AS I minister to seminarians, I can’t help but thank God for the generosity of their hearts. They have responded to the call of God to be priests. They’re willing to make the sacrifice of not having the pleasures of this world to follow Jesus, to be his missionary disciples to the world.
It’s quite impressive to hear many of their vocation stories in class, in spiritual direction, and during meal times. Hearing their stories has made me realize that God would never stop calling men to follow the path of priesthood or the religious life.
I’m sure that many of their family members and friends are amazed by what they’ve done, by what they’re willing to give up. They have mystified them with their priestly vocation.
I thank God for making me part of their formation. Indeed, it’s quite a privilege and a gift to minister to seminarians. That’s what I tell my friends.
I realize that it’s important that seminarians understand their priestly vocation. Priesthood is a call to be a shepherd: to build a community of faith that teaches, preaches and puts into practice the Gospel of Jesus. To be a priest is to deepen awareness in people of our common priesthood through Christian baptism and to permeate this world with the Gospel of love and mercy. To be a priest is to make people aware that a Christian community is called to be the light of the world and salt of earth, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden!
The role of a priest is radical: he is called to inspire people to revolutionize the world with the Gospel of love, not hatred, of mercy, not arrogance, of unity, not division, of life, not death.
Priesthood must be lived in the context of what is happening in the world today: the continuing violence in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Afghanistan, Ukraine and other parts of the world. Priests and their communities must decry the culture of violence and death. They must see this period of our world as an opportune and a critical time to be like soldiers who are willing to be at the frontline of the battle—the battle against hatred, violence, death, and division.
The Readings this Sunday speak about this collective call and commitment.
In the First Reading, Prophet Ezekiel called on the Israelites to turn to God. Their ways were unfair—they turned to pagan Gods to the extent of even desecrating the temple. They contaminated the temple with rituals to pagan gods. It was time for them to turn away from this wickedness as a people, or they would die. They must return to the Lord and be faithful to their identity as the Chosen People.
The Letter of Paul to the Corinthians has the same sentiments of this collective call to repentance and fidelity to God. St. Paul addressed the people of Corinth, saying: “If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with same love, unified in heart, thinking one thing.” (Phil 2:1)
The Gospel of Matthew is addressed to Jewish Christians. It’s also a call to fidelity and commitment. They were the people to whom the Gospel was offered first. But many of their Jewish leaders rejected the offer. They were like the first son in the Gospel who said, “Yes, I will go into the vineyard to work.” But their yes meant no. What was surprising was that the people that were least expected to hear and live the Gospel of Christ were the tax collectors and prostitutes. Their “no” turned into “yes”.
Indeed, to be a priest is a serious commitment. It is a commitment to build up the faith of the people to work in the vineyard of the Lord. The vineyard is this world. It is in dire need of workers who are willing to sacrifice to cultivate the world with seeds hope, peace, love and justice for all!
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. Johns Seminary in Camarillo, Calif. and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For 20 years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. From 2002 to 2014, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. He will begin teaching at St. John’s Seminary this July. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
