A word from the Superior General

Pope Francis wonders if many religious and priests are acting as functionaries, guardians and gatekeepers of holy mysteries rather than as humble servants, close to the people, fired by joy, passion, and a Spirit of mission. These priests and religious are defined more by the things they do than by the inner experience of vocation, which seems lacking in them. These priests and religious are incapable of revealing, in the midst of all that they do, what is at the heart of the inner and outer life of the consecrated person: the mystery of the encounter with the God of Love, in the person of Jesus. In all these outside activities, it is impossible to perceive the intimate experience that once gave their life a new impetus and a powerful motivation. If this experience were to be real again, it is so strong that it would translate into attitudes, words and deeds of joy, and a missionary zeal. With such signs the life of the priest or the religious would be a challenge capable of deeply stirring the people he met. In fact, the activities carried out by a priest or a religious must result from the fundamental spiritual experience of vocation. Above all, and as the driving force for all the rest, vocation comes from an encounter with the person of Jesus. An encounter arising from a word, an act, an attitude, a relationship, which seems like a call to the depths of oneself: a call which demands an answer, and which will not leave us in peace unless we respond from the same depths, even if the proportions are different. God loves me with boundless love, and I answer him by the offering of all my being, which is infinitely less than His, but which is all I have to offering.

The encounter occurred when I became aware that God was behind this stirring: God who showed me his great love, and in return has aroused my small love, the only answer I could give. This experience requires an accompaniment: this will enable me to verify for myself whether God beckons me by this call, or whether it is an illusion or just my imagination.

The new Ratio Fundamentalis Institutiones Sacerdotalis (Formation Guide for Priests Congregation of the Clergy, 8/12/16) underlines the priority given to the accompaniment and vocational discernment for young seminarians on the part of the formators (educator and spiritual director). This accompaniment may be lacking, or rather irregular, infrequent and inconstant; In this case, discernment will be erroneous. Progressing in vocation, the initial experience, as a response to the call of God (an encounter that calls us) risks being obscured or displaced by other priorities, e.g.(i) priority given to academic studies and the consequent prestige (ii) the search for a position, even a pastoral one, which will allow me to live an easy life (iii) by geling with certain people, gradually attaching myself to them, to the point of refusing any change of community or mission (iv) because money manipulated during my ministry ensnared my heart, to the point of forgetting my original purpose, becoming a businessman rather than the man of God I ought to be.

Sometimes a young person in formation has deep wounds of which he is unaware, but which prevent his first call from being clear, from growing and becoming a pivotal experience for him. It should give meaning to his life, helping him experience adversity, not as a disaster, but as an opportunity to grow and mature. Sometimes these wounds cause the religious or the priest to conceal by his conduct, the identity of priest or religious that is rightfully his. He wears a mask to hide his fragility, and if he reveals himself before others, it is without being aware of it. Far from being on fire with the strength and mystery of his vocation, he presents himself as a biblical expert, a specialist in the sacred, a promoter of fashionable devotions...The statistics of the increasingly frequent abandonment of religious and priestly life send us an alarming signal. This constant and persistent loss has reached damaging proportions in addition to the lack of vocations in certain countries ... This phenomenon has multiple causes.

Among these, there is one that seems decisive to me although it is seldom mentioned in the dynamics of vocation, especially that of vocational fidelity. I refer to the experience of the vocational call, in other words to the consciousness that one has of it. In fact, without the consciousness of being called, the vocation does not exist, any more than the possibility of a path of formation or a path of a lasting fidelity. When this consciousness exists, the person sets out, with all that he is, at the service of the plan of life to which God calls him. When it disappears or diminishes, the first vocational experience disappears, and the vocation itself runs into great danger. This is what has motivated many departures among those who lost the enthusiasm of their first call. If this joy is lacking, it is impossible for them to live their vocation with devotion and in a spirit of service, and they eventually abandon it (Jesús María Palacios Alcántara, “(In)consistent”, Publicaciones Claretianas, Madrid 2016, p. 42-43).

The initial experience of vocation does not end with entry to the pre-postulate or the novitiate; On the contrary, it must continue to grow and strengthen, in contact with reality, through experiences, relationships, studies, and especially accompaniment during initial and ongoing training. This vocational experience, mature, integral and realistic, is at the foundation of perpetual vows and priestly ordination. With perpetual vows and ordination, it becomes effective and operational. A mature vocational experience makes the religious a joyful witness of Love and an indefatigable seeker of God, especially among life’s wounded, to console and care for them, restore their dignity by revealing to them that God loves them and that they too can love Him - and thus achieve “the same happiness”..

Gaspar Fernández Pérez scj
Superior General