Liam is also enjoying his pastoral placement experiences. \u2018I\u2019ve been lucky enough this year to be placed at Keilor Downs teaching catechism and first Reconciliation,\u2019 says Liam. \u2018It\u2019s an introduction to teaching children the faith and preparing them for the sacraments. It\u2019s another dimension of learning how to be pastoral to people … how to be a shepherd.\u2019<\/p>\n
Liam is appreciative of the holistic approach to formation at the seminary. \u2018From prayer life to study and the pastoral, but also just the health. We have a soccer tournament coming up and in our spare time, [we\u2019re] encouraged to run and build our fitness. We also have time to engage in hobbies and for me, I pick up the piano.\u2019<\/p>\n
Our Lord is there to guide us. He wants holy priests; he wants holy people. He wants everyone to be with him.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on this year\u2019s theme for the Archbishop\u2019s Campaign, \u2018Courage! \u2026 Do not be afraid (Jn 14:27),\u2019 Liam says he finds courage from prayer and seeking what the Lord is asking of him.<\/p>\n
\u2018Our Lord is there to guide us. He wants holy priests; he wants holy people. He wants everyone to be with him. This passage [Jesus calling Peter onto the water] encourages me to really be aware and conscious of the presence of our Lord in everything I do, and that everything is in service, first and foremost, [to] the Lord.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Lord is the one who guides us and gives us the means to do it, and the grace and strength to respond according to his will,\u2019 he says. \u2018I really relate to Peter trying to walk on water but then sort of falling in with doubt. But every time I doubt, the Lord seems to respond and really make me aware of his presence, of his desire not for success, but for his drawing us to him, for communion, to him.<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t know in his divine wisdom what he has planned for me and what that would look like, but it\u2019s him holding out his hand, saying, \u201cTrust me, my way is better. My way will get you to where not only I want, but where you want to be.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Lord is asking [me] to give my whole self,\u2019 reflects Liam. \u2018And like he did with Peter, he\u2019ll give the grace to do it and he will make the path really clear.<\/p>\n
For Liam, responding to Jesus\u2019 call means \u2018being crucified in a spiritual sense.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018For me it means a whole \u201cgiving of myself to the people\u201d in terms of bringing others to Christ and bringing Christ to them. The Lord asks for a holistic gift of self because the Lord gives himself wholly, and he gives the means for us to do it.\u2019<\/p>\n
While only in his second year, Liam is already looking forward to ministering to people through the sacraments and spiritual accompaniment. \u2018The walking with people, guiding them to Christ \u2026 seeing them grow closer to God [is] not only rewarding for me, but also it helps me to grow closer to God.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liam is also enjoying his pastoral placement experiences. \u2018I\u2019ve been lucky enough this year to be placed at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6866,6864,6865,6310,6868,6869,260,6867,6870,68],"class_list":["post-80695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-archbishop","tag-archdiocese","tag-catholic","tag-child-safety","tag-community","tag-jesus","tag-melbourne","tag-parish","tag-sacraments","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}