welcoming formation year 2011-2012

Today, as we start the year, we gather together for the first time by honoring the Lord who called each one of us, in his own unique way to this place of formation, the St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary. We gather today in this chapel, the very heart and center of our community. For many of you this will be the first among the very many times you will come to this place - some for months and others for as long as 8 years. First nights in the seminary as it has been and will always be are initially spent here to worship the Lord of our call. We present ourselves to the Lord who called, to the Lord whom we promise to follow, to the Lord whom we seek to serve, to the Lord who will be with us in our joys and fears, in our sadness and tears.
After this benediction I would like us all to turn to the Blessed Mother on her altar to pray to her that she will bless our home and bless our endeavors to follow her son more closely and more dearly. That place there where she stand right now is a familiar place for all seminarians who passed by these walls. That is the place we run to whenever we are in trouble in the same way that we run to our mothers in our need. That is the place too where I was first made to kneel while the community was praying the rosary, punished in front of my mother for talking while others were praying. But as I looked up from the position of bended knees I saw not an angry look but a loving and forgiving gaze. After that punishment before her altar I have this feeling that she never left her gaze on me, watching me all along until I became a priest and even now. After this benediction we will honor her on her altar and ask her to look loving on us and never leave her gaze from us.


Today is the feast of the Pentecost, the feast where we commemorate the coming down of the Holy Spirit upon our Lady and the apostles. It is said that the Holy Spirit did not come to solve our problems but to create them. Let me repeat that in case you missed it. The Holy Spirit did not come to solve our problems but to create them.
If the Holy Spirit did not come to Peter, James and John everything would have ended up differently for them. Peter would have returned to the simple life of a fisherman, and James and John would have returned to inherit the fishing enterprise of their father Zebedee. But as it is, the Spirit came on Pentecost Day and from then on their lives and even their deaths took a different turn. Because of the Spirit in their lives these fishermen scouted the known world bringing the gospel message, braving the elements, hid from their persecutors; faced court ligations and imprisonment, received insults and false accusations, and finally James died by the sword, John was cooked in boiling oil and Peter was crucified upside down. The Holy Spirit came to them not to solve their problems but gave them even more.
When I was studying theology our professor told us that in becoming priests the bishop will put his hands on our heads and call in a special way the gift of the Holy Spirit to come down upon us giving us a special mission in the world. Now I guess after 18 years a priest what he truly meant by special mission were really special problems - 130 problems including 8 priests - joke lang.
Imagine a life without the Holy Spirit. You received the Holy Spirit in baptism and because of that you became a child of God and a child of the Catholic church. Without that you would not be here today for it was also the Spirit who called you to be here. If there is no Holy Spirit you would have been watching TV right now, or texting friends, or probably eating good food at the security of your homes. Without the Holy Spirit Gio and Woolf and Jimel and Esquibel would have no first year buddies to worry about - they would be probably playing games on the computer rather than spending time watching if their buddies are behaving and doing things correctly. But the Holy Spirit came and he created problems for you.
You see that is the challenge of answering the priestly vocation. To want become a priest is not or should not be a feel good vocation where I can simply look inside myself and make a life according to my whims and liking, never minding what goes on in the other partition or cubidorm. It is not a life where I can simply close my door and feel satisfaction with myself. Instead the Spirit challenges us to look outside, to peer outside and find a problem which will summon us to life. Take a look at the example of the saints. Mother Teresa looked for a problem, and found in the streets of Calcutta destitution and poverty, and there she lived her life and answered her summons. Vincent de Paul peered outside, found a problem in the formation of the clergy and there directed his life’s endeavors. Marie Eugenie looked out and saw the problem of uneducated and powerless women and there with them she spent her life and call.
Be aware of the Spirit in your life. Look around you, peer around and ask yourself, who needs me today, what can I do to bear God’s love in this part of the world? Do some brainstorming as to what problems the Holy Spirit is inviting you today. Remember the Holy Spirit comes not to solve our problems but to create them.
As we start this formation year and as I welcome you all in the presence of the Lord and our Blessed Mother, I pray that you will respond to the challenges the Spirit has in store for all of us. Remember the Holy Spirit is also called paraclete - a paracletos - as he creates problems for us he is also one who consoles and comforts, one who encourages and uplift. He led you to us so therefore rely in his help. Let us beg him to help us in our vocation - to face the obstacles and trials head on and to ever rely in his guidance.