Reflection of the Pastoral Year

By Yohander Sanchez Mora | July 2024

After almost a year of my pastoral year (Internship), I reached the point of being able to reflect on everything I had learned and on everything I should and would like to learn and continue growing. It has truly been a year full of many challenges, such as a different routine than the one I had been experiencing for the last three years of training for the priesthood. At this point, I was no longer in class or in different training activities, but I find myself in a parish getting to know the reality of the Church, and when I talk about reality I refer to its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, challenges and difficulties as well.

One of the things that I allow myself to reflect on first is coexistence. I must recognize that like any new experience there are always expectations regarding the people with whom you are going to work and in this case who you are going to live with. I arrived at St. Alexander on August 30, 2023 with many expectations, and one of them was the relationship with the person with whom I was going to live and work, this person is Father Paul. I can say that this first experience was better than I expected. Living and working with Father Paul has been a rewarding and learning experience because I am learning not only how to be a good pastor but how to be a good Christian and human being. 

Father Paul and I have had good communication and that has been the key for the success of all plans and activities during this year. Father Paul has not only been my supervisor but also a great mentor because he never stopped teaching me and this includes everything from how to treat the people, which is his golden rule (treat people with love) to how to resolve conflicts between groups or individuals. I allow myself to say at this point that it has been one of the most rewarding teachings, because if in the future I am a priest and experience some conflicts, I believe that the tools that I have learned through Father Paul's teachings would help me solve those situations. It is not about winning or losing, but about winning - winning, and at the end of the day we are all together in this boat that is the construction of the Kingdom of God; we all fit in here, knowing that we all have different personalities and ideas, but we are all worthy of the love of God.

Now I will explain my trajectory over the pastoral year. The first three months were very challenging, because getting used to a new routine; I was no longer in the seminary with many classes, pastoral and spiritual activities, meetings, and living and studying with brothers and friends seminarians, now I was in a parish working, serving and following the Pastor's instructions. I can admit that at first it was a little overwhelming so many activities, meetings, and planning, but it was necessary to understand about the Rebuilt Project which St. Alexander Parish is carrying out, that is, I have been assigned to a parish that is in a boom of significant growth and each of the activities carried out are accompanied by rigorous planning with the purpose of achieving the objectives. The objectives are nothing more than to grow the parish of St. Alexander, and help many people to find Jesus in their lives and in a future can be a model parish within the diocese, not out of competition with another parish but to serve as a model and example to many more, so that many people who are far from the Church can return home and have a personal and community encounter with Jesus. At the end of Christmas I already felt more comfortable, more familiar with each area, with each meeting, with the people from all the groups and I even had many names memorized and had understood the dynamics of the parish, I can say that at the end of Christmas I survived.

In these first three months I had the opportunity to accompany Father Paul in different meetings (Parish Planning team, Pastoral Council, Finance, Small Groups, and more) and to different interviews for example: baptisms, weddings and funerals. In addition, my participation in activities such as Ethnic food with Parishioners and also the RCIA, Men´s group from which many friends remained, Conferences and Meetings with Catholic Women League, Movie Night and a very special activity that began in September and continues to this day and that is the visit of sick people in the community to bring them communion. This activity fulfills me very much because in each person who suffers I have the opportunity to see Jesus and in the same way I bring Jesus to each one of them. Sadly, one of the people with I most enjoyed talking, listening and also his company, passed away a few weeks ago. It has been one of the deaths that has affected me the most among the parishioners since I did not think that he would leave so soon. I promised him that I would return to visit when I become a deacon and that I would hear his confession when I become a priest (just as he asked for) but God had other plans and I am sure that now he is in the Father's house.

At the beginning of the year 2024 there were many projects to do but the project that was assigned to me in my pastoral year was “Alpha”. I loved this project very much because it allowed me to meet people who were trying to get closer to Jesus and his Church, as there were others who were already living a relationship with God; In any case, it is to accompany them on their journey to discover the mission that God has entrusted to them. Alpha without a doubt made me grow as a leader, as a Christian, as a friend, and also in my priestly vocation.

Also at the same time as Alpha was held, we were working on planning activities for Holy Week, the first communion and also the confirmation. These activities helped me grow in different areas and experience the richness of the sacraments. Also, I remember with great appreciation Divine Mercy Sunday. I am very devoted to the Divine Mercy and being assigned to lead the Divine Mercy was a very precious gift, as it was directing the Stations of the Cross every Friday of Lent. Without a doubt, those activities helped me to become more independent and lead a group of people who followed these devotions. Everything I experienced during these months confirmed for me God's call to the priesthood.

Not everything was wonderful, I also had days where I felt that my faith was very little and where doubts regarding the priestly vocation were present. There are aspects of discernment in priestly life that caused a stir in my mind, such as loneliness, being far away from my family and friends, understanding that my priority now is to be at the service of those most in need twenty-four seven, and knowing that your life is changing completely, are aspects that in a certain way affected me and I did not want to continue. However, I can say that being at mass every day, having spiritual accompaniment, attending the sacrament of confession, and participating in the healing and prayer activities proposed by the youth group and the interactions and prayers with parishioners everyday after mass was something that helped me not succumb to the weaknesses and temptations that arose. I also thank God for these moments because they are like a strong storm that I think is going to collapse me but after it passes, I feel incredible peace in my heart and that peace is God confirming to me that I am in the right place.

I'm the type of person who doesn't take things for granted. My pastoral year has been one of great growth in many aspects; I feel that I have grown as a seminarian, that my vocation has been strengthened, that my faith has also increased and that I feel called to advance in my priestly formation. In my heart I feel peace and happiness and that motivates me to continue moving forward, and this is my decision now. There are some areas of my formation that I need to continue growing, for example in prayer, preaching and accompanying people who suffer. I sometimes find myself vulnerable, especially when a parishioner is going through a difficult time, such as the widows at St Alexander who have lost their husbands this year; Seeing them suffering and going through the difficult grieving process is something that touches my heart and tells me that I must continue learning on how to accompany those who are suffering, those who are grieving. During my Clinical Pastoral Education Internship (2023), we were told that we had to learn to accompany people, but we did not have to allow their situation to affect us. In a way they were right, but I consider that, if I am seeing someone suffering and that does not affect me at all, then I have not learned anything about service and love of neighbor, because if Jesus himself, being the Son of God, one hundred percent man, and one hundred percent divine, cried with the death of John the Baptist and his friend Lazarus, why then cannot I cry and accompany them in pain? At that point I disagreed with them. So, my desire is to continue advancing in my training to be able to accompany these people in mourning and others who suffer different situations in a pastoral, spiritual and also human way.

I am aware that I must continue working hard and advancing in my spiritual, pastoral, human and intellectual formation. Today I look back at my first day of the pastoral year (September 1, 2023) and I can see how everything I experienced, the teachings, preachings, activities, meetings, Mass, Adoration, retreats, everything, has worked for the good in my formation. I am just a clay vessel that the Lord is molding day by day and it is my desire to always be his instrument, as He wills.