A Candidate for the Church

By Jean-Sebastien Gery

The Admission to Candidacy rite is celebrated when it has been established that the intention of those aspiring to Holy Orders is supported by the necessary qualifications and has achieved sufficient maturity (Rites of Ordinations, Appendix II, No. 1)

Early this year while meditating on the Admission to Candidacy, I remember struggling to understand its meaning and its implication in my life. This was because I already considered myself as a candidate when I got accepted six years ago to undertake formation for the priesthood in the seminary.

It was the ceremonial aspect of the rite that led me to an understanding and a greater appreciation of its significance for my vocation. Having the ceremony celebrated among the congregation showed that this is a public statement of my intention in contrast to my quiet entry in the seminary. In another words, entering the seminary was a private and personal statement, whereas this ceremony is a public and communal statement.

(L to R): Fr Denis Stanley, Jean-Sebastien Gery, Stephen Fernandes, Hoa Tran, Dcn Jim Curtain.

Indeed, this ceremony invites the people of God to participate in the vocation of the priesthood. During the celebration, I felt that my vocation was being shared, received and enjoyed by the community. As if this was telling me that priestly vocation does not live on and for its own, rather, it takes root and grows in community.

On Sunday, the Church asked me, “Do you resolve to prepare in mind and spirit to give faithful service to Christ the Lord and his body, the Church. I said, “Yes I do.” The bishop added, “The Church accepts your resolve with joy.” Not only that I rejoiced in hearing those words, but I felt a sense of freedom. I felt freer to be who I am called to be.

Being a Candidate now in the eyes of the Church means for me that I am carrying and considering the people of God throughout my discernment in my formation for the priesthood; preparing wholeheartedly mind, spirit and body in serving Christ through those I encounter.

Please pray for me. Thank you.

Photos: Peter Nguyen, Sixth-year Melbourne seminarian.

More info:

A person aspiring to the diaconate or presbyterate is not to be ordained unless he has first been enrolled among candidates through the liturgical rite of admission. (Code of Canon Law, c. 1034, §1)

For her part, in accepting the seminarian who offers himself [for candidacy], the Church chooses him and calls him so that he may prepare to receive Holy Orders in the future. Since it presupposes a responsible decision on the part of the seminarian, admission among the candidates for Orders is an invitation for him to continue with his formation, in configuring himself to Christ the Shepherd, through a formal recognition on the part of the Church. (Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis, 2016)