How are you being called to fulfill God's plan for you?  Are you willing to make the sacrifices necessary to commit your life to God as a consecrated priest, deacon, brother or sister?  God just calls ordinary people as you can read in the vocation story below.  Also for more information on the consecrated life visit the web page: www.ForYourVocation.org .

This is Father Paul Voisin, CR of St. Patrick's parish vocation story:

This year is the ‘Year of the Priest’, designated by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.  During this year we have used, on many occasions, the Diocesan prayer for the ‘Year of the Priest’.  We have an icon of St. John Mary Vianney, the Patron of Priests, above the rack of spiritual books on the left as you enter the Church.  Next month our Diocese will have a special Mass and reception at St. Theresa’s Cathedral to bring to conclusion this year, and to celebrate the lives of service of the priests here in Bermuda. 

            In conversations with the Bishop and Priests, and with the Parish Council, I have mentioned that one way of marking this special year of prayer might be for each Pastor, around the date of his ordination to Priesthood, to share with his Parish Community his own vocation story.  So … here goes …

            From a very early age I was interested in the priesthood.  One influence in this consideration was the faith witness of my family.  My parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles were all people of faith.  Sunday Mass was a ‘given’, and only serious illness meant not going to Mass.  My parents were willing workers at our home Parish, Our Lady of Lourdes, in Waterloo, Ontario.  This is also the same Parish in which Fr. Jerry Kroetsch and Fr. Harry Reitzel grew up in.  It was a vibrant Parish Community – even in the 1950’s with the impressive witness of so many dedicated parishioners, good stewards, who shared in the (then, considerably limited for laity in comparison with today) work of the Church.  Our Pastor, Fr. Donald Curtis, a Diocesan priest, was a holy man and was the priest most ‘responsible’ for my vocation.  He was caring and always paid so much attention to us children.  Two important life skills I learned from Fr. Curtis were to listen to children (sometimes adults do more talking than listening), and the importance of learning people’s names.   Our Parish school was also a haven of faith.  I can remember each Monday the teacher’s first questions, after the opening prayer, were: “What colour were the priest’s vestments this weekend?”  “What was the gospel about?”  “What did Father talk about?”  I soon became an Altar Server, and in high school a member of the Choir.   This was very much the time and culture that I was raised in – very different from today!

            A more remote influence in my vocation was the fact that three of my father’s brothers were religious.  Lawrence was a Jesuit priest (died in 1960), Alvin is a Jesuit Brother, and Oliver (religious name, Paul) is a Franciscan Brother.  Although I had hardly any personal time with my uncles, except Uncle Alvin who lived close to us after 1962, I knew that they were ‘normal’ people and that stories of Lornie, Alvin and Oliver abounded in the family.  They had shared the same life of my grandparents and father, and their other siblings.  They had not come from heaven with their hands folded, but were regular guys.  Especially interesting was a leather belt with metal studs that came out of our attic every once and a while.  Uncle Oliver had worn this when he was a biker, and now is a very austere and strict Franciscan.  My father would always say that Oliver was very vain about his hair, and lost all of it as a paratrooper in World War II.  Just knowing that my uncles had grown up to be religious made the possibility of a religious vocation a possibility for me.

            The life and ministry of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who taught me, was also an important witness of life and ministry in the Church.  Some distant cousins belonged/belong to that Community.  

            I don’t know about you, but as a child when I had contact with any vocation or job I would ask myself “Could I/Would I like to do that?”  Thoughts of some professions were quickly abandoned, but the attraction priesthood and religious life was constant.  Except for years in high school, when it didn’t seem ‘cool’ to talk about priesthood and date at the same time, I always wanted to be a priest. 

            In 1967 I went to St. Jerome’s High School in Kitchener for my last three years of high school.  This was my first encounter with the Resurrectionists.  I thought (and still do) that they were great guys, and I admired their dedication to us students, their humanity (including sense of humour), their prayer life and faith life, and what I saw of their community life.  This renewed interest became all the more real when one of my best friends, a year older, entered the Congregation.  I often visited him at the Seminary and saw that these seminarians were guys, that they loved life, but also loved their God, their faith, and the Church.  So, one year later I entered the Congregation, August 3, 1970.  Yes, forty years ago!  The reaction of family and friends was varied, most family was not surprised (as I had talked about it so often) but some high school friends were surprised that I would actually do it.  Many believed I would “get it out of my system” and leave.

            This began a new stage of my vocation story, with the formation program of the Resurrectionists.  My desire to serve God and the Church grew.  I was able to recognize even more the talents and abilities that God had given me to serve His people.  I became more grounded in prayer and the Word of God, and was enriched by the history and traditions of our religious Community.  In many ways, I really took off!  I became involved in apostolic works that allowed myself to discover and develop my gifts – visiting the sick, teaching catechetics of children and to the mentally challenged, and retreat work.  There were also difficulties and struggles, but my sense of vocation to priesthood and religious life grew and developed.  God was good! 

            On March 25, 1977 I pronounced my Perpetual Vows as a Resurrectionist to our Provincial Superior, Very Rev. Jerome Kroetsch, C.R., and within the same Mass was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Brian Hennessy, C.R., D.D.  Six weeks later, May 14, I was ordained to the Priesthood by Bishop Hennessy.  That was thirty-three years ago, and I have never looked back!  In my vocation I have been blessed by God, and thank Him for this call and the grace he has given me to respond.  My life as a religious and priest has been a source of great joy and happiness for me.  

            One of the reasons I wanted to share this vocation story is that here at St. Patrick’s I look around and see people – like myself in 1970 – whom God may be calling.  There are MANY gifted people whose lives and ministry would enrich the people of God in the Church in Bermuda.  Please pray for these young (and not so young) men and women who may be called to the priesthood, religious life, and permanent diaconate.  NEVER underestimate the witness value of all that you do as family members and parishioners.  You are being watched!  People are listening!   Parents, encourage your children to respond to God’s call generously – whatever that call may be.  Never underestimate the power and grace of God.

  God bless you!