CIRCULAR
Paul (Personal emblem) Alappatt
C-No. ?
Vocation Week
Dear Brethren in the Risen Lord Jesus,
We are in a period filled with the joy of the Holy Easter in the Year of Faith. His
Holiness Pope Francis I is the greatest gift that God the Father has granted us as the
Easter gift this year. On behalf of our Eparchy, may I convey to His Holiness our hearty
congratulations and best wishes and pray that Good God may grant His Holiness faith,
prudence and fortitude to lead ahead the Church fearlessly, withstanding all the
challenges which emerge day by day against religious life and morality. Let us pray on
this auspicious occasion of the White Sunday, that the divine consciousness of St.
Thomas the Apostle who could embrace and adore Christ wholeheartedly, confessing
Him as “My Lord, My God”, may be with His Holiness and ourselves.
Next Sunday (14-4-2013) we are entering into the Vocation week. This week (14th to 20th
April) is a week set apart by the eparchy in order to reflect upon, learn and teach about
various vocations and pray for the increase of vocations as per the exhortation of the
Divine Teacher, “the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; pray therefore the
Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Mt. 9:37-38).
Two things take place during this week. (a). The Vocation oriented life-guidance camp
organized in the eparchial level for boys and girls studying at Xth, XIIth and above
classes (Come & Follow, 2013). It is scheduled to be held at Holy Family Matri. HSS at
Ukkadam from 5.00 p.m. on 14th to 10.00 a.m. on 17th June. Rev. Priests, the religious,
parents and catechism teachers are earnestly requested to send with much enthusiasm the
students of the above-said category to this camp. They themselves should remember and
make the above-referred students remember that this is the last chance for motivating
these students to think very seriously about their future.
(b). Similarly, Prayer & Fasting programme arranged at Ramanathapuram Cathedral from
Monday, 15th to Saturday, 20th of April as part of the Vocation Week observance. Every
day it starts at 9.30 a.m. and ends at 3.30 p.m. It is an occasion for us to pray for
sanctification of all those who have embraced priestly, religious and family life and for
the increase of vocations to priesthood and religious life and obtain deep insights about
vocations which are purely gifts of God. Though the names of those who are obliged to
participate in and give leadership to this Prayer & Fasting programme are mentioned in
the notice distributed by the Eparchial Vocation Commission, I earnestly desire that the
maximum possible members of the eparchy come to the Cathedral and make use of these
prayer days very fruitfully. I cordially invite you all for the same.
To cultivate and foster vocations is the obligation of the whole ecclesiastical community.
The statement of II Vatican Council on it is very thought-provoking: “The duty of
fostering vocations is incumbent on the whole Christian community, which should
promote this by a fully Christian life more than anything else. Families animated by the
spirit of faith, charity and piety become the first seed-bed; and likewise parishes in whose
fruitful life the young people themselves take their part:…Teachers and all who in any
way care for the formation of boys and youths, especially catholic associations, should
endeavour so to train the young people entrusted to them that they may perceive a divine
call and readily follow it…” (Optatam totius, Decree on Priestly Formation, 2).
One thing is very evident here. To discern and cultivate vocations to various states of life
is not the individual responsibility of either the Pope or bishops or priests or the religious
or families, but is to be the joint and collective initiative and attempt of the members of
the Church in various categories. Every category is to encourage and foster the vocations
in its own way, i.e., through the example of life, prayer, financial assistance etc.
The eparchy of Ramanathapuram, though a Mission eparchy with a few families, is an
eparchy which needs the presence and ministry of more priests and the religious. There
should be many more priests and the religious from this eparchy, who with ardent zeal,
deep faith in Jesus and limitless love to Him can reach out to the people of other faiths
who are craving to see and listen to Jesus and who are ignorant of who is Jesus and what
he came for to this world.
This eparchy is to have parents who crave and become ready prayerfully to offer for
divine ministry their son/daughter received from God as gift and the priests and the
religious who encourage and properly convince the former for the same. Will either the
father or the mother get any fortune or divine blessing greater than being the father or
mother of a son who as the substitute of Christ blesses His Holy Body and Blood in the
name of the Church or of a daughter who spends hours in the chapel of the religious
community praying sacrificially for the members of her family and for the whole world ?
The Vocation Week observance should enable us to think deeply and seriously about
vocations in this manner.
I wish to bring to your attention another thing also. There are only sixteen permanently
opted priests in the eparchy of Ramanathapuram extended to the four Revenue districts of
Tamilnadu. Due to the good will and generosity of our beloved bishops and religious
superiors the eparchy has been able to get the service of a few more priests. Thus at
present in ministry, there are only 32 priests in our eparchy. Unless there are priests with
deep faith in and love for Jesus and His Church, readiness to work hard in any situation
with the sense of communion and collegiality, whatever is planned in the eparchial level,
nothing could be implemented. It is in this sense that we started three years ago our
Minor seminary in a temporary building at Edayapalayam. Though there the parish priest
and the parishioners help and cooperate in their own way to the maximum, the limit of
sufficient space seems to be affecting the formation of the seminarians negatively.
In this background, with the purpose of shifting the seminary community to a permanent
building in the beginning of Month of June this year, we have started construction of our
St. Mary’s Minor Seminary in a plot of land donated by the Archeparchy of Trichur at
Vadakkukad, M.G. Pudur (Pollachi Taluk). This is the first basic project of the eparchy,
which incurs big financial investment, and it is very urgent and important that we finish
its construction as early as possible as regards the formation of our seminarians. To this
end, your prayer, encouragement and financial cooperation are very essential. May I
remind you of it. Similarly, may I request our priests, the religious, parents and the
catechists to take initiative with much interest and dedication to find out and send suitable
candidates to our Minor seminary.
Thus, I pray that the programs of the Vocation Week this year may furnish us with an
opportunity to think seriously about vocations, pray for the increase of vocations and
encourage them in the maximum possible way. I wish you all very pleasant and gracefilled vacation.
Let the grace of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, the protection of our Blessed Mother and the
intercession of St. Thomas the Apostle, our father in faith be with you and your families!
Your loving father in Jesus
Mar Paul Alappatt
Bishop of the Eparchy of Ramanathapuram
NB. This circular is to be read out on Sunday, the 07th of April 2013 during the Holy
Mass in all the churches and the religious houses in which the Divine Liturgy is
celebrated for the public.
+PA