So, I guess to start this blog off, this post should really be about... WHY!?
Most of you would be wondering, why would this young 20 year old, with such a bright future and so much potential give up having a wife, children, money, ...sex? and why would he want to go and get himself shipped off to live with a bunch of religious oldies!?
Well, to explain all this and more, "Let's start at the very be-gin-ning".
I was raised in a seemingly ordinary family. My Mother is Anglo-Indian and my Father is Canadian (eh!). Mum is Catholic, and Dad is Lutheran by name. I was Baptised Catholic, went to Catholic School my whole life, and we attended Church on a Sunday for, well, most of my pre-teen life. I was cared for by my Nan and Pop, while my parents went to work, and Nan was who I clinged to; she has been and always will be a huge influence in my life, and taught me the basics of what it meant to be Catholic. I was involved with the local Youth Group for quite a few years.... But somewhere along the lines, I became misguided.
I became, I guess you could say, bored with the whole church thing, and didn't really know what I believed in anymore. To make matters worse, my family became so busy with sport and other commitments, that our going to church became neglected. I prayed sometimes, but it was mainly when I wanted something stupid, or if I had a test the next day, and I would beg God to give me all the answers so I wouldn't have to study. I still went to Youth Group and was in the Band for 5pm Saturday Mass, but that was really the only reason I kept going, was for the music; I stopped getting anything out of it, and Youth Group just became something for me to do on a slow Saturday evening.
School was going well, and I had done great at the School Certificate in year 10. But apart from Curriculum and Sport, my school, which was Catholic, didn't give us much opportunity to be engaged with faith on a personal level; we went to a school mass maybe 3-4 times throughout the year, and had the odd feast like 'St. Patrick's Day'.
During this time, I was dealing with a lot of teenage angst, and going through that 'awkward stage' of life - not knowing where I belonged, thinking the whole world was against me. This caused me to feel 'incomplete' and life seemed to drag on.
The transition into Senior School made things a little easier, as our school went from being all boys to co-educational. I befriended a lot of the girls, and the guys seemed to straighten their act out (most of them, anyway). Things were getting better, but I was still unconcernedwith faith and God.
One day a girl, who was from my Youth Group, approached me at school and handed me some forms for this retreat we had all been invited to go a long to. RETREAT? I didn't 'do' retreats. I much rather preferred to stay at home in my own bed, with my own T.V and luxuries; i didn't want to be shipped off to some brainwashing seminar where we would all hold hands and sing happy clappy songs.
Once at home, I read over the forms and saw that the retreat was actually being held at my school by the youth of the local parish. That was OK... but I still wasn't going. Then I heard that some of my close friends in and outside of my current Youth Group were going too... but I still wasn't going! THEN I found out that a few school mates were going too... oh all right... what's the worst that can happen, if I don't like it, I'll just leave, I only live around the corner...
I stayed in that Youth Group for 5 years.
Something changed within me over the course of that weekend. God went from being this external 'thing' in the clouds who I didn't know or trust, to the real core of my being, the internal warmth and true essence of my soul.
Through this Group, I was able to grow more spiritual and more in love with Christ. It lead me to get more involved at school and later uni; It allowed me to actually have a social life; It gave me reason to live again! It also lead me to be a bigger part of my new Parish, and to go to World Youth Day in Sydney 2008.
I was in my first year at the Australian Catholic University studying a Bachelors in Teaching and Bachelors in Arts (Secondary Humanities) - Basically, High School History/Geography Teaching. The whole Sydney Archdiocese had been counting down to World Youth Day, and in the lead up, we were so blessed to encounter the WYD Cross and Icon of Mary and Child Jesus. I had 3 occasions where I was blessed to have intament moments with these two amazing relics.
Sitting quietly in the Church, venerating and focusing my prayers to these symbols of Heaven, something stirred within me. Looking into the eyes of Mary and Jesus, they seemed to pierce my entire being. A great warmth grew in my heart, like I had just been given a mission. - But I didn't quite know what it was.
This internal burning continued to grow, and I knew it was leading me to something, but what? WYD08 finally came, and I took this as my chance to find answers.
I attended many amazing talks and met even more beautiful people from all around the globe. It was a good time to be alive and Catholic, and the entire city of Sydney had been hit by the atomic bomb of faith and spirituality. When I heard it mentioned that some of my friends were thinking of going to the 'Vocations Expo' I jumped at the opportunity (keeping in mind I still hadn't told anyone what was going through my heart).
I went from stall to stall, secretly stuffing my backpack full of religious shrapnel and continuing along the isles. Nothing seemed to really click with me, and that internal burning told me to "keep going!" so keep going I did.
Then BANG!
It hit me like a ton of green bricks.
The Patrician Brothers!
It all seemed to make sense finally! I had gone to a Patrician Linked school (but unfortunately there were no Brothers there when I attended, so I didn't know 100% what they were at the time); I'm studying to be a teacher (and this is a teaching order); I knew I loved Christ, and knew also that just being a normal teacher wasn't enough for me or Him; I didn't feel called to the priesthood; and even better, I loved the Irish and the colour green!
All these things led me to have a quick, inconspicuous chat to the Brother who was at the stall, and to once again, steel a copy of everything from the table of goodies.
I went away from that Vocations Expo feeling like I had found the answer. I knew from then, in my heart, that the Patrician Brothers was where I needed to be for the rest of my life.
So this ends Part #1 of my Vocations Story, I hope it has been interesting to read, and maybe even slightly inspiring on some level. Please keep me in your prayers, and I'll keep you in mine. Stay tuned for #2, where I will continue my story from when I made first contact with the Patrician Vocations Director (Oooooooooooo dum dum DUM!).
God Bless!
Postulant Luke.
