Vocations News and Events: Enquirers' Night
News from the latest enquirer night in June 2008
Marc Lyden-Smith writes:
“It was great to go along and spend time with those thinking about priesthood and wondering if the Lord is calling them to serve him, his people and the Church in this very special way. I myself am about to enter my 6th year in seminary, my 5th at Ushaw after spending a year in Valladolid, and I too am still discerning like those who gathered at the house of formation in Penshaw.
"And so Fr. Michael McCoy asked me to share my journey of discernment to the group which I did. I shared my faith story with those gathered and a little about my relationship with the Lord.
For anyone thinking about priesthood, anyone feeling called to serve in this word, a strong relationship with the Lord is of course very important.
" Any journey that we embark on in life will throw up its struggles, its worries, its doubts, just as any journey brings new things, new feelings, new joys, new friends. The journey towards priesthood is no different, and that is why relationship to the Lord is so important because the Lord is there to support us through the struggles that we all have, through the worries and self doubts, just as he is there in the new friends that we make. He is in the new experiences that we enjoy gently leading us forward in love.
"And so the most important things which I wanted to share with my brothers and sisters in Penshaw was the importance of prayer when discerning a vocation to the priesthood. Prayer is the cement which holds our relationship with God together as we discern what God is calling us to do.
"So I would encourage anyone who feels, in any way, called to priesthood to spend time in prayer and to ask God for the grace to be open to "God’s" will and offer him your own, because that is where freedom and true happiness can be found!
"I would also encourage you to get in touch with the Vocations Director, Fr. Andrew Downie or our Promoter of Vocations, Fr. McCoy at Penshaw and come along to the Enquirer's Nights which Fr. McCoy hosts, so that you can pray with other like-minded people to see if their worries, questions or experiences are the same as yours, and to simply enjoy each others company for a couple of hours.
"With prayers for all those thinking about a vocation to priesthood or religious life."
Marc Lyden-Smith
For more information on the year in Valladolid see the Royal English College website at www.valladolid.org.
The next Enquirer Night Meeting will be in September at the House of Hospitality, Our Lady Queen of Peace, Penshaw.