heart of the Diocese”, where the future priests who will be the new blood and renewal of the church are formed. This heart receives each year a new generation of followers of Christ: young men who bring fresh ideas, experiences and projectYs, a desire to learn from the wisdom of our mother and teacher the Church; committed to take on the banner of the Gospel and go with it to reach goals which have not yet be attained.

Ø The seminary is everybody’s home: The seminary is part of our life because we have all received multiple benefits from it. Society is interested in what takes place in the seminary and the seminary is aware of the needs of society.

PRIESTS CONTINUE THEIR FORMATION IN THE COMMUNITY WHOM THEYSERVE. Priests are part of the Christian community, participate in its life and are ordained for the service of the community. They are constantly present in the life of the Church and of the community.

Some people admire them, others criticize them and few understand them. We must pray and pray hard for priests, so day by day they may discover that their vocation is for the good of the people; that they may be authentic ministers, who give their life without reserve; who are called to bring the presence of Jesus Christ to the Church.

Priests receive encouragement from the people of God when Christians look to them as pastor of souls and demand of them a true priestly living and help them to faithfully persevere in their vocation

Discuss:

Reflect on the feelings and reactions you might have if one of your children chooses to be a priest, a religious brother or a Religious Sister and talk to your spouse about it.

Sources:

¿Qué es el Seminario? Mensaje del Pbro. Jorge Carlos Patrón Wong, Rector del Seminario de Yucatán

For Parents www.nypriest.com/espanol/for-parents/

Translated by Sr. Hilda Maria Reynoso, SJS