Caroline Smith and Joseph Laundy
At his first visit to Guildford’s St Charles’ Seminary for 2016, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe last month urged young seminarians to put mercy and community service at the heart of their future priesthood, rising to the challenge of becoming better leaders.
At the Mass and dinner on 24 February, the Archbishop was joined by 11 returning seminarians, as well as four new seminarians, Rector Monsignor Kevin Long and Vice Rector, Father Jean-Noël Marie.
The Archbishop began the Eucharist by reminding the seminarians that Lent was a time to become more self-aware of what God had in store for them as future priests.
“I want to ask you, as committed Christians first and foremost, and then as men engaged in the serious business of discerning a vocation to the diocesan priesthood, to see this year as a precious time in which you will continue the journey of being transformed into men who lift burdens from the shoulders of God’s people, leaving behind any inclination to lay more burdens on their already overburdened shoulders,” Archbishop Costelloe said.
“All of us will find it at least as hard as the first disciples did to let the Lord shape us into the priests He wants us to be.
“There will be so much that needs purifying in us, so much that we will have to let go of, so much that we will need to learn. And, for this, we will need that genuine humility that only God can give us.
“Tonight, I want to invite each one of you to pray constantly for this gift. Without it, your priesthood, should that be what God is asking of you, will become a burden to you and to God’s people, rather than the source of hope and life it is meant to be.”
Reflecting on the day, seminarian Joseph Laundy said the Archbishop’s homily was inspiring in light of the Lenten season, the Jubilee Year of Mercy and the challenges for those seeking to become priests.
“The Archbishop was asking us to rise to the challenge of becoming better priests, bringing the gentleness and compassion of Christ to the people while being leaders as well,” he said.
Following the Mass, Archbishop Costelloe joined the deacons and seminary leaders for dinner and night prayer, where he gave each of the deacons a Holy Card for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and he received a book from Mgr Long.