Posted by The WORD in other words (2018) By Fr Emmanuel Mengueto SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
10th Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of my co-seminarians entered the seminary as a full-pledged engineer. He was a little older than most of us who were products of the regular philosophy undergraduate course. Since it was my first time to have a co-seminarian who not only finished a course different from what most of us had taken, but also left a good paying job to try it out in the seminary, I asked him lots of questions. He shared how he literally escaped from his family that was totally against him entering the seminary.
This experience came to my mind in reference to Jesus’ relatives wanting to forcefully take him out of his ministry because for them he was clearly “out of his mind.” My co-seminarian’s parents (and maybe some relatives too) would have thought likewise of his plan to be a priest someday as a crazy idea.
I am sure that many people out there, particularly those who have been raised in highly secularized environments and in what we can call as “irreligious” homes, think that giving oneself in the service of God and the Church is a foolish idea. Those who are zealous in working for God have to expect hindrances and one of those hindrances would be the opposition that comes from one’s own family and relatives. Indeed the choice for the priestly and religious vocation is not quite understandable for a good number of people.
Why choose a life that asks so much sacrifice on one’s part while depriving oneself of the happiness that the world can give? Therein lies the mystery of this vocation, which will always be considered a gift from God for anyone who has chosen this kind of life. It is a gift given not to many but to a few.
I am not saying that those who have lived such a life are a special breed; that would be a disgraceful thought as it would somehow be belittling those who have chosen other paths of life, including marriage and a family. What I am saying is for those who are thinking of following the Lord in the priestly/religious life they have to count the cost and think seriously of the consequences of their choice.
Take it from one who has lived this life for more than thirty years. It is and will always be a beautiful life. It is a fulfilling life, in spite of the rough patches that one goes through, because it is a life lived with and for the Lord.
One comment