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Hear the Call It has been an enormous adventure. I have lived and worked with Zimbabweans for the past seventeen years. Working among those who are disadvantaged, who are physically and spiritually hungry has presented me with a new vision Redemptorist life. Our young Redemptorists themselves have been my greatest inspiration.
As Redemptorists the constant challenges of our vocation could easily overwhelm us if we did not have the spiritual, emotional and physical support of our confreres with whom we live in a spirit of charity. Living together in community, we find that we are able to foster the personal growth of each member. In "Gospel friendship," we pray together, work together, eat, laugh and relax together, and struggle with challenges together. Although community life has its mixture of the crooked and the cracked, I have always felt at home there. I believe that faith isn't an area for gladiators; it's a hospital for people who are broken. It is also an occasion of growth and renewal, a field of plenitude where you can breathe deeply. Perhaps you have questions you would like to ask; perhaps you seek answers to questions already asked. The first step is as simple as picking up the phone or sending an e mail. There are also many opportunities to meet with and get to know Redemptorists. It is important for us to get to know you as you get to know us. This part of the journey will take time; it will give you a better understanding as to who we are and what we do, as you become familiar with our mission. If you wish to spend a little time in our communities, that can be arranged. Setting out to get to know us is formally called entering into a discernment process. In other words finding out if our life is where you may be being called by the God who calls us all to fullness of life.
I know that you as young people have great aspirations, let others see this, let the world see it, since this is exactly the witness that the world expects from the disciples of Jesus Christ. In this way, and through your love above all, the world will be able to discover the star that we follow as believers. This is why we recommend that those who choose to enter our first stages of formation be between twenty-one and forty years old years of age. This does not mean that we will not consider someone younger than twenty-one. We would be quite happy to get to know younger candidates, and often invite them on our discernment weekends. However we feel that it is important for them to perhaps consider following a college course or entering into the world of work for a couple of years, before taking the step of applying for the first stages of training. Because of the substantial change that this life brings, we have also found that those over forty years of age find it more difficult than most to enter fully into the spirit of our life. We are willing to work with seekers older than this, even up to fifty years of age, but being honest, the likelihood of them completing the first stages of formation have been very much the exception. In choosing to discern a call to community, a call to religious living, a call to be part of the story of the Redemptorists, certain dimensions come into play. In the initial stage of direction or accompaniment, seekers will be asked to look at the various elements in their journey. Their human relationships, and the way they interact with the world around them. If it is understood that they are being called toward community, we will ask together what that may involve, especially from a spiritual perspective. There is also the question of aptitude and academic ability for the study that is required of all would be Redemptorists. For more information on any aspect of our life or call, feel free to contact us. |
Many people are being called by God today if they are alert enough to listen. It is in sharing with an open heart, and a willingness to learn, that we begin to see what exactly is being asked of us. The church suggests that within a universal call to holiness for all God’s people, we can each find our specific vocation in life. With the guidance of the Spirit, we can all begin to answer that question posed to Jesus by a young enquirer; ‘What must I do to gain eternal life?’ 
As Redemptorists we make a free and willing choice to live in community and work together to witness to Gospel values. We do this by being willing to live, like many in the early church, the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience. Of course this can seem like a daunting prospect at first, so let us explain a bit more about why they work for us in living out an Apostolic Life.
Experience has taught us that to enter into the process of living in a new way, to begin sharing of ourselves in community in good times and bad, we have to have a certain disposition and openness to change. In looking at our own stories to date with a trusted Redemptorist, we discover that our lives are made up of many layers. 