Opinion

The new endangered species; why are our seminaries empty?

The seminary of the Archdiocese of Bombay situated in Goregaon East once boasted of a full house. There were years when rooms ran out and even the students of the integrated years, who usually got a small cubicle, were obliged to share their rooms with others. Ironically today, there is much room in the inn but few seem to be knocking.

Vocations to the priesthood and religious life are certainly down  while the expectations of what a priest should be doing in ministry has certainly increased.  Between 2012 and 2016, the number worldwide, of men in seminary training for the priesthood fell by nearly 4,000, to 116,160 prompting the Vatican to call it a “crisis of vocations”. So what is the problem?

We need priests, but let it not be my child!

For many, the crisis of vocations is best solved by encouraging someone else son or daughter to answer the call; it’s never our own. This evening we buried Fr Ryan Fernandes whose dear mother encouraged two sons to become priests, two daughters to join the convent and still another son who though married, to embrace the call to the permanent diaconate.

Why does it please us to hear that someone else’s son fell on the sword of sacrifice while we then settle down to analyse his call to the priesthood or his ministry under a microscope? And then there are those who revel in running down someone else’s child who has said yes to the priesthood (with all his human failings) while they themselves would be most forgiving should their own child  faltered or fell short of others expectations. And do not forget the army of catholic whatsappers who forward every apparent piece of  Church gossip without verifying the facts.  

It is my hunch that economics also plays a great role in the decision of Catholic parents who do not even place on the table, the vocation to the priesthood while actively promoting every secular profession. The worry, especially for parents who have one child seems valid on the face of things; who will care and provide for us in our old age? Strangely the answer mostly is, the child who accepted the call to say yes to the Lord. But even more, such fears betray our faltering trust in a provident God who always meets our needs. Is there a guarantee that your married son will take care of you in your old age?

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Food

Bombay Duck Pickle

Ingredients:

Bombay duck

500 gm

Red chillies

42 chillies

Garlic

32 gms/ 24 flakes

Cinnamon

3 gms/ 1.8 pieces

Pepper

01 gm/ 25 pieces

Cloves

1.8 gm/ 20 pieces

Jeera

3.3 gms/ 1 teaspoon

Turmeric

1 teaspoon

Ginger

15 gms/ 4 small pieces

Vinegar

Method:

Grind all the ingredients in vinegar.Wash the ‘bombay ducks’ and deep fry them.Fry the masala and then add the Bombay ducks.Bottle and shelf

Final product
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Food

Prawn Pickle: This superb prawn pickle recipe was given to me by Mila Pereira and is time tested. There is greater joy in sharing a recipe than taking it to your grave. Please send me your comments and queries. 

Ingredients:

Prawns

1.190 kg

Kashmiri chillies

20 pieces/ 65 gms

Cumin seeds (jeera)

½ spoon/ 2.2 gms

Pepper

16 pieces/ 0.6 gms (less than one gram)

Cloves

7 pieces/ 0.5 gms

Cinnamon

2 sticks/ 1 gm

Garlic flakes

7-8 pieces/ 14 gms

Ginger

1 piece/ 29 gms

Little tamarind

Turmeric

3/4th spoon/ 2 gms

Little sugar

Vinegar

Method:

Grind all in vinegar (except sugar). Fry ground masala in oil and add vinegar. Let the masala cook, then add fried prawns to it. Add a little sugar. Turn off the gas and let it cool. Bottle when cool Add a little hot oil over it to cover the prawns and so preserve it. 

Extra note:

  1. Marinate prawns with 3/4th turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt and then fry it.

  2. Take a small portion of the fried prawns and grind them and then add it to the cooked masala for extra taste.

    The ready pickle
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Travel

The Western Wall

While the first and second temples of Jerusalem are now nothing more than rubble and ashes, the masses of pilgrims still have reason to pass through the Dung gate to the Western Wall. This 50 foot stone block retaining wall which supported the platform, on which the temple once stood, was once a part of the actual Temple complex and is one of four surviving walls today. Some of its stones actually date back to the time of Herod the great who rebuilt the temple.

The Jewish people prefer to call this site the ‘Western Wall’ as opposed to the ‘Wailing Wall’ as one travel writer once called it. On this holy ground the Jewish people come to mourn the loss of their empire. They mourn the cities of David and Solomon and the destruction of the temple on the Mount just above this wall. The prayers often take on the form of chanting and singing,

Here the Jews contemplate the many hardships endured throughout their history as they pray for the return of the glory of the ancient past. The western wall is treated as the synagogue and so men must cover their heads. The Torah is read aloud on Thursday mornings and Bar Mitzvahs are a common sight on Saturdays.

On looking at the plaza one realises that there are no trees planted in the courtyard. This is a sign of mourning until the third and final temple remains unbuilt. The whole area is divided into two sections one for women and one for men. There is ancient custom of leaving petitions in the cracks of the walls. It is now even possible to fax your prayers to the western wall from any part of the world. It is believed that requests left between these huge stones of the wall will get special attention from God as this is the only part of the temple complex that survived the Roman destruction.

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Travel

Tomb of Lazarus and the house of Mary and Martha in Bethany

Bethany (its medieval name) is today called El Azaria (or the place of Lazarus) and is situated in the West Bank. It nestles on the south eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives about two miles from Jerusalem on the road to Jericho. Bethany was the home of Lazarus and his two sisters Mary and Martha. It is here that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John11:1-44). It was here that Jesus would often stop over (Luke 10:38-42). It was also in Bethany that Mary anointed the feet of Jesus in the house of Simon the leper (Matthew 26:1-13, Luke 7:36-50, John 11:1-44, Mark 14:3-9)

Several Christian churches have existed on this site dating back to the first one in the fourth century called the ‘Lazarian’ which was destroyed by an earthquake in the sixth century. The present yard contains a remnant of the mosaic floor of that Church. This was then followed by a larger Church which stood till the age of the Crusades.

In 1143 a Benedictine convent dedicated to Martha and Mary was built near the tomb of Lazarus. Today’s Church is dedicated to St Lazarus and was built in 1995. Also in 1965 a Greek Orthodox Church was built west of the tomb of Lazarus. The entrance to the tomb today is via a flight of 24 steps cut from the rock leading from the street level to the tomb.

One descends in to a small chamber which also serves as a place of prayer. One can see the entrance to Lazarus tomb which connected to his house. When the Ottomans took over Jerusalem they built the Al Ozaih Mosque and in the 16th century they blocked the entrance. It was the Franciscans who opened the entrance to the tomb that is used today. On the floor, covering the tomb was a rock that would have been placed over. A plaque from the first letter of St Paul’s to the Corinthians, Chapters 15: 54 and 55 remind the pilgrim that death has lost its sting.

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