Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Redemptorists' vocations weekend

The Redemptorist missionaries have announced they are to hold a vocations weekend next month.

The posters were up for less than a week when Fr Tony Rice, Director of Vocations, had three expressions of interest.  “They have the opportunity to hear who we are and what we do, and above all see how we live,” Fr Rice told ciNews.

“People come for different reasons.  It is something that is in the back of their minds and it takes a little bit of courage to come on a weekend like this, but they can come reasonably anonymously.”

The poster describes the Come and See weekend, on February 17 - 19, as an opportunity for seeking information, questioning, prayer, and relaxation.  The weekends are held twice a year for those making the first step in discerning their vocation.

“It is good for a guy to come and spend time on his own.  Maybe in the rush of his own life he doesn’t have that quiet time or down time.  All the time there is something on the radio, or the phone going, or work, the shopping has to be done or family has to be visited,” explained Fr Rice.

“When you come on a week-end like this you can spend time and quietly see what emerges, or face a question.”

At the end of the weekend, some will decide it is not for them and others may continue discernment, either with the Redemptorists or others.

Fr Rice has been involved in vocations for the last two and a half years and finds that three to four people attend these weekends.  Those interested range in age from 17 to mid-50s and most of them are working.

A 24 year old joined the Redemptorists last September and is working on the Scala youth project in Cork.  Last year Derek Ryan was ordained and two years before that three were ordained together.

Fr Rice says it is a steady rather than strong flow.  “They haven’t been pouring in the door, that is not to say we haven’t been journeying with a lot of people in the meantime but for different reasons they decide not to go ahead.”  He explained that even those are about to take the final step can pull out.

“We are not always sure of the reasons.  People have great lives nowadays; they also have commitments, not just family but work commitments and mortgages and things like that.  It is very difficult to walk away from that.”

The Redemptorists have a special vocations website but plan to amalgamate it with their other sites in the coming months.  Fr Rice emphasises the importance of having a presence on the World Wide Web, as it is where most people seek their information nowadays.

He receives emails mainly as an initial contact.  However, most vocations come out of a face-to-face meeting that someone has had with a Redemptorist house or parish or during a mission. 

Earlier this week, Pope Benedict XVI stated there is a need for good spiritual counsel for those who are discerning a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.

“I would like to emphasise the critical role of spiritual guidance in the journey of faith and, in particular, in response to the vocation of special consecration for the service of God and his people,” the Pope said during his January 15 Sunday Angelus address.

“God’s call to follow Jesus more closely, giving up forming their own family to dedicate themselves to the great family of the Church, is normally done through the testimony and proposal from a ‘big brother,’ usually a priest.”

The Pope also said that parents are instrumental in the process, as by their genuine faith and joyful married love, show children that it is beautiful and possible to build life on the love of God.

www.redsvocations.ie 

Call Tony Rice 01 406 7221