WelCom October 2022
Fr David Dowling
Vocations directors from around the country met for a day with formation staff at Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland in August to discuss the formation of future diocesan priests in New Zealand.
The day began with prayer and reflection on the model of the Good Shepherd, remembering how Jesus met people in real-life situations. By caring and being present to them, he helped people to encounter the living God.
They noted how today’s world is becoming more and more superficial and with so much information pushed into us, we seem to have less and less ability to think deeply and to reflect, to consider, to ponder.
Various challenges associated with vocational discernment and accompaniment were also discussed. This included how to form good servant leaders, pastoral placement in parishes, supporting pre-seminary students from Vietnam, ways of developing a deeper prayer life, the struggles and challenges faced by those in formation and how to journey with them in an honest, encouraging, and supportive way.
The vocations directors and seminary staff are committed to ongoing collaboration in the formation of those discerning the call to priesthood, so that they may be well formed in ‘helping people to encounter the living God in our time’.
