Today’s Prophets: The Enduring Societal Relevance of Vocations to Priestly and Religious Life

O Clarim will run a special series of articles on USJ FRSP (University of St Joseph -Faculty of Religious Studies and Philosophy) which is expressly focused on emphasizing the significance of the priesthood, especially in these times when the world seems to be in need of re-evangelization and a renewal of faith, by participating in the celebration of the Year of Vocations of the Catholic Diocese of Macao.
In the first article of this series, Ian Shelley Alabanza writes that priests or religious, in the societal context, are immensely important as they follow in the footsteps of Jesus, always striving to steer the people in their care toward a life under the guidance and counsel of the Holy Spirit.

Fear of the Cross

Fear can paralyze us. But fear, in this case, is a response that is based on an error. We embrace that error when we act out of selfishness. Each of us will die. That’s a fact. The question is how we die. We can either die selfishly, seeing our earthly life as the center of all. Or we can die in a self-giving way with our Lord by uniting ourselves to His act of sacrificial love.