Year IV, Number 20

The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary’s side as she is busy watching over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed” in us (cf. Gal 4:19). This role of Mary, totally grounded in that of Christ and radically subordinated to it, “in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power”. This is the luminous principle expressed by the Second Vatican Council which I have so powerfully experienced in my own life and have made the basis of my episcopal motto: Totus Tuus. The motto is of course inspired by the teaching of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, who explained in the following words Mary’s role in the process of our configuration to Christ: “Our entire perfection consists in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary, his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ.” Never as in the Rosary do the life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in Christ and for Christ!

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I am thinking about the priesthood and am very interested in it. I want to start to do daily prayers. What prayer book would you recommend me to get? Also, what can I do to learn about the priesthood? One more question: how do you know if you have a calling to become a priest or brother? Thank you, and God bless.

- Kenny

A. Dear Kenny,

A lot of questions in a short space: that’s economy! There are several good prayer books, but let me suggest the following: get a copy of the “Vatican II Missal” published by the Daughters of St Paul. There are two volumes, one for Sundays and the other for weekdays. Both have a “Treasury of Prayers” towards the back, which includes prayers before and after Mass, morning and night prayers, popular devotions, and prayers for special intentions. The reason for my suggestion is this: if you want to cultivate your prayer life, and especially if you think God might be calling you, you will want to go to Mass more frequently, and you will want to prepare and participate in the Mass more fully. The missal will help you do that. On the days you cannot go to Mass, you will be able to read the scripture readings on your own, and this missal has short, helpful reflections for each day’s readings that I am sure you will find useful. After you read through the Treasury of Prayers a few times you are going to pick a few favorites and want to pray them every day. That is usually a good sign in our spiritual life.

What can I do to learn more about the priesthood?

You can read Pope John Paul’s story of his own vocation and his personal reflections on the priesthood in his book, “Gift and Mystery”. See if you can get a hold of Fulton J. Sheen’s book (sometimes hard to find) “Those Mysterious Priests”. But any life of Christ (again I recommend the one written by Fulton J. Sheen) will help you understand the call to the priesthood.

How do you know if you have a calling to become a priest or brother?

You have to look into it. Get advice from a good priest you know. It is a very good sign that you are even asking yourself the question, but you need the help of someone who knows you to be able to tell. Also, visit a seminary or order that interests you; they will be able to help you. Count on my prayers.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I think the Lord is calling on me to become a nun. I hear him, but I'm not sure where to go to get questions answered. I haven't seen a nun in my area in years. Should I go to the archdiocese? Maybe I should move to Alabama and have Mother Angelica help me. That would be great!!! Many blessings and love.

- Nicole

A. Dear Nicole,

There are few details in your message, and to give concrete advice I would need more (age, studies, responsibilities, spiritual interests, etc...) to go on, so let me just say some very general things.

Pray. Now that the thought has come into your mind, you have to take responsibility for it, to make sure it grows and bears fruit. Prayer is to spend time with God. Visit him in the Eucharist, go to Mass more frequently, speak to Mary and put your vocation in her hands. Don’t ask so much for signs, as to get to know Christ so that he can transform your heart. “Lord, help me love the things you love.” Thank him and spend time thanking him for all he has done for you.

Then, start moving (supposing of course that you are old enough, and there are no signs that God is not calling you). You mention the archdiocese. That is one way, but if you are given brochures and information on all the communities in the archdiocese it may be confusing because of the sheer amount of information on different communities. I find it much more helpful if you start off inquiring with groups you are already familiar with. You mention Mother Angelica. Without having to move to Alabama, you can ask her convent for information, possibly visit them sometime. Then work from there. Sooner or later you are going to hear of or meet a group that for some strange reason you may not be able to explain completely, attracts you. Your heart pulls you back to them. Follow up on that one.

Most helpfully of all, if you don’t have a spiritual director you should look for one. A good spiritual director will know something about religious orders and will also get to know you well and have a good idea where God’s grace is leading you.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Yet our choosing God is a decision that places great demands on us. He wants us to be total and sincere in it. He is a reality that affects our entire existence, committing it in a fashion that does not admit doubts, ambiguities or distrust; he cannot co-exist with our pride, egoism, or sensuality; he cannot make peace with the disintegration caused by our passions; and in taking us just as we are - great or small, rich or poor, with a good or not so good past - he hurls us into the mysterious adventure of his Kingdom, placing his Gospel in our hands.

And just as he doesn't deny us his help when he chooses us, neither can we deny him our effectiveness. Our only response is to put ourselves at the service of his will so as to follow it in the battle for his Kingdom.

Gospel: Jn 10: 22-30

The feast of the dedication was then taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the Temple area on the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father´s name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father´s hand. The Father and I are one."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in you. The works you have accomplished in my life have increased my faith. I hope in you. I hope for the grace to work for you in return by practicing virtue. I love you, Lord, increase my self-giving love.

Petition: Lord, may my imitation of you go beyond mere words and prove itself in authentic works.

1. “The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me.”

Words are not enough. Words often mislead. Only works prove what is inside a man. Only works reveal the true follower of Christ. Only works — authentic virtue lived out in a person’s life — motivate others to renounce the world, deny themselves and follow Christ. “I know them, and they follow me.”

2. Shepherds After His Own Heart

What a grave obligation we have, to perform works of virtue in imitation of Christ, especially if we are shepherds or mentors for others: “Even the strong sheep, if he turns his eyes from the Lord’s law and looks at the man set over him, notices when his shepherd is living wickedly and begins to say in his heart: ‘If my pastor lives like that, why should I not live like him?’ The wicked shepherd kills the strong sheep. But if he kills the strong one what does he do to the rest? After all, by his wicked life he kills even the sheep he had not strengthened but had found strong and hardy” (On Pastors, St. Augustine).

3. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.”

Our deepest longings are for life everlasting, a life of total joy and unending bliss. We should allow these longings to grow daily in our hearts and become the source and motivation of our ongoing effort to grow in virtue and follow the voice of the Lord.

Dialogue: Lord, I long to be with you for all eternity. I desire to love and be loved by you. You know how hard it is for me to follow you in virtue and self-sacrifice. Help me to be tenacious in this effort both for love of you and for love of others that I may be a model for them to emulate.

Questionnaire:

1. What am I doing each day to grow in love for Christ? Do I ask him for the gift to love him the way he has made me capable of loving him?

2. Is my friendship with Christ and pleasing him my number one priority? Am I growing in virtue so as to become what Christ wants me to be? What virtue do I most need to strive after in my daily life?

3. How often do I reflect on the goal that awaits me, that of eternal life with God? What can I do to better transmit my convictions to those around me in need of faith, in need of the truth?

The Communists often preyed on the poorest of the poor in order to agitate them into revolution. This agitation invariably resulted in only more pain and misery. But the needs of the poor remained, and there was no better way to remedy them than to keep their hope alive through an appreciation of their own means and dignity.

Fr McClincey was affectionately called the “Pig Father” by the faithful of the island of Cheju, south of Korea. During the Korean War it had been a communist outpost, and afterwards the natives found themselves barely able to eke out an existence. Fr McClincey soon imported pigs, and began a “pig bank” where children were taught to care for a piglet in exchange for donating piglets later on. Starting with simple pig-raising techniques it soon ballooned into improved agriculture on the island, and even a textile school. Hope fueled deeds.

The war on poverty has never been just about filling bellies. There is also a spiritual poverty, a hunger for Christ. Consider Fr Francisco das Chagas Vasconcello, whose pastoral assignment in Brazil consisted of four churches and 45 chapels scattered over 6,875 square miles. In a three-week period he baptized 999 and blessed the marriages of 105. Even then a large part of his territory was unreachable.

The Brazilian faithful often welcomed the annual visit of a priest with great celebration. Fr Celsus, a German Franciscan who had weathered four years on the front, five wounds, and two years as a prisoner of war during World War II, had 125,000 souls under his care. In one village that he visited for the annual desobriga (the performance of Easter duties) he heard confessions for ten hours, sending away anyone who’d confessed more recently than three months. After baptizing a hundred and seventeen and blessing the marriages of twenty-seven, he had to tell two hundred to wait until next year for confession, because another of the 250 villages in his care was waiting and he was already overdue.

Fr. José van der Rest, a Jesuit working in Santiago, Chile, lived voluntarily in the refugee callampas (it literally means mushrooms, since the refugee shanty towns sprouted up everywhere) before learning the art of building twenty-dollar shelters and helping vagrant boys form up into family groups under the auspices of “hogares de Cristo” (homes of Christ). He celebrated three Masses every Sunday in the streets, and using the proceeds from a coffin-making enterprise he would award a shelter to a poor family after each Mass, building it then and there. With the Cardinal’s approval, he was very creative in finding land for the shelters, making cities literally sprout up overnight, much to the disappointment of corrupt local officials.

Upcoming Events & Retreats

(( Listed here are retreats directed by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members. For a listing of diocesan activities and other events, click here to go to the vocation.com website ))

LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST

Rome, Italy, May 23-30, 2003. Pilgrimage for college-aged men and high school seniors. Contact Karolee Stauduhar at kstauduhar@msn.com or (407) 869-8263.

Pasadena, CA, June 1, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-27. Contact Fr Thomas Maher at tmaher@legionaries.org or (626) 792-0447.

Cheshire, CT, June 6-8, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Br Branigan Sherman at vocation@legionaries.org or (800) 420-5409. Price: none.

Cornwall, ONT, June 6-8, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Fr William Slattery at wslattery@legionaries.org or (613) 931-1920. Price: none.

Pasadena, CA, June 6-18, 2003, Local Candidacy for Young Men. Contact Fr Thomas Maher at tmaher@legionaries.org or (626) 792-0447 for more information.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated women

Washington DC, June 3, 2003, Young Women's Spiritual Growth Retreat. Ages 17-30. Contact Lucy Honnor at lhonnor@inteducators.org or (301) 536-6931.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony McDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. amacdonnell@arcol.org.

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