¿Cuántos panes tiene usted?

¿El título refleja tu propio pensamiento cuando piensas en el ser sacerdote o ser hermano?

Recientemente reflexioné sobre la multiplicación de los panes en los Evangelios. En las versiones de Mateo, Marcos y Lucas, Jesús les dice a sus discípulos, “denles ustedes mismos de comer” En la versión de Marcos, Jesús pregunta a sus discípulos, “¿Cuántos panes tienen?” Y en la narración de Juan, Andrés pregunta, “Aquí hay un muchacho que tiene cinco panes de cebada y dos peces; pero ¿qué es esto para tanta gente?”

¿Qué pueden significar estas palabras hoy para nosotros?

Estos pasajes de la escritura, así como muchos de los demás, ayudan en el discernimiento vocacional como misionero de Glenmary. Las palabras “Denles ustedes mismos de comer” de Mateo 14:16 son muy persuasivas. Por supuesto, muchos de nosotros tenemos un fuerte deseo de responder, pero como el discípulo Andrés en Juan 6:9 terminamos diciendo, tengo muy poco, “¿qué es esto para tanta gente?” Por ser lo que son, nuestros talentos y contribuciones parecen ser insignificantes, pero con la ayuda de Jesús se vuelven abundantes y pueden ser utilizados para alimentar a miles.

Preguntarme a mi mismo “Cuántos panes tengo” es una manera poderosa de iniciar el discernimiento para una vocación a la vida religiosa. La respuesta se puede encontrar en medio de la oración - y lo más seguro es que la respuesta traerá más preguntas. ¿Qué es lo que he recibido sin pagar, qué estoy llamado a compartir sin recompensa? ¿Aun cuando pareciera pequeño o minúsculo, qué tengo para ofrecer en este día? ¿Cómo puedo compartir mis panes en los lugares donde hay más necesidades, especialmente en las áreas de mision de los Estados Unidos para construir el Reino de Dios?

Dios nos llama como somos, no como nosotros quisiéramos ser. Dios usa hombres ordinarios para hacer cosas extraordinarias en su nombre. Esto hace sentirse humilde, pero verdaderamente demuestra la gracia y el poder de Dios.
Por lo tanto, si estás considerando tu vocación, pero estás inseguro si Dios te está realmente llamando o dudas que tienes los dones —hogazas de pan— necesarios, trata de recordar las palabras que Jesús comparte con nosotros muchas veces en las escrituras: "¡No tengas miedo!"
Aunque las preguntas y dudas son parte del proceso de discernimiento, debes saber que la gracia de Dios será suficiente para tí!

Saying Yes

Sometimes I wonder how a guy who “ran away from the circus to join Glenmary” could end up where I am... But I have come to realize God calls us all, and it is up to us to say “yes.” We all have different gifts to share and draw on in the missions. I know from firsthand experience of Glenmarians that we are not all made from the same mold. Some Glenmarians are great preachers, others are fabulous artists, some are excellent listeners, and the list goes on. Some gifts that I do believe we share in common are our love of Jesus Christ, our desire to serve in the home missions and our joy in being with people.

Some mornings on my way to the Vocation Office I jokingly ask, “I wonder how many young men will be lined up waiting outside the door when I get there?” So far since I have been in the position of Vocation Director I have not found a line of people camped outside the door waiting to get in. But I keep praying for more people to respond to their call and I trust God and believe that people will respond.

Ten years ago I would have never known that I could do all that I have with Glenmary. And the wonderful news for someone discerning a call is that you don’t have to know all that you can do or be prepared to do it all the first day you walk into Glenmary. That is why we have formation and training for missioners. There is time. And it usually isn’t until we get out to the mission that the formation starts to make sense. As a fellow Glenmarian once said about his life the mission, “I don’t always know what we do here but it always seems to work out.” Thanks to the grace of God.

A Dream Come True

Two days ago I had the chance to attend a rally in Washington DC in support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Immigration Reform is a major issue for many people in the mission areas we serve (Challenge, spring 2010) and an issue that the U.S. Bishops have given their full support. It seems that this fight for reform has been a long and uphill battle, one without much success. But we can’t lose hope and become cynical. As Rev. Jim Wallis has said, “Our choice is between cynicism and hope. Hope is a decision you make. Hope means believing in spite of the evidence and then waiting for the evidence to change.” As Christians we are called to proclaim this hope and to continue to struggle for justice for all, especially for those without a voice (Matthew 25:31-46).

The Dream Act may come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate as early as next week. And true, I do not think that the Dream Act by itself is enough, but its approval would be one small step in the direction towards comprehensive reform, and one step that can be a light of hope to so many bright and talented youth living in this country. Let’s hope, pray and work that the Dream Act will soon become law and allow the dreams of so many to come true.

Bertie County

Easily overlooked as one drives through North Carolina near the Eastern shore, are a couple of Glenmary Missions in Bertie County. Until 2004 there had never been a Catholic church in this community. Currently it is being served by Glenmarians, Br Curt Kedley, Bro. Jack Henn and Fr. Chet Artysiewicz. Students Jason Muhlenkamp and Clive Otieno are also both stationed there for one year mission experience. With so many Glenmarians present the community has a lot of positive energy and life. Unfortunately though, even with that many missioners in the county, the percentage of Catholics in the county has not changed much, still less than 1 percent. The Church is growing and all of the Glenmarians are extremely involved in the community, visiting folks, delivering food and working for the spiritual welfare of everyone in the community. And there are a lot of needs, for example the number of persons living below the poverty level is around 25% of the population, almost double the national average which is 13%. Lots of other statistics about this county and many other mission counties can be found on Glenmary’s Research Center website. I particularly like the maps which I think really demonstrate the mission needs. Anyone considering a missionary vocation can see the need right here in the U.S is tremendous. Curt, Jack and Chet are all doing a great job but so much more could be done with more people responding to the call…

Visita al Seminario

He disfrutado estos días de visita en el Seminario de San Juan de los Lagos donde yo estudié hace 5 años. Este vez me gusta más porque yo soy aquí de visita no para estudiar. Gracias a Dios, ahora Los Misioneros de Glenmary tiene dos seminaristas estudiando filosofía entre los 130 alumnos estudiando aquí. Me gustaría ver mas candidatos de Glenmary estudiando aquí en el futuro y primero Dios pronto cumplirá. Los días pasaban muy rápido aquí, tuve pláticas con los seminaristas, reuniones con unos de los padres y también tuve la oportunidad a visitar unos amigos en el centro. Los alumnos de Glenmary están bien y todos en el seminario me recibieron muy bien. También me gustó la oportunidad de participar en la vida diario del seminario, oraciones, santa misa, clases y las pláticas con los muchachos.

Mañana regresaré a los Estados Unidos y seguir la lucha de buscar los de más candidatos por el futuro en el norte. Este fin de semana voy estar en Charlotte, Norte Carolina para participar en el Congreso Eucarístico.

Favor de rezen ustedes por las misiones y más misioneros.

Y Contáctenos si le gustaría mas información de como entrar Glenmary.

Appalachian Missions

The last couple of days I had my first opportunity to visit a number of former missions in the southwest Virginia. I stopped at former Glenmary missions in Big Stone Gap, Dungannon, Appalachia, and many others as well as St. Mary Hospital in Norton, VA where Fr. William Howard Bishop, founder of Glenmary, died in 1953. They are small mountain communities that are still hidden away in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. Hard to imagine how difficult it was for the first Glenmary missioners who traveled to these places fifty or sixty years ago. They were traveling there in order to found missions in places where there was no Catholic Church previously. I believe that just like many of us today, they were inspired by Christ’s love to spread the Good News in the rural areas of the United States.

After witnessing the beauty of the mountains in these areas I wished I could have been there in those early days. I now understand why many senior Glenmary members have continued to live in these areas even after retiring. The words of a Glenmarian who recently passed away “I’m just a simple country pastor” seemed very appropriate in these places.

Visiting these former missions and hearing the stories was like going back in time but I know that there are still 300 counties in the United States like these which lack a Catholic congregation or a resident pastoral minister. If you are feeling called to be a missioner there are many beautiful missions like these which need a simple county pastor or brother.