Cameroon Friends of Mill Hill Magazine

Page 1

For Private Circulation only.

FRIIENDS OF MILL HILL FR ’

NEWSLETTER OF THE MILL HILL MISSIONARIES IN CAMEROON Edition No. 7. DECEMBER 2021.

MISSIONARY VOCATIONS THE PRIESTS WE WANT TO BE

Newly Ordained Mill Hill Deacons, Nairobi Kenya

F

rederick Bauechner, an American writer and theologian explains that “a vocation is where your deep gladness meets the world’s hunger” A vocation is not something you choose. It chooses you. When you sense it as a possibility in your life, you also sense that you don’t have a choice but can only ask yourself: what’s my responsibility here? It’s not a matter of what you expect from life but rather what life expects from you. Once you have a sense of your vocation, it becomes unthinkable to turn away, and you realise you would be morally culpable if you did. As Vocations Director of the Mill Hill Missionaries in Cameroon, I have observed with keen interest the flourishing vocations to the priesthood and Religious life. Talking to one of my aspirants he said “God’s call to the priestly vocation to me was “like a mosquito that keeps buzzing in the silence of the night” Before admitting a candidate, I often try to visit their home and speak to the parents. It takes time for some families to accept or understand the vocation of the missionary priesthood. As candidates and seminarians discern their vocation, they often feel like giving up. However, the grace of God continues to give them strength to persevere. As one seminarian told me “Discerning my vocation “was the best decision I have ever made”. However, he adds, “the discernment continues”

The path to the priesthood especially to the missionary way of life is long — from the first discernment to ordination and then ministry. What kind of priests do our seminarians hope to become? Recently, I sampled a few opinions: - “Knowing God is the best change that can happen in the world today, and I want to help make that change happen” - “I want to be a compassionate, understanding, approachable, sociable and caring priest” - “I want to be a priest that will be with my parishioners in their pain and also their joys” - “I hope to become a priest who makes known the message of God’s comfort and love, a priest who is able to bring hope, and a priest who grows in faith so that I’m able to enrich others in their faith in God” - “I pray that I become a priest who is always available for the people of God. Moreover, I pray that I become a priest who will be fruitful in life” - “I want to be the priest that everyone would be talking about. A priest of the people. A priest who will always be there for parishioners placed under my care. - “I want to be a priest with a passion for Christ, a deep love for the Church, and a zeal for the priesthood. — Fr. Anthony Ndang, MHM Mill Hill Vocations Director


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