The 59th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, promoted by the Holy See, will be celebrated on May 8, coinciding with the Fourth Sunday of Easter.
In support of the Pope's appeal, CARF is launching a campaign entitled "Let no vocation be lost". and aims to raise sufficient funds for them to study in Rome and Pamplona, 20 seminarians from around the world.
Taking advantage of this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, CARF wants to celebrate the diaconate ordination of two Venezuelan seminarians: Julio César Morillo Leal (35 years old) and Jesús Jaime Meleán Bravo (31 years old) both from the Diocese of Cabimas (Venezuela), Theology students at the University of Navarra and residents of the Bidasoa International Seminary, will be ordained deacons on May 29 in Bidasoa.
Both left their professions to follow their priestly vocation.
On the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, CARF wants to celebrate the diaconate ordination of two Venezuelan seminarians: Julio César Morillo Leal (35 years old) and Jesús Jaime Meleán Bravo (31 years old) both from the Diocese of Cabimas, (Venezuela), students of Theology at the University of Navarra and residents of the International Seminary of Bidasoa. They will be ordained deacons on May 29 in Bidasoa.
Both left their professions and their successful lives to follow their priestly vocation.
"I graduated as a Petroleum Engineer and practiced my profession in this field and as a university professor. I was at the peak of my professional project. I thought that this would be what would make me fully happy, but in reality it was not. I felt a bit empty and I also felt that I was called to something else so I had to concentrate on discovering it".
"I realized that, although I had made my plan, I had never submitted it to God's consideration to see if that was what He really wanted for me, but only my prayer was based on asking for help to carry it out, and I feel that God allowed me to fulfill it. From that moment on, several events began to happen in which I clearly saw that the Lord was asking me to give myself totally to follow Him: to leave my job, profession, studies, even my family, who at first did not agree. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything for your vocation".
This Venezuelan seminarian responds:
"To awaken a vocation it is necessary to be attentive to the voice of God, to stop for a moment and ask ourselves what God wants of each one of us.
To observe our surroundings, to be aware of every detail that the Lord uses to speak to us and to dare to listen, not only with our ears, but with our hearts, for God also speaks to us within ourselves.
But, above all, we must be ready to respond to the divine call, knowing that we are not worthy of such a beautiful gift, but that, with the help of Our Mother, the Virgin Mary, we will be able to take that necessary step to begin the great adventure of vocational discernment, trying to realize the dream that God has thought of for each one of us".
Julio César Morillo: "I clearly saw that the Lord was asking me to give myself totally to follow him: to leave my job, my profession, my studies, even my family, who at first did not agree. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything for your vocation".
Jesus Melean tells us about his vocation:
In his family, despite being Catholic, few are committed: most do not attend church regularly. Jesus was also part of that majority.
From living a program of the Family Encounters of Venezuela, dedicated to young people and the family, felt that God was calling him to change his life, to seek him and to meet each member of his family through the love of God.
"From that moment on I began to commit myself to the church, and little by little without realizing it, I was full of commitments and serving God in everything I could. Parallel to all this, I was finishing my college career, and I was in a dating relationship for years, with serious plans of marriage.
I finished my university career, graduated with a degree in Social Communication and immediately started working in a regional television station, where from the first moment I did very well, becoming the moderator of the stellar broadcast of the news program.
"But I kept thinking that something was missing, that I was doing everything I liked, but I felt that God wanted more from me, that I could give more. At that moment I felt that my work was not fulfilling me to the fullest."
"All of this led me to wonder what God really wanted from me. With the help of my spiritual director I began my discernment process, and the deeper I delved into my inner self, the more I felt that God was calling me to something great, calling me to give everything, to leave everything for Him".
But just the thought of this filled with fear, fears, denials and "I wanted to turn a deaf ear to everything that was going on around me."
"This led me to experience a spiritual dryness, where I felt bad. Et that moment, looking to find a place where I felt good, I made the decision to quit my job and find another one, where I only lasted 1 month, and I quit again".
"It was even at a Pentecost vigil, where at the time of adoration, in my prayer I asked God to forgive me for pretending to be deaf, for pretending to live with my back turned to Him," he declares.
At that moment I began to feel again everything I had not felt for a long time, that call within my heart, that voice that told me, Come and follow me, at that moment I stood up and said "Yes".I wanted to begin my seminary process because I felt called to that vocation.
Marta Santín
Journalist specializing in religious information
