Friday, August 17, 2007
Food for Thought: Where Lord?
"I can full well understand that you feel attached to your diocese, especially if it identifies with your country. You may have to consider, though, that Christ invites us to leave all that is dear to us to follow Him with an uncompromising faith. If He has given you the sensibility for orthodoxy and liturgical depth, He has certainly an intent for you to fulfill."
Labels: Discernment, Liturgy, Priesthood, Seminary, Vocation
Monday, June 4, 2007
'15 Steps' to Becoming a Seminarian
You may like to read: SFX Academic Prospectus 2007-2008.
The information presented below reflects the admission process for St. Fancis Xavier Major Seminary, Diocese of Singapore.
DISCERNMENT
Months 1 to 6
- Step 1: Attend vocation retreats and recollections
- Step 2: Journeying with appointed Vocation Discernment Director
- Step 3: Introduction to Seminary Fathers
Months 7 to 9
- Step 4: First personal interview with Fathers of Admission Board
- Step 5: Invitation to stay in the Seminary (weekend or one week)
April
- Step 6: Aspirant indicates his desire to be admitted
- Step 7: Psychological test
May
- Step 8: Second personal interview with Fathers of Admission Board & Preliminary deliberation of the Admission Board
June
- Step 9: 8-day discernment retreat
APPLICATION
July
- Step 10: Formal application to join the Seminary
August
- Step 11: Request confidential reports from referees
September
- Step 12: Medical examination and report
October
- Step 13: Final Deliberation of the Admission Board
November
- Step 14: Official interview with Bishop
December
- Step 15: Tender resignation to employer (if the candidate is working)
Janaury
- CANDIDATE IS ADMITTED
Prayer for Seminarians
O Jesus, Eternal High Priest,I offer You through Your Immaculate Mother Mary, Your Own Precious Blood, in all the Masses throughout the world, as petition for graces for all seminarians, Your future priests.
Give them humility, meekness, prudence, and a burning zeal for souls.
Fill their hearts with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to know and love the Church, that they may always and everywhere speak, act, and think with her, the glorious spouse of Christ.
Teach them generosity and detachment from worldly goods; but above all, teach them to know You and to love the One and Only Eternal Priest.
Good Shepherd of Souls, hear this my prayer for saintly priests.v Amen.
(Taken from "Prayers for Today," published by Leaflet Missal Co.)
Labels: Prayer, Priesthood, Seminarian, Seminarians, Seminary, Vocation, Vocations
Thursday, May 31, 2007
SFX Seminary Academic Prospectus (2007-2008)
Here are some pieces of information I've extracted from the local seminary's- St. Francis Xavier Major Seminary- academic prospectus for the year 2007-2008.
Year 1: Initiation Year
A paranomic overview of the Church's teachings complemented with other courses such as language, human and growth development and communication skills.
Year 2-3: Philosophy Year
Understanding Man and the principles of living from a philosophical standpoint. Elementary biblical exegesis of Sacred Scriptures is initiated at this level, including books from the Old and New Testament
Year 3-7: Theology Cycle
Consists of Sacred Scripture and other essential theological subjects such as Dogmatic Theology, Moral Thoelogy, Sacraments, Spirituality and Pastoral Theology.
Admission Criteria
- Clergy Recommendation: Letter of recommendation and sponsorship from parish priest or priest in charge of Diocesan organization.
- Church Involvements: Applicant must be actively involved in diocesan or parish ministry
- Academic Requirements: At least General Cambridge Examination 'A' level or it's equivalent.
Examinations & Assessments
- Oral
- Written
- Assignment
- Class Presentation
Courses for 2008
Initiation Year
- Mystery of Salvation
- Divine Office
- Psalms
- Personal Growth & Relationship
- Introduction to Spirituality
- Speech and Communication I
- Methodology of Studies
- Latin
Philosophy Cycle
- Scripture: Introduction to New Testament, Gospel of Mark, Matthew, Luke, Acts
- Biblical Greek
- History of Philosophy: Ancient, Medieval, Modern, Contempory
- Cosmology
- Philosophical Anthropology
- Moral Philosophy
- Logic
- Speech and Communication II
- Psychology and Spirituality
- Non-Christian Religion: Islam, Buddhism
Theology Cycle
- Scripture: Pauline Literature, Catholic Epistles
- Christology
- Marialogy
- Protology
- Eschatology
- Ecclesiology
- Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Matrimony
- Fundamental Morals
- Bioethics
- Sexual Ethics
- Religious Ethics
- History and Theology of the Mass
- Church History: Reformation
- Patristics Fathers
- Mystical Theology
- Theology of Religion
- Theological Research
- Catechetics
- Pastoral Theology
- Speech and Communication III
Let us keep all our Seminarians in our prayers as they continue to discern the Lord's will in their lives. May they be holy and humble priests after the heart of Jesus Christ!
O Lord Jesus Christ, great High Priest, I pray that You call many worthy souls to Your holy priesthood. Enlighten the Bishop in the choice of candidates, the Spiritual Director in molding them, and the professors in instructing them. Lead the seminarians daily in Your unerring footsteps; so that they may become priests who are models of purity, possessors of wisdom and heroes of sacrifice; steeped in humility and aflame with love for God and man; apostles of Your glory and sanctifiers of souls. Amen.
Open to God's call for you? Pray for your own vocation:
God our Father, life is your gift to me. Through baptism, you invite me to share in the gift of my life in service to others. Be with me as I choose each day to show your presence in our world. Give me the courage and generosity to respond to your love, to your call. I pray especially for those who serve you as priests, brothers, sisters, deacons and lay ministers. Keep them close to you. Open the minds and hearts of many other men and women that they may accept your challenge to build the Kingdom. Amen.
Coming up next: What it takes to admitted to the Seminary.
UPDATE: '15 STEPS' to Becoming a Seminarian
Labels: Prayer, Priesthood, Seminarian, Seminary, Vocation, Vocations
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
SFX Vocation Retreat: Testimonial & Thanksgiving
+ JMJ
It has been a while since I returned from the Major Seminary Vocation Retreat, here's a short testimonial and thanksgiving letter:
Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the beloved!
Father Rector, William Goh, mentioned in his first talk during the retreat that there must have been an impetus- divine or otherwise- that made all of us sign up for and attend the retreat. I think he is very right. Thorugh the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we have been blessed with the Lord's sanctifying grace; making us worthy spend an entire weekend basking in His presence.
Faithful readers of this blog, Deo Juvante, and Holy Vocations, would know my impetus for signing up for the retreat; so I shan't dwell on it here...
I've visited the Major Seminary, the Redemptorist Seminary, as well as the Carmelite Friar's Monestary on several occassions. Each time, it is a sense of peace and belonging. The fraternal warmth and charity displayed by both the brothers and formators have made my stays very pleasant. Time and time again as I vist the Seminary, I feel a sense of affirmation and belonging. How many people are likely to feel the same? I mean, being 'isolated' in the forests of Ponggol.
Before the retreat as I was discerning the chrisms, I didn't know if what appealed to me was due to my personal want(s) or desire(s), or if it was something that God wanted. It has been hard for me to discern between what God wants and what I am so attracted to personally. Therefore, it was by providence that Fr. William Goh shared some information that allayed some of my confusion(s) and mixed feelings.
After the retreat, I was affirmed that (those who read my post 'Fiat Volunta Tua' would have come across the following quote) "the priesthood is not for us or for our personal satisfaction and delight. Rather, it is for the service of the Church and souls: God calls men to be priests so that he will be able to make himself present "in the flesh" in the Eucharist for all who need him. He makes men priests so that all who need their sins forgiven can go to them and be cleansed of their sins. He makes men priests so that the sick can be strengthened with the Sacraments, so that his word will be preached, so that people will receive hope and be renewed through their work and service... He makes priests so that the poor and abandoned may be administered to.
Therefore, I shouln't let my own emotions get in the way of my discernment.
I would like to thank:
- God the Father for giving us the opportunity to discern His will together as one body; united in the Christ that cannot be divided,
- Rev. Fr. Willaim Goh (Rector and Formator); though I didn't get a chance to speak to him personally. God had indeed used him as an instrument in answering some of the doubts and queries in my heart.
- I also thank God for the Seminarians, especially Br. Jude David who had sent me many messages, inviting me to the retreat; I wouldn't have gone otherwise due to my heavy workload.
To quote Dominic Hutt (one of the retreatants) in his testimony, may we all someday "sing praises and walk through those seminary doors".
Amen. So I hope. So may it be.
Pro Eccelesia et Pontifice,
J-PDM
St. Rita of Cascia
Labels: Photos, Priesthood, Retreat, Seminarians, Seminary, Testimonials, Thanksgiving, Vocation
Monday, May 7, 2007
Annual Diocesan Vocation Retreat
I'll be heading for the annual Diocesan vocation retreat this weekend after being invited by a Seminarian friend. It will be held at Saint Francis Xavier Major Seminary in Ponggol.
The retreat commences on Friday (11th May '07) at 1930hr and ends on Sunday (13th May '07) at approx. 1700hr with the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist and High Tea.
Do keep me in your prayers as I continue to discern the Lord's call.
A prayer for the retreatants:
Almighty God, Loving Father & Creator of all.
St. John Vianney, St. Alphonsus, St. Ignatius, St. Francis of Assisi, St. John of the Cross, pray for us.
Note: Blogging resusmes after May 13.
Labels: News, Personal, Prayer, Priesthood, Retreat, Seminary, Vocation
Monday, April 23, 2007
Pius XII on Minor Seminaries
[Note: This address was given to three thousand minor seminarians gathered in Rome on September 5, 1957]"Life is too short, the years of adolescence and of youth are too delicate not to be in pressing need of guidance and protection. The young man who has at heart to become a priest, must ripen in the climate most favorable to a lucid choice. The education of his still fragile will requires prudence and respect.
"He will therefore find in the minor seminaries greatly experienced and solicitous counselors and teachers who will guide his step, stimulate his intelligence, develop his generosity and the feeling of his responsibility in the proper functioning of the seminary.
"If minor seminaries are so useful and beneficial, it is because their institution is based on a precise knowledge of the needs of the adolescent and Christian youth. Families can therefore rely on the wisdom of the Church to judge one's aptitude for the priesthood and the means best suited to prepare for it.
"The Catholic priesthood is truly one of the purest glories of the Church and one of the most striking marks of her holiness. She has therefore always given it her most solicitous care throughout the centuries.
"Despite the weaknesses of human nature, she has maintained at a very high level its ideal of life, without sparing any effort to make her priests men of God and men of the Church, truly capable of taking charge of a part of the flock of Christ and of giving an account of it to God on the day of judgment. She has arranged their intellectual, moral and pastoral formation in an always precise and demanding manner.
"After ordering the erection of major seminaries in dioceses, she has then created special institutions meant for candidates to the ecclesiastical life. Far from having to repent such an institution, she congratulates herself for it when she witnesses the happy fruits borne by minor seminaries in the field of studies as well as in the formation of character."
Labels: Holy Father, Priesthood, Seminarian, Seminary, Vocation
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sacramentum Caritatis: Vocation and Seminary Formation
Apostolic Exhortation "Sacrament of Love" - Pope Benedict 2007
The clergy shortage and the pastoral care of vocations
25. In the light of the connection between the sacrament of Holy Orders and the Eucharist, the Synod considered the difficult situation that has arisen in various Dioceses which face a shortage of priests. This happens not only in some areas of first evangelization, but also in many countries of long-standing Christian tradition. Certainly a more equitable distribution of clergy would help to solve the problem. Efforts need to be made to encourage a greater awareness of this situation at every level. Bishops should involve Institutes of Consecrated Life and the new ecclesial groups in their pastoral needs, while respecting their particular charisms, and they should invite the clergy to become more open to serving the Church wherever there is need, even if this calls for sacrifice.(78)
The Synod also discussed pastoral initiatives aimed at promoting, especially among the young, an attitude of interior openness to a priestly calling. The situation cannot be resolved by purely practical decisions. On no account should Bishops react to real and understandable concerns about the shortage of priests by failing to carry out adequate vocational discernment, or by admitting to seminary formation and ordination candidates who lack the necessary qualities for priestly ministry (79).
An insufficiently formed clergy, admitted to ordination without the necessary discernment, will not easily be able to offer a witness capable of evoking in others the desire to respond generously to Christ's call. The pastoral care of vocations needs to involve the entire Christian community in every area of its life. (80)
Obviously, this pastoral work on all levels also includes exploring the matter with families, which are often indifferent or even opposed to the idea of a priestly vocation. Families should generously embrace the gift of life and bring up their children to be open to doing God's will. In a word, they must have the courage to set before young people the radical decision to follow Christ, showing them how deeply rewarding it is.
Labels: Holy Father, Priesthood, Seminary, Vocation
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Fr. Anthony Bannon on High School (Minor) Seminaries:
When I was thinking of opening a high school seminary I asked an archbishop his opinion and he gave me this unexpected answer (everyone seemed to be closing their high school seminaries at the time). He said, "I went to a high school seminary myself and I don't regret it one bit, I may never have gotten to be a priest otherwise. High school seminaries when I was young were good things, today I think they are absolutely necessary!" He then went on to speak about his concern with the trend towards older vocations that was taking place at the time, "We don't get to know them well, there are things many don't seem to grasp, many come with baggage they could do without."
Labels: Priesthood, Seminary, Vocation
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