Yesterday Sunday Mass

The Sunday Mass we attended yesterday morning at the Cathedral really touched my heart. I knew from the beginning that would be something special there since there was a string orchestra (violin, viola, cello and their 'friends')played by the young teen boys coming from one of the best seminary school in Central Java. Usually only the piano 'join in' the mass. At the front yard of the church some of the boys was selling white T-shirts that have good & cute black words printed out like "My God can do anything" or "Only God could save me", etc. They tried to get a fund-raising.

After all when finally the homily started we knew that the seminary school do need our helped very much. Not only the fund, but the most important thing was the school need more boys to be educated for becoming future Catholic priests! The headmaster of the school that led the mass tried to "knock" every parents' hearts in a wonderful way.

He said since the National family Planning was successful then the amount of the boys who registered to the seminary school became lower every year. At 1990 the school had 380 boys, but now only 107 boys! It decreased more than 50% in 18 years. What about the next decade he asked. He (and also the whole Catholic church in the world) really worried to this numeral growth. It's happened through out the countries in the world, not only in Indonesia.

He asked us from now on to add a Catholic priest as a future "profession" for our boys hopes, not only becoming an engineer, medical doctor, pilot, or such kind of that. He invited us for willing to "give" one of our boys in the family to become God's lover.

He took 'a paper plane project' as an example (this one I liked the best). He asked little kids at the Sunday Mass to come in front with him. Then they all together made paper planes, the kids did the project with White-clean-flat-papers and the Padre/Priest did it with a Grey-disheveled-paper. After that they all flied their planes. Everybody clapped for them. All the white planes flew high nicely and had good landings except the one made from Grey-disheveled-paper. It couldn't fly as high as those made from nice White flat papers.

From that example he wanted to show to us, as parents, that kids are always like 'White-clean-flat-papers'. It's our responsibility to make 'the papers' neat folded and give bright colors on. We don't need to "push" our kids 'too hard' and always talk gently to their inner heart and they would follow and heard you. He said most of moms always talk 'too fussy' to their kids (hehe...I did it! What about you?) Please don't be like that anymore or your 'beloved paper' become disheveled and couldn't fly high or made good landing.(Ok, I'll try to do my best, Father).
Make a 'colorful paper planes' of yours!
It was the touching Sunday Mass I've ever had this year.

Then I asked my 2nd kid, a boy aged 11, "Do you want to be a Catholic priest?". You know what his answer.."Not me, Ma". And the little one, aged 4 said he want to become a Medical doctor like his father.
Then I felt a little bit disappointed, maybe it's true to made all the seminary schools had many boys it would become mainly and the first: Family and moms' responsibility. I don't know if this feeling would stay longer in my heart or not, but for this moment I would be grateful if one of my boys want to be a Catholic priest. Really! I don't dare to imagine what would our world turned into in the next 3 or 4 decades without sufficient priest.

What about you if you're a Catholic? Did you still have to think "Let the other boys become Catholic priests, not mine..." ?