the family seedbed of vocation - st teresa of avila novena
I
would like to use these three posters to reflect on our theme today, St. Teresa
of Jesus, Her Family: The Seedbed of
Vocation.
The
first poster, the picture of Fr. Paul Patrick Alipao with his relatives. The
picture was taken during his ordination to the diaconate at the St. Vincent
Ferrer Seminary, a year ago. From now on
this picture will serve as a point of reference for the whole archdiocese. If he becomes bigger, then all of us will
know and we will have proof to show. If
he becomes thinner then all of us will know and he can show proof to prove it. The poster has a quotation by St. Josemaria
Escriva, the founder of the Opus Dei. It
says: “Giving up one’s children to the
service of God is not a sacrifice: it is
an honor and a joy.”
Can
we say the same of Teresa’s family and relatives? Teresa’s immediate family was never really
keen in supporting her in her desire to become a religious. They were pious parents no doubt who trained
her to practice the virtues, but religious life was never really a dream they
entertained for their sons or daughters.
Her father was a worldly man who was more interested in marrying his
daughters to men of prominence so as to consolidate further the prestige of his
family. When Teresa announced for
example to her father her desire to become a nun, he withheld consent, saying
that after his death she might do as she pleased. It was only the persistence of Teresa that
made him give up on her dreams for her.
Her
cousins did not help either. They were
not good companions leading her to the practice of virtue. OF them Teresa said, “It frightens
me sometimes to think of the harm a bad companion can do, and if I hadn't
experienced it I wouldn't believe it.”
And again she said, “If I should have to give advice, I would tell
parents that they ought to be very careful about whom their children associate
with.”
And so the question is this – did her family support her in her
vocation? Was it with a feeling of honor
and a joy that they offered their daughter, unwillingly perhaps, hesitantly
perhaps, to the service of God?
Sometimes, and I am a witness to this, I find more and more parents who
are either opposed or at the very least cold and indifferent to the religious
vocation of their sons and daughters. Teresa’s
family, at least her father and her cousins were not that keen.
The
second poster, the picture of Fr. Napial and his brothers. This was taken during Fr. Napial’s 50th
sacerdotal anniversary held two weeks ago here in Carmel. You cannot mistake the picture – they look
almost exactly the same, they are really brothers.
The
poster has a quotation by Pope Benedict XVI which says: “Families are the primary and most excellent
seedbed of vocations...helping their members to see the beauty and the
importance of the priesthood.”
The
members of our family can help clarify our desire for the religious life either
as members of the opposition or avid supporter and cheering squad.
Probably
because of the lives of saints their mother read to them, Teresa at age 7
together with her brother Rodrigo escaped one day from home so that they can go
to Morocco in order to be martyred specifically to be beheaded by Muslims. Luckily they were met on the road by an uncle
who brought them home to their already anxious mother. This did not stop Teresa from her religious
exploits and again with little Rodrigo in tow they played little hermits and
monks complete with their cells and caves which they made from stones they
found in the garden. At least this was a
lot safer than looking for a moor to behead and make a martyr out of them.
This
was Teresa’s first self-expression of her inmost desire at an early age. It will be lost and forgotten for a while
when her more worldly cousins came along during her adolescence. But first love, they say never dies, and she
would come back to this desire with a vengeance.
Things
like these happen in a family where a vocation is tested and sifted to separate
chaff from grain.
The
third poster is Fr. Maynard and his mother Emma. We wanted to Tita Emma to really give us one
big smile to show the world that she after all the number one fan and
cheerleader of Fr. Maynard. We felt that
she was suppressing what should be a full blown smile. Of course the son came to the rescue telling
us, she forgot to bring her false teeth.
Pope
St. John Paul II said, “May parents, mothers in particular, be generous in
giving their sons to the Lord when he calls them to the priesthood.”
This
time it is not just a member of the family.
Specifically, the pope says, it is the mother. Although Teresa’s mother was pious who taught
her the life of virtue by word and example, but she was also a woman more at
home with her books on chivalry and romance.
One day Teresa would regret not following her mother’s virtues in life,
but she would imbibe from her this is one habit of reading romantic novels
which made her worldly and vain for a time.
She was not a perfect mother but she laid down the groundwork for a
vocation to grow, and that groundwork is the life of virtue.
Teresa
lost her mother at age 14. The only comfort
for her sadness and loneliness was the Virgin Mary. She said: "I threw myself down in despair before
an image of the Mother of God. With many tears, I implored the Holy Virgin to
become my mother now. Uttered with the simplicity of a child, this prayer was
heard. From that hour on, I never prayed to the Virgin in vain."
IF
you look closely at the picture a faint background is the image of our blessed
mother, this was significant for Teresa in her search of her vocation, this
would be significant to a priest and a religious in their search for and
perseverance in the vocation.
And
so I end this reflection by looking at the gospel. I would imagine that the family in Bethany,
friends of Jesus, was far from perfect. I imagine that this quarrel between Martha and
Mary where Jesus was called to act as an arbiter and referee was not
unusual. Probably it happened once in a
while, perhaps more often than not. And
it is encouraging to note that in this conflict between sisters, the church
would come up with what she would call centuries later the active and
contemplative vocations in her life, ministry and mission. Both are need, both are necessary in the
church.
Teresa’s family was not a perfect family. If her family was a seedbed, it was like all
seedbed – some parts of the seedbed are bad and less fertile, some parts are
good and conducive for growth; there were small stones perhaps that need to be
overcome by the initial roots; there were ants perhaps who bit part of the
seed, it almost never made it; some parts were inundated with water; but
somehow it managed to grow; somehow it survived; somehow it grew big and strong
until it was ready to face the garden plot and grow to its expected size and
bear its expected fruit. We never have a
perfect family. We will never have a
perfect seedbed. But once in a while a
seed manages to grow until maturity. Probably
this is to remind us that vocations are God’s miracle and not just simply ours.
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