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Home  Priesthood Testimonies
Testimonies
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Bishop Christopher Prowse |
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 Testimony of Bishop Christopher Prowse, Auxilliary Bishop of Melbourne
I became a priest because I felt Jesus calling me to this special vocation. Jesus calls me still. It is a gentle but very deep invitation everyday to be the sort of person Jesus wants me to be. I have become a servant in the Church. I proclaim the Good News found in the scriptures. I lead the people in the celebration of the Sacraments and encourage the community of the parish to grow in faith. |
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 Andrew was just a young boy when he first felt a call to the priesthood. He saw that the priest was the instrument through which the gift of the Eucharist is brought before us. The privilege of being a man through whom God acts in this most special way made a deep impression on his heart. This, along with the fact that the priest has a very special connection with the people to whom he ministered made Andrew want to share in this twofold relationship with God and his people. It was not long after that that Andrew expressed his desire to become a priest. He was only a young boy at the time. But the call and the desire were strong. |
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 Testimony of Fr Anthony Denton, Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Melbourne
Writing the history of one’s vocation is not an easy thing to do, because in the words of Pope John Paul II, a vocation is gift and mystery. On the one hand it is mysterious, almost elusive so that when we think we have grasped it we realize that there is so much more that we don’t understand. Faced with the reality of a supernatural call from God to serve him, we flounder with its implications for our life. |
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 In February 2007 Father Franco Cavarra was appointed as Creative Director for Stations of the Cross, one of the key showpieces for World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney.
Prior to his ordination in 1998, Fr Cavarra was a freelance stage director of opera and drama as well as a lecturer at the Victorian College of the Arts. A graduate of the University of Melbourne, he has directed opera locally and internationally, including productions at the Sydney Opera House.
Stations of the Cross will be an elaborate re-enactment of the passion and death of Jesus Christ through the heart of Sydney. A centrepiece event of WYD08, it is expected to be seen by several hundred thousand people along the route on Friday 18 July 2008.
"Fr Cavarra will play a vital role in the design and execution of Stations of the Cross, one of the largest WYD08 events," said Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, coordinator of WYD08. "He brings to the World Youth Day his experience as a priest and his extensive training and skill in events and the arts. This combination will ensure the Stations of the Cross will be a truly memorable occasion for the youth of the world."
Fr Cavarra is parish priest of St Christopher's Airport West, a large multicultural parish in Melbourne's north-western suburbs. He is also one of the founding members of the longstanding Melbourne International Festival. "I believe that the way of the Cross undertaken by Jesus can be an enduring and inspiring parable for the journey of life for many of us," Father Cavarra said.
Fr Cavarra shares with us his vocation story: |
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 Men sometimes tell stories of having felt called to the priesthood in their youth or young adulthood. Instead, they chose to pursue studies and develop careers in line with the majority of their peers. But the “hound of heaven” ever pursued them. After the chosen career lost the luster of fulfillment and success, the Lord kept knocking. At some point they could no longer resist and took the risk of pursuing a vocation in the Church. Such stories resonate with the gospel accounts of the first apostles: “Immediately they left the boats and their father, and followed him” (Matt 4:22). That adverb “immediately” is on God’s time, not ours. The time comes when it is right and a genuine response to a call. Vocation is not about personal choice, but doing God’s will and fostering communal discipleship.
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