Pastoral Letter
D. ADOLFO GONZALEZ MONTES
Bishop of Almería
on the occasion of the Seminar
19 and March 20, 2011
Seminar Day we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph is to stimulate awareness of the Church diocesan standing for the state vocational field does not decay and will serve the purpose that animates: elicit responses from as many teenagers and young people feel the call of Jesus to follow him.
is true that the cultural environment of our time is not conducive to the growth of emerging vocations to the priesthood, but so is that in difficult environments become more innovative and personal response to the call of Jesus. More novel, because it is not usual and continues to inspire in others a deep question and reiterated the reasons that may have a young person to follow the call to the priesthood, and more personal, because the respondent has to mature and make a response decision that only the vigor of a defined personality, sustained by grace and empowered by the attraction of the greater good that God is the one thing necessary, play the role of having to choose and do so with awareness of what is chosen .
is always comforting to see how teens and young people fascinated by Jesus, put their heart entirely in the person of the Master who called them and invites them to follow, to be with him and with him maturing into his collaborators for the world's redemption and salvation of those who believe in the Gospel.
is true that, to grow the vocations of the boys who answered the call to the priesthood, it requires the right atmosphere of the seminar, which makes them grow and leads to the desired goal, but it is less that to reach the seminary, priestly vocations represents seed require education in the faith in the family and, in particular, in the parish and apostolic environments that are generated in the life of the parish, with the valuable help of the Catholic school for many teenagers is the Catholic school.
This seed has a unique role and only the priests, because priests are the benchmark that appeals to follow Jesus to extend its mission of salvation in every generation, and therefore, even to change the times and with them, their culture, while priests will have examples to follow to extend the priesthood in the world.
to the priesthood become adolescents and youth in the hands of the priests, and priests children find guides who will direct the first signs of a vocation emerging towards the desired goal: the knowledge of Jesus to be with him and learn from men extend the visible sign and means of getting to feel and experience that God loved the world and sent his Son, so that the world might be saved through him.
I invite all friends of the Seminary to pray for priestly vocations and support the annual campaign's Day Vocational Seminar creating the environment that may contribute to the families and parishes, in schools and in recreational settings and holidays for children and youth where the priest's presence is seen as a grace that God offers and sign of his love.
Almeria March 19, 2011, Solemnity of St. Joseph
† Adolfo González Montes
Bishop of Almería
0 comments:
Post a Comment