Saturday was the last big event for the year. The Hispanic community held a Cinco de Mayo Celebration with food, music, games, and other entertainment. I gathered a lot of our youth to help out with the different games.

Above is my facepainting crew.

Here the youth are filling water balloons. It doesn’t end well…for some of us!

–#2–

With 2 weeks to go until the end of my Pastoral Year, I have begun to reflect on the experience. I say Pastoral Year but it really adds up to about 8 months. But during this time I have felt myself drawn so deeply into the life of the parish that it makes you want to never leave. At the same time, you realize this is much of the priesthood. Every place you go you enter and then have to leave after 2 or 4 or 6 years of time well spent.

Nevertheless I have learned a lot more about what priesthood will look like for me. I realized where I am strong and where I know I have a tendency to be weak. I learned new ways to minister and new forms of evangelization. I also gained a real sense of how a parish must function as a church constantly in mission, seeking to draw all people, Catholic and non-Catholic, to the joy of Jesus Christ.

As well, I thank God for another year of formation as my own ordination draws near. After finishing here in the parish on May 31st, though I will stay through the weekend, I start CPE (Clinical Pastoral Experience) at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento on June 4th. The program lasts through mid-August and then I will have a couple weeks off before I return to Rome for my final year of formation. I will hopefully be ordained a deacon on October 4th in Rome and return to Sacramento in June for ordination to the priesthood.

After 6 years, it is all finally coming to a conclusion. The many years of prayer, study, and growth finally give life to the priesthood. I cannot wait! Until then, the work continues.

–#3–

Finally, the annual Ordination Class of 2012 Report is out from the USCCB. This year is particularly striking as over 40 of the men being ordained came to the North American College in the same year I did in 2008. Please say a prayer for the Class of 2012. The ordinations have already begun and continue over the next few months as hundreds of men lay down before the altar and give their lives to service of God and neighbor.

AMDG

Friday I joined some of my brother seminarians at St. Patrick’s Seminary as the concluded their academic year and a number of our guys received degrees. Congratulations to Jhay Galeon, Eric Flores, and Guillermo Hernandez! Summer assignments start at the beginning of June but meanwhile all the guys from Mount Angel and St. Patrick’s have some time off. I’m not sure about our brothers down south at Seminario Hispano.

–#2–

Saturday was our big Cinco de Mayo festival for the Hispanic Community. It was a week late but well worth the wait. A number of our youth helped run the different games including facepainting, air hockey, and bowling. I spent 12 hours running in circles and getting hit by water balloons. And only today did I found out Fr. Brian had encouraged this. All I can is that I am still recovering from the day.

–#3–

Bishop Morlino had a column on vocations this past week. He had some things to say about priesthood. This is part of it.

When we look for candidates to the priesthood and as we pray for vocations, we are looking for men who are brave in their willingness to seek holiness, to speak the truth, to lay down their lives. There is no place in the priesthood today for “wimpish-ness.” There is no place for an attitude that just wants to please people, no matter what they think and no matter what they want. Today the priest has to stand up and be brave, preaching the Truth with love. He has to be willing to be unpopular. And if it comes to it, he has to be open to martyrdom.

These are some challenging words but a great reminder for us all.

AMDG

Another great article on the priesthood. I have quoted a section below.

Father Jaffe had been at the parish for less than a week and was the priest on call for the local hospital. It was 2 a.m. when his pager went off. A couple had lost their 8-year-old son hours before and the mother wouldn’t let go of his body.

All attempts of the staff and hospital chaplain to get her to release her son had failed. She sat rocking him, unresponsive to anyone. The woman wasn’t Catholic, but the staff knew from experience that it was time to call in a priest.

But my favorite line is this – a priest has sacrificed family so that he can be a part of everyone’s family.

–#2–

And a great vocations video coming out of Spain. It uses their economic crisis to ask the question – What if the priesthood is right for you?

–#3–

What is it like when a priest gets old? A seminarian friend and I were recently discussing this a bit. What happens when you are no longer a young priest that everyone loves but a 76 year old priest who no longer has the health, energy, or cultural comprehension to serve in a way that makes you feel like you are making an impact? It will happen. What happens to us when it comes? We looked to the end of the Gospel of John, where Jesus tells Peter when he is old, someone else will lead him where he does not wish to go. And as our service as priests comes to an end, we will still have much to offer for the salvation of the world. We can only imagine how transforming Peter’s suffering and martyrdom was for the early Church. His witness, in the midst of seeming futility, brought great life to the Church. It is not only the ministry that matters, but how we live out each day in relationship to our God, not whether we are loved and acknowledged or alone and forgotten.

–#4–

And from this week. Saturday I went down to St. Anthony’s in Sacramento for a Mass celebrating the support of the Young Ladies’ Institute for vocations in the Diocese. It was a beautiful Mass and great to meet so many of the women who are always supporting us through their prayers and gifts. After the Mass I ran down to Davis to join my fraternity brothers for the 20th anniversary of the founding of our chapter at UC Davis. I spent 4 years as a part of Alpha Gamma Omega, a Christian fraternity at Davis. It was great to see my pledge brothers and many other alumni. Then I drove back up to Auburn just in time for the Quincenera of one of the girls from the Youth Group. Then Saturday Vigil Mass. Then Quincenera party. That was just Saturday.

AMDG

Saturday the Diocese of Sacramento held its first ever Altar Server Olympics which gathered 160 youth from 14 parishes to compete for Olympic Gold. Seminarians Arnold and Jeremy joined me as we put these highly qualified servers to the test. We held the Amazing Altar Server Relay Race to kick things off before splitting up the group as they rotated through stations testing their knowledge of liturgical items and seasons. Finally we ended it with Jeopardy Trivia. It was a great day and hopefully a good learning experience for all the youth. It was also a great day to promote vocations. Congratulations to the Altar Servers of St. Peter’s Parish in Dixon for their victory.

–#2–

This week was the Annual Priest Retreat for the Diocese. Fr. Bud Stevens, professor at St. Patrick’s Seminary, gave us a series of talks on Communio. It was amazing. I really wish I could have had him for an instructor. The guy is well read and reflected. It was also a great time of priestly/seminarian fraternity as most of the priests of the diocese gathered to pray, listen, and relax.

–#3–

Here’s an article on a priest from Pittsburg and his vocation story. He was at the NAC my first year there.

–#4–

Finally, the Congregation for Clergy just published their annual Letter to Priests. Included in it is an excellent examination of conscience for priests. Here is just a quote from the letter:

Today’s world, with its ever more painful and preoccupying lacerations, needs God-The Trinity, and the Church has the task to proclaim Him. In order to fulfil this task, the Church must remain indissolubly embraced with Christ and never part from Him; it needs Saints who dwell “in the heart of Jesus” and are happy witnesses of God’s Trinitarian Love. And in order to serve the Church and the World, Priests need to be Saints!

The whole letter is available here.

AMDG

]]> http://considerpriesthood.com/2012/04/from-the-week-56/feed/ 0 http://considerpriesthood.com/2012/04/from-the-week-55/ http://considerpriesthood.com/2012/04/from-the-week-55/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:18:50 +0000 Colin http://considerpriesthood.com/?p=4209 –#1–

While there are moments in the parish that make you smile, cry, groan, and sigh, there are also moments that make you crack up. I was visiting a couple families the other day and I was wearing my clerics. As the door to the house opened, a little boy inside said, “Jesus esta aqui” (Jesus is here). And a couple weeks ago I heard about a 4 year old from our parish that whenever he sees Fr. Brian (the pastor), he says “Hola diocito” (Hi God!). They are not quite distinguishing between God and some of his co-workers but you have to love their understanding. They know that a man in clerics has something very directly to do with God.

–#2–

As we mark 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic, a great story has come out about an heroic priest who served in that dire moment.

It is that of Fr. Thomas Byles, the Catholic priest who gave up two spots on a lifeboat in favour of offering spiritual aid to the other victims as they all went down with the “unsinkable” vessel.

A 42-year-old English convert, Fr. Byles was on his way to New York to offer the wedding Mass for his brother William. Reports suggest that he was reciting his breviary on the upper deck when the Titanic struck the iceberg in the twilight hours of Sunday, April 14th, 1912.

According to witnesses, as the ship went down the priest helped women and children get into the lifeboats, then heard confessions, gave absolution, and led passengers in reciting the Rosary.

Read it all here.

–#3–

Bishop Soto is in Rome. He’s been writing short reflections on his time there for his Ad limina visit.

“Let me offer a few words of explanation about the “ad limina” visit. I mentioned earlier the Pontifical North American College. This is the seminary residence for the American students, and other English-speaking students, while studying in Rome. It has a long history in the Eternal City and a spectacular location looking over the Basilica of St. Peter.

Along with other dioceses in the United States, Sacramento has sent students here. Currently, we have three students at the NAC, as it is called: Aaron Rose, whom I mentioned in my earlier reflection; Colin Wen, who is currently working in Sacramento during a pastoral year away from the NAC; and Father Brian Soliven, who was ordained last year and is currently finishing a licentiate in theology. I am looking forward to assigning Father Soliven to a parish this July. I will take this opportunity to remind all of us to pray for our seminarians and to ask the Good Shepherd for more vocations.

The campus is large. Along with housing the seminarians there are rooms reserved for bishops visiting the Vatican. These accommodations are very handy during the “ad limina” visits. Because of the size and vitality of the Catholic Church in the United States the “ad limina” visits for the American bishops take several weeks. There are 14 geographic regions in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Each region is in Rome for a week. You can do the math.”

 –#4–

I was recently talking to a couple guys discerning the priesthood and we were discussing this real challenge of celibacy. But a point that we discovered was this. If you are going to authentically discern a vocation, open to marriage and priesthood, you have to see them objectively. You cannot see marriage as the relationship you currently have with a girlfriend but objectively as that which marriage entails. Why? Because usually that is all you have to go off of for the priesthood. If I could have known all of the people I would meet and work with throughout these last 6 years, it would not have been nearly as difficult to say yes to the priesthood. But that is the great disadvantage for discernment, that the life of a priest is often so vague that it makes it difficult to see oneself as a priest.

–#5–

Finally, I was over at the parish school today helping out when one of the 8th graders came up to me and said I should not become a priest. Then a couple other students agreed. They wanted me to be happy and to be married. After talking about vocations a couple times, I thought they had understood! I am not doing this out of a sense of duty or because I was simply taking orders. I am doing this out of love. God who so loves me called me to become his priest and I responded as weak and unworthy as I am.

AMDG

AMDG

Our Holy Father Pope Benedict’s Chrism Mass homily was amazing. I quote a part of it here but it is well worth a whole read.

At this Holy Mass our thoughts go back to that moment when, through prayer and the laying on of hands, the bishop made us sharers in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, so that we might be “consecrated in truth” (Jn 17:19), as Jesus besought the Father for us in his high-priestly prayer. He himself is the truth. He has consecrated us, that is to say, handed us over to God for ever, so that we can offer men and women a service that comes from God and leads to him. But does our consecration extend to the daily reality of our lives – do we operate as men of God in fellowship with Jesus Christ? This question places the Lord before us and us before him. “Are you resolved to be more united with the Lord Jesus and more closely conformed to him, denying yourselves and confirming those promises about sacred duties towards Christ’s Church which, prompted by love of him, you willingly and joyfully pledged on the day of your priestly ordination?” After this homily, I shall be addressing that question to each of you here and to myself as well. Two things, above all, are asked of us: there is a need for an interior bond, a configuration to Christ, and at the same time there has to be a transcending of ourselves, a renunciation of what is simply our own, of the much-vaunted self-fulfillment. We need, I need, not to claim my life as my own, but to place it at the disposal of another – of Christ.

–#2–

Today we had our first annual LIVE Stations of the Cross in Auburn that brought together some 200 people. It was an amazing turnout. Here are some pictures from the event. Thanks be to God.

Jesus carries his cross.

Part of the procession.

Jesus dies upon the cross.

I had an interesting encounter before the Stations of the Cross. I was dropping off all the clothing and equipment when some boys noticed me. One of them proceeded to mock what I was wearing (a cassock) and what I was doing. It just reminds us that the Word of God was rejected in the beginning and even today is rejected. It reminds us that we have to continue to pray as the intercessions of our Good Friday service had us pray, praying for those who do not believe in Christ or do not believe in God and for true union with our separated brothers and sisters in Christ.

AMDG

There was an article recently written about the North American College by someone completely outside the Catholic world, let alone the seminary world. It’s well worth a read.

I’m not a Catholic. I’m not a Christian. I’m not a man. But after our class tour of Pontifical North American College, a seminarian school in Rome, I’ve decided to join the priesthood. In any capacity they may take me — be it a gardener for their orange trees or a ball fetcher for their tennis court.

The one problem I’ve found in my years traveling is you begin to disregard the beauty in the world and history around you. Desensitized to the art, architecture and sculpted nature, you take for granted the beauty in the ornate and complex structures popping up in each corner.

North American College woke me up from that slumber…

–#2–

A parishioner was talking to me this week about how things really do start to fail or fall apart when we fail to trust God. It really hit home this week. I see quite a few young adults who lack any real sense of the faith their parents have handed on to them. I do my best to smack some sense into them but at the end of the day you still wonder. But this is also where we, especially I, have to see God’s work and His providence. What we are as simple instruments means that we simply do the work without realizing the full power of what we do, what graces God is pouring out, what moments of conversion He desires to bring forth. There is no reason to become disheartened, when you see this lack of faith, but perhaps rather moments to fall more into trust in God. We realize that His plan stands beyond ours, that He will figure out the mess of our lives. If we worry, we are not allowing Him to work. We try to take over His job and make it our own. But truly our lives as Christians involves this capacity to let God do His work through us – even if all we see is a certain faithlessness.

–#3–

It has been a tough week. We had a very active parishioner die from cancer at a young age. There has been a lot of preparation and prayer taking place. So it was nice to have a low key moment this week as I worked with some of our youth to build armor for our Live Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. We spent some 3 hours tracing, cutting, gluing, taping, and painting. And yes…they wanted Lion King playing in the background.

AMDG

 This vocation video is on a seminarian from the North American College. Enjoy!

–#2–

Last Saturday was my first experience of our Diocesan High School Youth Conference: UNPLUGGED 2. We gathered youth from throughout the diocese to unplug from their cellphones, ipods, ipads, and the rest and take some time away to be with their fellow Catholic brothers and sisters and God. We brought over 17 kids to the event. It was amazing. It was a combined effort of SEARCH, NET, and a couple other groups that helped make it a huge success. The kids came back raving about it. I had a blast being a part of it and even got a lot out of it. If you have never been, it is well worth the time.

–#3–

On our way back from UNPLUGGED, the kids were talking about cute guys they had seen. I challenged them a bit on the real purpose of dating. Then the question came up, who was my first girlfriend or who was my first kiss. I was not about to answer those questions but I did tell them I had a girlfriend for some 3+ years I was planning to marry. And I told them how I broke up with her to enter the seminary and answer the call to the priesthood. They were shocked. The typical response. And one of them said, “How could you?” But then another commented, wisely, if I had not, I never would have met them. What a beautiful way to see what happens when we respond to God. How many more people do we meet, lives can we touch, and ways in which we can be blessed if we actually let God lead.

–#4–

The preparations for our LIVE OUTDOOR Stations of the Cross are well underway and it is all starting to come together nicely. I finally confirmed with all the different families that will sponsor a station at their house as well as confirmed with almost all the actors who will be performing. I have also been working on getting supplies so we can create the Roman Soldier costumes. I have been very lucky on that front today as I received a large supply of cardboard and scrapwood. Finally, I have been working on advertising at all the local Hispanic eateries and stores and hopefully this weekend we can get the flyers out all over the neighborhoods of Auburn. Say a prayer for the project. It is amazing how this event has really brought a lot of people together to want to help and put on something that will really give glory to God and bring people closer to Him as we approach the day of his passion and resurrection.

AMDG

Thursday was Vocations Day at St. Vincent’s St. Patrick’s High School in Vallejo. Fr. Brian and I went down to give our vocation stories and hopefully stir up the hearts of a few young men to answer the call to the priesthood. Then we had the Seminarians/Priest vs. Bruins game. I guess the last few times we got creamed. But only Deacon Fredhelito and Fr. Jovito came to play besides myself. This allowed for a couple star players from the Bruins to play for us. And we pulled out a victory 56-53. If you must know, I was about 1-5 from the floor. Say a prayer for these young men and women. We need more vocations!

–#2–

Wednesday I officially wrote out my petition letter to the Bishop asking that he call me to the order of deacons. This is one of the last actions I will do before being called to the diaconate by Bishop Soto and being ordained, God willing, this Fall. Pasted below are some of the words in the letter sent to the Bishop. Every seminarian who is ordained writes out this letter so it is a grace to participate in this last formal part before being considered for diaconate.

I, Colin Wen, 28 years of age, inscribed as a candidate for Sacred Orders for the (Arch)Diocese of , and having received and exercised the ministries of lector and acolyte for a suitable period of time in accord with the law of the Church do hereby petition that I be ordained to the Order of Deacons. I make this request freely and of my own accord, motivated by my intention to serve God and his people as an ordained minister of Christ in the Church of Sacramento. I am aware of the nature and obligations of the Order of Deacons which I request. At this time I affirm my promise of obedience and of perpetual celibacy. I further declare that I will devote myself to diaconal ministry for service in the Diocese of Sacramento.

–#3–

Lastly, a vocation video from the East Coast!

AMDG

 “Take this vessel of bread for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your lives worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his Church.”

Both of these ministries, which are vital and important steps to the priesthood, help to orient a man towards his mission that he will have as a priest. Not only are they formal steps to ordination, but they are also reminders to each man of the need to remain faithful in his service and preaching. Please keep these guys in your prayers! Congratulations Victor and Alex!

Victor and Alex with Archbishop Sartain of Seattle

In other news, those of us in College IV are finishing up the year and preparing for graduation. Several of us have already presented our senior papers, including myself, Patrick, and Joshua. Brad’s defense will be coming up later in the month. Please keep us in your prayers as well!

Thank you all again so much for the continuous support, encouragement, and prayers. You have all been a true blessing!

Pax et bonum,

Dean

The Bishop’s Strategic Rollout Plan happened on Tuesday at the Pastoral Center. Among the things it emphasized, was the importance of promoting vocations in youth ministry, young adult ministry and Newman Centers. It also mentioned the alarming statistic of the day. Of the 111 priests in our diocese, 33 can retire in the next 5 years. On the other hand, in the next 5 years, we will ordain at most 18 men to the priesthood. This does not add up. We need more priests! Keep up those prayers!

–#2–

Sunday I was out at our annual Confirmation Conference Fired Up for teens. I went with our sister parish St. Teresa’s confirmation kids. Our kids at St. Joseph’s were confirmed in October so we had no kids to send. It was a great event with about 1300 kids on Sunday alone.

–#3–

Wednesday I went down to Sacramento for the Central California Regional Spelling Bee, the winner heading on to D.C. for the National Scripp’s Spelling Bee! One of our kids from St. Joseph’s made it into this event and placed 10th. So she did not move onto the national stage but she did win a trophy! What a great time! In other St. Joseph’s Catholic School news, I prepped the 7th and 8th graders for the academic decathlon in the religion section this past month, giving them four hours of instruction on the Gospel of John. They did some of the best work out of 31 schools, scoring 8/10, on the religion part. Sadly they lost the overall thing.

–#4–

I remember hearing a lot of the ministry of presence in seminary. It is definitely essential. Tied in with that is relational ministry. You have to be ready to enter into peoples’ lives where they are, in the hospital, praying a novena for a loved one, a birthday party, sports event, or a science fair. Ministry is quite the opposite of sitting around the church waiting for people to come to you. It is searching them out wherever they are and bringing them home.

AMDG

I finished my Cursillo retreat on Sunday. It was a good time of prayer and fraternity. I came back utterly exhausted though. So I have been trying to take it a bit easier this week. Thanks to the men of Cursillo! De colores!

–#2–

Outside of that, it has been a normal week. My friend directed me to a documentary made a while back on Fr. Joe Kim. He was ordained in 2010 for the Diocese of San Jose. A UC Berkeley graduate, he worked for a number of years before responding to a call to the priesthood. In 2006, as I was discerning my own call to the priesthood, a mutual friend put me in touch with him. He was a good source of answers for my many questions and helped me along the path to priesthood. So check it out – it is done very well.

AMDG

I just got a real sense of priestly ministry the other day. Sunday evening we had our 3 morning Masses and afterwards I had a meeting about an Hispanic bible study we are starting. Then in the evening I went over to the house of a family mourning the loss of a loved one again for a novena. I included a short reflection – something like a funeral homily. While the women inside were praying, the men were outside hanging out. I gave them a hard time for that. What a tradition! Then I drove up to Camp Pendola, a little over an hour away, as St. Peter’s Youth Group was having a 4 day retreat and needed someone to bring them Jesus for exposition. So what I thought would be a 4 hour journey roundtrip turned into a 2.5 hour exposition. I did not get home until like 1:30am. Next morning I prepped for some catechesis sessions and worked on the bulletin. Then at 4pm I had catechesis with 2 families preparing to enter the Church. 5:30pm I had catechesis with someone preparing to receive confirmation. At 7pm I went over to the nearby parish to speak at an RCIA session. Then after that I went over to the birthday party of a family of the parish, some 50+ people to chat with. And in all that time I celebrated 0 sacraments. Just imagine what happens when you get ordained.

–#2–

Tuesday we started our new Hispanic bible study. We had alright turnout for the first time around – about 7 people plus a couple leaders. It was a good time as always. Everytime I have ever run a Hispanic bible study there are always a ton of questions, stories, and anecdotes they have heard. So we had a great time sorting through it all and getting to the heart of some scripture passages.

–#3–

I start a Cursillo retreat on Thursday so this post is actually post-dated. Say a prayer for a good retreat for myself and all the other retreatants.

AMDG

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