Salesian Province of Mumbai

☼ JOIN US

Do you feel a “special call” to make a difference in the world?

Is the Lord calling you for a special mission?

Do you feel at home with youngsters, more so with poor and disadvantaged youth?

The Lord may be calling you to be His Salesian!

When God calls, are you listening…?

Fr. Brian Moras sdb

It was in a large gathering of youngsters in Italy that the Salesians asked the youngsters the all important question: “Why is it that so few of you think of joining the Priesthood, Brotherhood and the Sisterhood?” The answer they received was an unexpected one, it was “Nobody asked us, nobody encouraged us, and we didn’t know how to go about it.”

The Salesians in the West realized that they had made a mistake in the vocation Ministry; they had made the mistake of thinking that their work and their huge institutions would speak for themselves, would promote vocations; this incidentally was not very effective.

We need to learn from our Lord Jesus who himself felt the need of approaching people personally and extending to them a personal invitation to follow Him. “Come and See”, said the Lord to Andrew and the other disciple in the Gospel of St. John, 1:39. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”, said our Lord to Simon Peter our first Pope. “Follow me” said Jesus to the corrupt tax collector, Mathew.

“What are the different ways the Lord calls?” In Scripture we see, the Lord chooses people whom He desires. We have the disciple Paul, who had to be struck down from the horse to realize that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Mathew was a corrupt tax collector. We have the young boy Samuel being called, when he did not even know the Lord ………. David was the youngest and most insignificant of Jesse’s eight sons.

How does the Lord call today???

I put this question to the many groups I speak to in schools, youth groups, and parishes. The common answers are: in dreams, some further say — in my dream I would find myself saying Mass or preaching, some will add through prayer, while reading the bible, inspired by a teacher or my parents, through an accident/incident which made me reflect ……….. All these answers are correct in their own way, though each have their own limitation. It is very interesting speaking to youngsters about a religious calling. Most of them will smile and call out someone else’s name as a worthy candidate. Very few believe that the Good Lord could be extending a personal invitation to them.

Challenges today for budding vocations

1) The exposure to life today is mind boggling. Be it the TV, Internet or the written media. “Live life king size,” is the running motto. The need to experience as much as possible without getting caught is another big temptation. Morality today appears to be on the wane. How can a religious Vocation flower in such settings?

2) Materialism

3) Riots: Think Gujarat, Orissa.

4) Loneliness

5) Very small families that we have nowadays. Hum do, humare do. Or in some cases, hum do, humare ek. The cost of living, and competition for jobs has gone up so much, and faith in God has come down so much that accepting children as a gift from the Lord is very challenging.

Given this reality, Parents today are unwilling to let their children join the Priesthood or Religious Life.

Fortunately, ours is an awesome God who is even today calling youngsters to serve Him exclusively.

He puts this desire in their hearts right from a young age. Where there is prayer in the family, love and unity among the parents and love and respect for Priests, Brothers and Sisters, in that family a vocation will nurture. The family is the nurturing ground; good families (even though we have our regular fights, misunderstandings) will bear good fruit. The mere desire to come to church and Serve at the Lord’s altar is very positive sign. John Paul II would say, “The Family is the Cradle of Vocations. It is the fist seminary.”

Our Father Don Bosco was crazy about Vocations. In his life time, even by 1876, 34 years a priest, he had promoted nearly 6000 priests to his congregation and also to the diocese. Don Bosco would often say: “A Priest, Brother or Sister is the greatest gift that the good Lord could give to a family. When a person leaves to join the religious life, the Lord himself takes the place of that person in the family.”

It is true and I know it for a fact. The Lord takes care of the family, much more than we could even dream of doing ourselves. The good Lord can never be outdone in generosity. Great is the joy of parents of having one of their Sons or daughters full time in the service of Jesus. It actually keeps them healthy, happy and always grateful to the almighty for this special gift.

When a social worker asked Mother Teresa, “Mother what is the difference between you and me?”

the most humble Mother said, “Both of us are the same, except that when you work, you work for something, whereas, I work for someone.”

When what I plan for myself matches with the plan the good Lord has for me, then we will be truly happy in life. If the Lord has put the desire in any one of your hearts to be a Salesian Priest or Brother or Sister, have the courage and the humility to say Yes!

If the Lord calls you to it, then no matter how difficult it gets, he will see you through it!

God bless you!

Fr. Brian Moras sdb,

Vocation Promoter,

Don Bosco Youth Services

Don Bosco, Matunga,

Mumbai 400 019