​Place your trust in God, Archbishop Gustavo tells seminarians and their families

Place your trust in God, Archbishop Gustavo tells seminarians and their families

Seminarian Family Day in the archdiocese was celebrated at Holy Trinity Church on November 13, the feast of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, along with Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak, celebrated a Mass for those in formation and their families at the parish.

“We hope that you are finding some of that peaceful stillness here,” the archbishop began. “We all need to alternate our activities and stages in life with moments of inner silence and prayer.”

In the Gospel at the liturgy, Jesus proposed a parable to pray without ceasing.

“The silence required by prayer means detachment from everything that is not God. Prayer requires silence and trust, to be able to raise our eyes to God in all circumstances. This is only possible if the content of our prayer is merged with the content of our lives,” Archbishop Gustavo explained. “The Lord links the efficacy of prayer to faith: prayer nourishes faith and this in turn grows when it is exercised in prayer. In turn, God restores balance in our lives, and through us, he begins transforming the world.”

The archbishop emphasized that prayer involves leaning on someone, entrusting ourselves to Him, and abandoning ourselves onto another. “This dynamic is learned in the family. Priestly and religious vocations are a fruit of faithfulness in the family,” the Missionary of the Holy Spirit stressed. “In turn, priests transcend their original families when their brothers and their congregations become their bigger family. It is important for seminarians to have and maintain strong roots.”

Pope Francis says that God “will secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night.” Families of seminarians share in their children’s responsibility to pray for their bigger family, which is God’s family, the archbishop added.

The San Antonio prelate recalled the life of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, a religious woman who immigrated to this country following the pope’s request. She was an obedient child and her concern was God’s bigger family.

“Many of our seminarians were also born abroad. It is an obvious fact that we are a nation of immigrants,” Archbishop Gustavo pointed out. “Our roots and our concerns belong to the whole world. The power of prayer implies our responsibility to be concerned in prayer with the well-being of God’s entire people with a missionary spirit.”

He prayed that Our Lady of Guadalupe inspire, protect, guide and form all of the seminarians to make all of her children fit in their hearts too.