How Pope Francis opened doors for this seminarian

Seminarian Kenneth Parsad (Photo Source: PhilNews)

Source: The Philippine Star
By Boy Abunda | Posted March 17, 2016

When seminarian Kenneth Parsad sang the Responsorial Psalm at a Mass for Pope Francis during his visit to the country in January last year, there were a lot of things he never expected to happen.

For one, he didn’t count on becoming a viral sensation. And second, he didn’t think that becoming one would open up more opportunities, and in mainstream entertainment at that. Thanks to all the publicity his singing for the Papal Mass generated, Kenneth — who now also teaches Theology at his Alma Mater, the University of Santo Tomas — was recently signed up by Universal Records and has released an album titled Still. The album contains inspirational tracks like Kenneth’s cover of Gary Valenciano’s Natutulog Ba Ang Diyos, Far Greater Love, My Soul Finds Rest, Ang Ganda, I Will Be Here For You and God Gave Me You.

Actually, prior to the offer, Kenneth and one of his spiritual and musical mentors, identified only as Ferdinand Bautista, planned to make an album of his psalm compositions. But when Bautista suddenly had to leave for France, the plans came to an unexpected halt. That was when the UR offer landed on the table. It was like God was giving him a second chance to go out and reach more people. “I eventually saw it as God’s re-offer for evangelization.”

In the beginning, says Kenneth, doing this sort of thing didn’t even cross his mind. “During the Papal Mass at the Cathedral, I just desired to deliver the message of the psalm. But it generated many things such as this (album). I feel happy and blessed for all the opportunities that have opened up for me, most especially the friends I have met. They are amazing. God truly reveals himself through the people and events in our life!”

CNN: From girlfriends to God: Seminarians answer the call

By Jessica Ravitz, CNN

Updated 2220 GMT (0520 HKT) September 22, 2015

Springfield, Pennsylvania (CNN) Chris Massaro tugs at his clerical collar, swapping it out for another as he pulls on a black cassock and white surplice in preparation for Mass.

It's the sort of repeated daily change -- between black clerical clothes, vestments for Mass, work clothes and back again -- that he's still getting used to as a first-year Catholic seminarian.

"I've been sweating constantly and that's frustrating, I got to be honest," he says. "I enjoy the schedule, but there are parts of the schedule I don't like -- and that's a good thing. It works on obedience."

Ask Massaro what he used to think his life would look like at 24 and the answer is immediate: "Nothing like this."

He had girlfriends. He was a sports nut who couldn't get enough of his New York Giants. He enjoyed the adrenaline rush of triathlons and Tough Mudder obstacle courses.

He enrolled in a Ph.D. program in medical physics at Vanderbilt University and imagined a career that would allow him to care for a family.

Now he's one of nine men taking part in their "Spiritual Year" at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary -- one stop in a seven-year journey to become priests.

Unlike the other 130-plus seminarians living at Saint Charles' sprawling, picturesque campus on Philadelphia's Main Line -- where Pope Francis will stay this weekend -- these men are spending the year in a no-frills brick building 20 minutes away. Living with them is the Rev. Christopher Cooke, who directs the one-year program and serves as an adviser.

It's a dedicated time spent apart -- free of tests, grades and outside tensions -- to go deep, focus on prayer and develop their personal relationships with God.

"But," says Cooke, "don't get the idea that this is a year of resting in hammocks." Read more here....

The Story of Martin Baani: the Iraqi seminarian who will not leave his people

No courage can be found, except in the Church of Christ - the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church of Christ. May kaanib ba ang Iglesia Ni Cristo^® sa Iraq? Kung OFW na INC 'yan, sigurado ko nagpatulong na sa gobyerno ng Pilipinas para iligtas! -CD2000

By John Pontifex

Erbil, Iraq, (CNS/Aid to the Church in Need).- Bombs are falling and the sound of the explosion is sending shock and fear into the hearts of the people. Amid the sound of crying and frenzied activity, people pack up what belongings they can carry and make off into the night.

In the midst of it all, on the night of Aug. 6, stands Martin Baani, a 24-year-old seminarian. It’s dawning on him that this is Karamlesh’s last stand.

For 1,800 years, Christianity has had a home in the hearts and minds of the people of this town so full of antiquity. Now that era is about to be brought to a calamitous end; Islamic State are advancing.

Martin’s mobile phone rings: a friend stammers out the news that the nearby town of Telkaif has fallen to “Da’ash” – the Arabic name for Islamic State. Karamlesh would surely be next.

Martin dashes out of his aunt’s house, where he is staying, and heads for the nearby St Addai’s Church. He takes the Blessed Sacrament, a bundle of official papers, and walks out of the church. Outside a car awaits – his parish priest, Father Thabet, and three other priests are inside.

Martin gets in and the car speeds off. They leave Karamlesh and the last remnants of the village’s Christian presence go with them.

Speaking to Martin in the calm of St. Peter’s Seminary, Ankawa – a suburb of the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil – it is difficult to imagine he is describing anything except a bad dream. But there is nothing dreamy in Martin’s expression. “Until the very last minute, the Peshmerga were telling us it was safe.”

“But then we heard that they were setting up big guns on St Barbara’s Hill (on the edge of the village) and we knew then the situation had become very dangerous.”

Taking stock of that terrible night, Martin’s confidence is bolstered by the presence of 27 other seminarians at St. Peter’s, many with their own stories of escape from the clutches of the Islamic militants.

Martin and his fellow students for the priesthood know that the future is bleak as regards Christianity in Iraq. A community of 1.5 million Christians before 2003 has dwindled to less than 300,000. And of those who remain, more than a third are displaced. Many, if not most, want a new life in a new country.

Martin, however, is not one of them. “I could easily go,” he explains calmly. “My family now live in California. I already have been given a visa to go to America and visit them.”

“But I want to stay. I don’t want to run away from the problem.”

Martin has already made the choice that marks out the priests who have decided to stay in Iraq: his vocation is to serve the people, come what may.

“We must stand up for our rights; we must not be afraid,” he explains.

Describing in detail the emergency relief work that has occupied so much of his time, it is plain to see that he feels his place is to be with the people.

Martin is already a subdeacon. Now in his final year of theology, ordination to the priesthood is but a few months away.

“Thank you for your prayers,” says Martin, as I take my leave of him. “We count on your support.”

John Pontifex is a senior journalist for Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries.

CBS News: More Young Men Choosing Priesthood

Contrary to what anti-Catholics like the cult Iglesia ni Cristo founded by Felix Manalo in the Philippines in 1914, the number of seminarians is rising and Catholics grew by 18 million.

FORT WORTH (CBS 11) - No sex, no money, and complete obedience. Not what you think the average 20-year-old guy would go for. But according to the Catholic Church, the number of men joining the priesthood is up.

In the Diocese of Fort Worth alone, the number of seminarians has nearly doubled in the last 10 years.

And who is joining might surprise you.

Brett Metzler bench presses 250 pounds, squats 305, and can shoot hoops with the best of them.

But the former high school Athlete of the Year is not your typical college student.

20-year-old Brett believes becoming a priest is a better fit.

The Denton County native is preparing for the priesthood at Saint Joseph’s Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana–1200 acres of woods, water, and worship north of New Orleans.

He says his calling came during his freshman year at Texas A & M.

“Everything that everybody was telling me to do that was supposed to fulfill me, it just wasn’t working,” explained Metzler. “I was living in a house with four of my best friends from high school. I mean it was a blast. We’d throw the frisbee and play football every day. I just felt a feeling kind of like unfulfillment every night when I was going to sleep.”

Patriarch: Jordan Supplying 80% of Seminarians

Emphasizes Nation's Importance for Christian Community

By Mariaelena Finessi

ROME, OCT. 19, 2010 (Zenit.org).- When Benedict XVI made his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in May 2009, Jordan was his first stop.

But many pilgrims overlook Jordan, excluding it from official Holy Land tours. Still, it is one of the nations that falls under the jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and according to the patriarch, the importance of Jordan needs to be recognized.

Archbishop Fouad Twal, himself of Jordanian birth, spoke of his homeland at the exhibit "A Look at Christians of the Middle East," being sponsored by the Custody of the Holy Land during the synod on the Middle East, which is under way through Sunday.

The archbishop said that in Jordan "is the most consistent portion of our local Christian community, grown numerically with the addition in 1948 and in 1967 of so many Palestinian refugees."

The result is that today the country has 65 parishes and 77,000 faithful.

In fact, Archbishop Twal noted, "80% of our seminarians are of Jordanian origin."

The patriarch asserted that Christians of the Holy Land must be at the center of the Church's attention: They are "descendants of the first community formed by Jesus Christ himself," he reminded, and never before has it been so much the "Church of Calvary" such that the presence of Christians in the Holy Land can be read as "a mission, a vocation," called by God to "bear this cross."

For its part, Jordan is an example of dialogue and religious coexistence, Archbishop Twal continued. He pointed to the charitable work done by the Christian community there, though it is a minority. Jordan assists something like 500,000 refugees, especially Iraqis, and aspires to be a model for the whole of the Middle East area, he said.

It was also in Jordan, the prelate continued, that the best reactions to the Pope's Regensburg address could be found. There, there was an openness that culminated in Benedict XVI's visit to the mosque of Amman, where he was received explicitly as Successor of Peter.

Addressing issues

Archbishop Twal was accompanied during his address by a leader of Caritas-Jordan, Monsignor Sayegh e a Huda Muhasher.

The decisive role of Christians in Jordan's civil society is found in that which Benedict XVI defined as "the dialogue of works," Muhasher said. "There are so many, and as laity we have a great role in them."

He said Caritas has addressed all the most serious national emergencies, including that of the immigrants.

"We have two charitable fronts," the Caritas director said, "one for Jordanians, for whom Caritas was founded, and one for all the foreigners who arrive in the country and are in need of help."

And being a laboratory of coexistence between Christians and Muslims, between citizens and foreigners, "the greater part of funds received in the last years has been allocated to Iraqi refugees and not to Jordanians," he added.

Among Caritas' many projects -- it is the only organization that can enter prisons, for example -- there is one that Muhasher highlighted: a care center for disabled children and their families.

There, he said, parents are "taught how to address and live with handicaps."

The Caritas leader spoke of beginning every activity with prayer, "without showy gestures but each one in the silence of his heart."