loving ang living the call

The students had their first ever recollection on the 6th day of July. The day’s moments of sharing and reflection did not only gave us an opportunity to be still and prayerful but also offered us an occasion to relive and remember the uniqueness of each other’s vocation story.

Everyone was listening attentively to each other’s share of both the peculiarity and banality of how we ended up in the religious life. Ours was a story of seeking and finding, patient listening to God’s call and attentive response to God’s overflowing love.

The richness in the day’s recollection can never be summed up in a sentence or two. But let me share some quotable quotes that will define how affluent and profound our vocation journey had been. The story of our individual vocation may not always be a product of a purified motive – some started with a sense of “nothing-but-trying”, others have childhood calling as clear as running water.



“I never left anything behind; I gained everything in the seminary.”
“The Redemptorists are always charming. Maybe you should join them.”
I asked my father what option will I take in life. He said, “It’s up to you.”
“I want to become a good Redemptorist…not a good priest.”
“My father said: If you want to be a diocesan priest, I will say no. But if you want to become a Redemptorist, I will say yes!”
“There are always changes in me when I am in mission.”
“I have a dream. I dreamt of becoming a priest.”
“My mother has a very strong vocation.”
“I just want to be an altar server, but I ended up becoming a religious.”
“When I told my friends that I want to be a missionary, they told me “Are you crazy?” My mother had the same response.”
“My father called me to be a priest.”
“God is the hardest commodity to sell.”
“My vocation started with my mother. But I am still here because I found meaning in what I am doing.”
“Religious life is leaving somebody to find some more.”
“I was an “out-standing” catholic before.”

That’s the wonder of God’s call; it is always between the person and his God. What matters now is that we responded to the call and we are continuously living in love with our God.

(-RJ)