Pastor’s Desk

By—Father Stelio Fongaro

translated by Father Peter P. Polo

collaboration with Father Gino Dalpiaz

I. Lovable Dignity

“He who lives from faith not only loves God, but feels impelled to make others love him…. Hence the fever of saints to sacrifice their whole selves for the salvation of souls. And hence those wonders of charity and zeal that we read about in their lives and that call forth the admiration of every age. The zeal of God’s glory consumed them, never letting them rest for a single instant” (Pastoral Letter of 1877).

Fr. Francesconi’s very complete biography of Bishop John Baptist Scalabrini may leave us with two apparently contradictory reactions. On the one hand, we are left with the impression of being almost overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of a figure who left such a strong mark on the history of Italy as well as the Church; who traveled the length and breadth of his far-flung and almost inaccessible diocese in five pastoral visits, like some member of the land commission; who sifted like a gold digger through the boundless regions entrusted to his missionaries in North America and Brazil; who held three synods, founded two missionary congregations, licensed the publication of reviews, held congresses, and had a decisive influence on Italian legislation on migration; and who succeeded in the titanic task of restoring his city’s cathedral.

On the other hand, we are somewhat surprised by the style of this great man who would often come out onto a walkway overlooking the cathedral, to be able to gaze from the Bishop’s house at the Most Blessed Sacrament through a small window in the apse; who left a will asking to be buried with the elements for the celebration of Mass; who helped himself in the recitation of the psalms with pieces of paper marked “to be kept in the breviary”; and who died murmuring short prayers like the humblest of Christians.

However, if we reflect a little, we can see that his special quality lies precisely in this mingling of greatness and littleness, and that this is what uplifts our spirit as we contemplate him.

By Fr. Eduardo Quintero, CS

I cordially greet you, dear parishioners.

As you all know, we are starting a ministry at St Ann’s Parish. It is the richness of our charism, the experience of our Religious Congregation and Bishop Scalabrini’s vision that we eagerly want to share as we journey together as a Parish community.

Allow me to take advantage of St Ann’s Feast Day to write to you. St Anne & St Joachim are the Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A tradition that began in the Second century gives these names to the parents of the BVM. Joachim means “God grants”, while Ann means “grace”. So virtue and grace mingle powerfully in this couple’s life.

Through their intercession many graces may be granted to us! Happy feast day to you all!

Paraphrasing St Augustine’s statement (A Bishop I am for you; a Christian I am with you), I also want to introduce myself to you as a Pastor (shepherd) and a server. Let us help each other reach holiness and together let us be a reflection of God’s love and mercy.

We have a heart for migrants, so does St Ann’s by hosting Spanish & Korean Masses, by participating in the Refugee Program, by promoting varied activities with our Seasonal Farm Workers, by having open arms for all God’s children. Please help us in serving the “stranger” and in making them feel at home, so that God may always be seen and welcomed in them.

By Fr. Hien Nguyen

It is always hard to promote vocations in a diocese and a Vocation Director seems to be the “lone ranger” who would receive no supports from his brother priests. For this reason it is important to involve the priests in the diocese to be the primary Vocation Directors. What would be their ideas and ways of promoting vocations in the dioceses? I had the privilege of asking almost all of the priests in the Archdiocese of Vancouver to give me what each individual think or can do to actively encourage the young people of Vancouver to consider the vocation to the priesthood. These are there suggestions that we can apply to this particular diocese:

• We should nurture in ourselves a masculine spirituality, a spiritual father of the community and demonstrate it through our work. Young men need to see us pray. They need to see our love for Christ and our dedication to the Church.
• We have to take a bigger role with the altar servers, not just in training them but also in talking to them about the saints, teaching them the virtues, showing them how to communicate to God. We have to create an environment (vocations pilgrimage to different religious orders, Churches in the diocese, etc.) which will help them ask questions about the priesthood, and encourage those who show signs of a possible vocation to take a further step by discerning it in a seminary.
• Our happiness in the ministry must be shown in an outward way and our manners should be those of a Christian gentleman. We need to portray the image of joyful service and rid ourselves of the image of workaholic (“sorry I am busy”).
• We need to be seen around our youth so that they feel comfortable talking to us. We also need to get more involved with youth groups and establish post-elementary religious education programs to keep our contact with students after they enter junior high school. We can intentionally plan events or activities for young people so that they can get to know us and Christ.
• We have to begin to observe our young men and women for signs of a calling to the priesthood or religious life and invite them to discern a possible vocation. At the same time, we must offer to assist them in their discernment.
• Our seminarians need to start talking in parishes on vocations and on their journey so far. They need to be more visible to our young men within parishes in the diocese.
• We need to find new ways, like the Vocations Family Kit, to have parents encourage vocations within their families. We should find ways to promote family prayers and encourage prayers for vocations. Visiting families is another way we can encourage vocations at home.
• We should not be afraid to show our human side –to show that we do normal things like everyone else: exercising, being involved in sports, etc.
• There should be an annual diocesan event, such as a Vocations Mass, to which a pastor can bring prospective candidates from his parish. At this Mass the Archbishop can preach on vocations. Parents and other family members can encourage their own children to come to the Mass. Or we can have a vocation fair once in a while where the various religious communities set up booths that display information describing their orders, with some members available to answer questions.
• We should have parish-based promotion of vocations, including such annual events as retreats and summer camps. There can also be days of prayer for vocations. We can put more emphasis on Vocations Sunday.
• On the personal side, we can make vocations a part of our daily prayer. We can ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and courage to invite young men to the priesthood and name them before Christ in prayer.
• We must talk honestly to the youth about priestly life. We need to let them know that it is possible to have a fulfilling and happy life being a priest while faithfully keeping our vows. We also need to give reflections on the priesthood and to relate our own vocation stories.
• We could establish a ‘pre-seminary house’, a house that promotes deeper spiritual growth and a deeper love for Christ. It would be a residential house of formation for men seriously planning on entering the seminary, with well established ‘rules of life’. The candidates could be working still or going to college.
  We priests have to play our role in promoting vocations. We need to look for those who can replace us to continue the mission of Christ building the kingdom of God. Jesus called us to be “Fisher of Men” (Mat 4:19), and so we are obliged to go “fishing”.

By Fr. Hien Nguyen

During the different breaks in a school year especially for theologian students, they can be placed in different parishes to be formed pastorally. “The parish should be given particular importance for it is a living cell of local and specialized pastoral work in which they will find themselves ministry.” The candidates will learn and be inspired by the pastor and the people they work with; they also through pastoral charity, learn to resolve conflict through justice, patient, wisdom, and peace. They will discover their strength and weakness and contribute their gifts of self to the common good.

The bishops should establish a place such as a suitable parish or a House of Clerics for candidates who are at the end of their formation years to begin a Pastoral Year. During this time, the candidates are exposed to a full experience of parish ministries and at the same time to learn to cooperate with other priests to minister the parishioners in supporting their ordinary.

Pastoral formation is the thread that brings together all aspects of formation. It allows the candidate to integrate and apply what he has become through his human, intellectual, and spiritual formations. Priestly formation today is the best it has ever been in the history of the Church and again primarily because of the end products of Pastores Dabo Vobis, the Program of Priestly Formation, and the urge of the Church wanting to reform focusing on not just the identity but also process of formation with Apostolic Visitations of all seminaries. Saying this, there should be a reminder that it is an individual who is “primarily responsible for ongoing formation. Such a duty is derived from the fact that no one can take the place of the priest in watching over himself.” There is also no end to the formation but a working progress of each individual for the rest of his life.

By Fr. Hien Nguyen

More so than ever in this contemporary world, with the advancement of technology, the increase of modern spirituality, the growth of new age philosophy, the influence of sceptics, the prominent attitude of religious indifference, etc. force the need of the faithful “to be prepared to make a defense of the faith and to account for the hope that is in us, then all the more should candidates for the priesthood and priests have diligent care of the quality of their intellectual formation in their education and pastoral activity. For the salvation of their brothers and sisters they should seek an ever deeper knowledge of the divine mysteries.” Candidates are asked to deepen their faith through the profundity of intellectual knowledge in order to be effective ministers of the faith. They are to become the hearers of the Word, preacher, teachers, followers of Christ, defenders of the Church, deeply rooted in the traditions of the Church, ministers of the sacraments, promoters of marriage and family, moral teachers and guides, advocates of justice and peace, and bearers of God’s love to those who have not known or have not fully known Him.
To help the candidates of the priesthood be able to transmit the faith, the minimum requirement of the intellectual Formation is six years: 2 or 4 years of Philosophy, and 4 years of Theology. The crucial stage and the foundation of this formation is the study of philosophy that “leads to a deeper understanding and interpretation of the person and of the person’s freedom and relationships with the world and with God.” It helps them to distinguish the truth and reality in relation to the person. They are able to differentiate subjective and objective realities and mature beyond self to reach out to others. In Theology, the candidates are not only challenging themselves to have the personal faith in God but also to reach deeper into the understanding of the faith itself through the learning of Sacra Doctrina and Traditions.

By Fr. Hien Nguyen

It is important for the candidates to reserve a special place in their hearts for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each in his own way through the tradition of the Church should develop the devotion to Our Mother. Her fidelity to the call of God is an example to all Christian especially those who are prepared for the priesthood. “Obviously, the mystery of the Virgin cannot be lived out except in an inner climate of simplicity and abandonment, which has nothing to do with sweet sentimentality and superficial outpouring of feelings. Contact with the Blessed Virgin can only lead to greater contact with Christ and His cross.”
The faithful will make remarks that they can tell if their priest prays or not, by the way he says Mass, the way he preaches, and the way he treats his parishioners. When he does not have an authentic personal relationship with Christ, it is noticeable by the people he ministers to. People and the Church want holy priests and Spiritual Formation is about forming holy priests.

1.5 Pastoral Formation
To simply put, the priesthood is the means and instrument that leads people closer to Jesus and His salvation. The priest is the sacrament or sign of the Charity of Christ in his ministry with the people he serves. Therefore it is important that “the whole formation imparted to candidates for the priesthood aims at preparing them to enter into communion with the charity of Christ the good shepherd.” Objectively, the candidates are formed after the example of Jesus the teacher, the priest, and the pastor. The formation should emphasize and include the elements of proclaiming the Word, celebrating the sacraments, reaching out as ad intra and ad extra, building the community of faith, working with the poor and the needy, having the apostolic zeal, learning to be a pastor in a parish, etc. During the years in the seminary, there should be different programs organized for the candidates to participate and learn specific pastoral skill. Some of the pastoral experiences could be: teaching Catechism to children, youth and adults; hospital and nursing home visitations; Youth and young adult ministry; prison, street ministries etc. When the candidate is in the deaconate program, he can be assigned to a local parish to preach, baptize, and witness marriages. However, the pastoral formation should not “reduce to a mere apprenticeship, aiming to make the candidate familiar with some pastoral techniques…but seek really and truly to initiate the candidate into the sensitivity of being a shepherd,” with the sentiments of Christ, the priest.

By Fr. Hien Nguyen

The Redemptive Sacrifice

The candidates also need to centralize his life on the Eucharist as the “Summit and the Source” and by participating in this Paschal Mystery that they can express the aspect of brotherly communion. They need to foster the love for the Eucharist through their own devotion such as Holy Hour and daily participation in the celebration of the Eucharist because the doctrine of the priesthood is grafted onto this. The candidates thrive to be the signs (lex orandi est lex credentdi) of the incarnation love of God by their participation and promotion of the Divine Word and the Eucharist. Through the Eucharist, the candidates learned to reach out selflessly to the point of giving one’s life to others in following the example of Christ on the cross. Like many Fathers of
the Church, they wish to give their lives for the faith through martyrdom, a radical and optimal act of love for God. However, hen the Edict of Milan was passed by Constantine, thus began a period of stability and tranquility in the act of worship in the early Christian community. The outcome of this also caused a void for many Christians who have always desired and sought for the heroic act of martyrdom now was not obtainable. As a result they looked for a different channel to express their radical love for God and so born the movement of monasticism. Many early Christians began to search for the highest expression of love of God by leaving everything behind and living a life as a hermit with discipline of asceticism to purge the body, the passion, the desire and even the intellect and will so that they can be mystically in union with God. This process based on the Paschal Mystery of Christ, his Words, and his redemptive sacrifice.

Spiritual Guide
Every candidate should find a personal spiritual director from among the priests who are experienced and qualified in this regard, and the candidate should meet with him regularly. In this way, it also encourages the candidate to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation. The spiritual director cannot disclose any part of the conversations especially those pertain in the internal forum. He is to help the candidate to grow and mature spiritually. To assist in the holiness of the candidates, there should be retreats planned so that these young men can participate. The candidates must cultivate the spirit of self denial by living a life of
detachment. When they are willing to make sacrifices, they will develop a rule of life that will assist them in the future. They will learn to live in congruent with the way of life and acquire the virtue of obedience which helps them to live freely in joy and love of God through the Church.

By Fr. Hien Nguyen

1.3 Spiritual Formation

Spiritual formation is about falling in love with Jesus. It is a developing of the relationship with each of the Person of the Blessed Trinity and from this source of love reaches out and dispenses it to others. It is a formation of spiritual communion vertically with God and horizontally with fellowmen. The “students may learn to live in intimate and unceasing union with the [Trinity]. Those who are to take on the likeness of Christ the Priest by sacred ordination should form the habit of drawing close to him as friends in every detail of their lives. They should live his paschal mystery in such a way that they will know how to initiate into it the people committed to their charge.”
Young candidates need to develop a life of prayer that will help to sustain them in the life of the priesthood and their ministries. They need to learn how to pray using many different methods through their struggles and consolations not only to know Jesus better personally, but to gain the ability to guide and direct others in prayer. He is the master of prayer. The Church gives guidelines in four directives to help form the candidates spiritually: Christ the Word of God; The Word of the Cross: the Redemptive Sacrifice; The Word of the Cross: Spiritual Sacrifices; and The Word Made Flesh in the Womb of the Virgin Mary.

Word of God
It is important for the candidates to establish interior silence. This means that they have the ability to discern God’s will and others, to dialogue with God and others, to be in communion with others. It is the silent heart that is not being distracted by conflicts, hatred, and sins; a heart that is available to interact with God and others. St. Ignatius promoted this method in his Spiritual Exercises to have this silent and peace of heart to discern God’s will.
“For just as taking a walk, journeying on foot, and running are bodily exercises, so we call Spiritual Exercises every way of preparing and disposing the soul to rid itself of all inordinate attachments, and, after their removal, of seeking and finding the will of God in the disposition of our life for the salvation of our soul.”
The aim for the candidates is “to bring about a meeting with Christ, to foster interior intimacy and a real dialogue with Him.” To achieve this, they require exposing and mastering themselves the art of prayer. They learn to pray with others through the Liturgy of the Hours and other prayers of the Church. They have to spare some time to read and meditate on Scriptures and books of the Saints (lectio divina). In this way the Word of God infiltrates his whole person and becomes flesh in his activities.