Year IV, Number 31

“Every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God” (Heb. 5:1).

The Letter to the Hebrews clearly affirms the “human character” of God’s minister he comes from the human community and is at its service, imitating Jesus Christ “who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).

God always calls his priests from specific human and ecclesial contexts, which inevitably influence them; and to these same contexts the priest is sent for the service of Christ’s Gospel.

For this reason the synod desired to “contextualize” the subject of priests, viewing it in terms of today’s society and today’s Church in preparation for the third millennium. This is indicated in the second part of the topic’s formulation: “The formation of priests in the circumstances of the present day.”

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I am a high school seminarian considering the priesthood. I feel as if God may be calling me to serve as a missionary, especially in Latin America, but then I see the shortage of priests in our own country and I wonder whether if I should stay to help out here. Do you think I could still be possibly called to Latin America? If so how can I best prepare myself? Thanks ever so much, and God bless.

- Matt

A. Dear Matt,

Jesus told his disciples not to fear and that he would be with them always. One of the reasons may be that no one of us can meet every need and solve every problem, as much as he might want to. The needs of souls are overwhelming, and no single person can work out what he needs to do, so the most intelligent course of action is to let God do the figuring and the choosing, and for us to follow his lead because we trust him. The Church and the world are in his hands; he is THE Good Shepherd.

Since we are limited, what we leave undone will always be more than what we do. No individual can serve everywhere and solve all the problems. Each is limited to what one person can do, and there is no way of escaping this reality.

If you feel God is calling you to be a priest in your home diocese, who is going to tend the sick, or pray and do penance in the monasteries, or go on the missions? Simply someone else whom God is calling. If you are called to the missions in Latin America, who is going to take care of your diocese at home? Again someone else whom God is calling. If you are called to one diocese, who is going to serve him in the others? Once more, someone else whom God is calling.

So look at where he is leading you, what he is putting in your heart, and be confident that if you are faithful to him he will take care of the other concerns you have.

There is an underlying question here. Some people think there is just one, limited “vocation pie” out there, so the bigger the slice that goes to the missions, the smaller the slice left for the home dioceses. Nothing could be further from the truth. God loves everyone and is calling enough priests for everyone. He needs your example to inspire others. If he wants you for Latin America or somewhere else, I can guarantee you that your generosity, example, and prayers are going to inspire others to be generous with him and follow their call. If God is calling you to the missions, the best way you can help your home diocese is by going on the missions, even if that seems a paradox. A diocese that does not contribute missionaries to spread the Gospel afar is not really alive. If you are called to the missions you are God’s way to give a truly missionary, service-oriented face to your home diocese.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I don’t know if my vocation is to the consecrated life because I feel like the doubt I have is that I see that consecrated people are very happy and I want to be happy. So I also feel that is selfishness, but also I feel that I can’t hold that life because I don’t like to have a schedule and people to tell me always what to do.

- Danielle

A. Dear Danielle,

I think you are looking at the wrapping and not the gift.

Consecrated life is something God asks of us, true. But it is also, and especially, a gift that he gives us. It is the gift of himself. He says he wants to have a special, exclusive relationship with us; he wants to use us as his messengers and apostles; he wants to reach so many other souls through us; but above all he wants to give us a happiness and fulfillment in this life and the next, which is complete and a sheer gift of his.

What is the cost of this gift? How does it come to us? “If you want to save your life you will lose it”, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it will not bear fruit.”

So if you consecrate your life to Christ, and that means obedience, even though the voice is human, the person you are obeying and loving is Christ himself. The person you are giving yourself to in those you serve is Christ himself: “Whenever you did it to one of these the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.”

And if you have to die to yourself, that is not the end; it is the beginning of a new life.

So when God offers you a vocation you can either say, “I don’t like the color of the ribbon on the box; nothing valuable could possibly come in such an unattractive box as obedience,” or you can open it up and find the diamond inside. When you do, the color or size of the box won’t matter at all, nor will it matter how many other trinkets you have to give up in order to receive it.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

I would like each one of you to be a perfect replica of Jesus. I would like your minds to be identified with his, and your hearts to feel and love like his – or rather, that each one of you bear in your breast a heart identical to his.

There must be no limits or barriers in a missionary's heart. His heart has to be big, but remember that this growth comes only by dint of generosity, self-denial and sacrifice. To have a heart like Jesus’ you have to fight and suffer – but to do so without cowardice, without taking time out, and without getting discouraged; fighting and suffering perseveringly for the good of others even if they treat us badly in return, even if they do not understand or thank us, even if the good we do only brings upon us criticism and persecution from our enemies and those who think they perceive great dangers to God’s glory in the work we do.

(March 23, 1947)

Gospel: Mk 9: 2 – 10

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, "This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!" Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead could mean.

Introductory Prayer: In the Transfiguration, you revealed the splendor of your greatness. Captivate my heart by your wonder. Enlighten my mind, as well, to see the areas of my life that need to be transfigured by your love. I want my heart to burn with love for you, scattering the shadows of my selfishness and rising to embrace the mission you entrust to me.

Petition: O Lord, open my ears to listen to you and open my heart to love you totally, no matter what cross you ask me to bear.

1. Rock and Thunder

Christ climbs a high mountain, taking with him the rock and the sons of thunder. In the silent majesty of the mountaintop, far from the rest of the world, Jesus reveals himself to his closest companions. The transfiguration, in all its marvel, was reserved only to Christ’s most intimate friends. Here I discover an important lesson: If I want to see the glory of the Lord, I have to glory in the friendship of the Lord. Is Christ my best friend? Do I share my daily ups and downs with him? Do I turn to him instinctively in moments of joy and distress? My friendship with Jesus must be the deepest conviction in my heart. His love is the anchor in my life no matter what storms batter my ship. So often, however, my friendship with Christ remains superficial. I lack the passion and booming force of love that fueled Peter, James and John. My friendship with Christ must scale the mountaintops into a personal, real and passionate love. Only then will I taste a touch of the transfigured Christ, repeating with Peter, “How good it is to be here!”

2. In the Shadows

A cloud then overshadowed them, echoing the presence of Yahweh upon Mount Sinai. In the shadows, bewildered with fear, the apostles fall silent. Out of the darkness then came a voice of light, “ This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to Him!”

This advice indeed pierces the shadows of my doubts, fears and interior conflicts. God’s illumination hands to me the compass of my life: Listen to Christ! So simple, yet so hard for this fallen, frail vessel of clay. When will I learn, O Lord, to listen? I clutter my life with the countless cries of selfishness, materialism and pleasure seeking, all the while drowning out your voice. Deafen me to the empty voices of vice. Teach me to be attentive to your whispers. Listen to Him! Could there be any greater conviction in which to control the choices of my life? Strengthen me, dear Jesus, to hear and follow your every inspiration.

3. The Second Tabor

Tradition teaches that the Transfiguration occurred atop Mount Tabor, and as they descended from this mountain, Jesus told them not to speak of this event until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Christ, in the splendor of Tabor, did not remain there. He had a mission to do atop another mountain; Mount Calvary. The dazzle of Tabor is important, but far greater is the glory upon the cross.

Lord, to be your disciple, you ask me to take up my cross and follow you. You ask me to leave Tabor and ascend Calvary. My mission in life will not always be dazzling white and victorious, but at times, you will require sacrifice, rejection and suffering. How I need to have a deep conviction of your love in these moments! So often when I am called to self-denial, to live with charity, patience and forgiveness, I find it impossible to deny myself. I want the moments of glory and wonder, but shun the splinters of the cross. Strengthen my faith, O God, to see the struggles of sacrifice as the way to prove my love for you. For only in fire is love purified and only by the cross can I hope to transfigured my love for you into a burning, passionate conviction of heart.

Dialogue: Dear Jesus, I want to be one of your closest companions, an intimate friend. Deepen my convictions so that you will be a real presence in my life. May I learn to listen to you, allowing your voice to guide me. Then as I pick up the cross of sacrifice, I will find the strength of your love fortifying my every footstep.

Questionnaire

1. How do I manifest my friendship with Christ on a daily basis? Do I have set times for prayer? Do I have spontaneous dialogues with God throughout the day? How can I deepen this friendship?

2. What moments in my life do I find myself following the voices of selfishness rather than listening to Christ? How often do I stop and listen to Christ before making a decision?

3. How do I practice self-denial in my life? Do I offer up sacrifices, especially of charity, every day? What crosses in my life do I fail to carry?

4. Any particular story you remember from the Cristero War?

There were many things that happened that remained etched on my young heart, about people who gave their lives for Christ, but I would have to mention especially the martyrdom of my friend José Sánchez del Río. At that time I was away from Cotija with my family because of the persecution. This time we had gone to the town of Sahuayo. José, who was fourteen, asked me to go into the mountains with him and fight with the Cristeros, but I was very young (about seven). He took off to the mountains. A few days later he was caught by government troops, who decided to teach the civilian population, who supported the Cristeros, a lesson to remember. They asked him to renounce his faith in Christ, under pain of death. José refused to apostatize. His mother too was pierced with sorrow and grief but, like the mother of the seven sons in the book of Maccabees, she encouraged her son to be true to his faith. So they skinned the soles of his feet and forced him to walk through the town towards the cemetery. He cried and moaned in pain. But he would not give in. Every so often they stopped and said to him, “If you shout ‘Death to Christ the King,’ we will spare your life. Say ‘Death to Christ the King.’” But he would answer, “Long live Christ the King.” Once they got to the cemetery, before shooting him, they asked him for the last time if he would give up his faith. He didn’t, and they killed him right there. Like many other Mexican martyrs he died shouting “Long live Christ the King!” These are pictures that can’t be erased from my memory and the memory of the Mexican people, although they are often not mentioned in the official version of history. As you can understand, all of this was leaving its mark on me, the desire to give my life for Christ and the faith. I believe that God made use of all this to shape my soul and prepare it for the mission of founding the Legion of Christ.

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

Cheshire, CT, August 15-17, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Br Branigan Sherman at vocation@legionaries.org or at (800) 420-5409. Price: none.

Cornwall, ONT, August 15-17, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Fr William Slattery at wslattery@legionaries.org or at (613) 931-1920. Price: none.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

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

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