The Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDMs) have recently opened an International Formation Centre in Davao on the island of Mindanao in the Southern Philippines. The aim of the centre is to provide Sisters preparing to make final vows with an opportunity to prepare themselves well for such an important step in their lives.
Choosing to work as a priest in a foreign country or in a cross-cultural context has brought me many gifts as well as challenges. There are highs and lows in the experiences of being challenged to grow in one’s understanding of how different cultures see life and live it.
All I wanted was to get married and have lots of children. My father’s response was I would have to learn to cook and sew so I could be a good wife and mother. As a free-spirited child, one of 11 in a loving, secure, Catholic family, I loved having fun with my family after evening prayer, of which music was always a part.
On 25 February 2007 I professed my final vows as a Sister of Mercy at St Patrick’s Church, Wainuiomata. It was the best day of my life. I was surrounded by the goodness of people who have supported me throughout my life.
If you were to ask me ‘what is the best part about being a diocesan priest’, I would immediately reply, ‘the people’. The typical diocesan priest will probably work in five or six parishes over 30 years of priesthood. In that time, he will learn about the vulnerability of human nature and he will marvel at the depth of faith of ordinary people. That is what teaches him about the grace of God – much more so than any textbook can teach.
Seventeen years in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati crystalised Kevin Dobbyn’s calling to Marist Brotherhood because there he found himself standing with the marginalised. The word used for ‘brother’ in Kiribati actually means ‘same sex sibling’ and is a good metaphor for what it means to be brother. However, it has usually meant someone in the Church who does manual work, someone ‘not intelligent enough’ to be ordained. This suited Kevin’s spirituality because he wanted to be identified with those on the edge.
There were 32 killed in one incident last month who never lived to fulfill their vocations. We saw their faces on the TV news. They were mainly young people who had lost their lives at the hands of another young student at an American university. Their individual callings had lead them all to study or teach at the same university, Virginia Tech. From the extensive newspaper and TV coverage we learned their names, their ages and that they hoped to follow vocations including as lawyers, teachers and engineers.
Using the mission theme, ‘Walking his way, telling his truth, living his life’, Bishop Boyle showed that we are able to reach the Lord through our own hearts, in our own church and with our own fellow parishioners. Bishop Len spoke on Prayer, Forgiveness, Eucharist and Reaching Out.
In 2007 over 140 students from schools in the National Network of Marist Schools, and beyond, will have benefitted from participation at MaristYouthLeader, a week-long leadership programme for students entering their final year at school. Held in January at St Bede’s College in Christchurch, the programme provides training for student leadership in the context of a Catholic and Marist school.