THE GETHSEMANE MALE VOCATION INTERNATIONAL NETWORK (SIT03.01)

This is our very first major Focus-Groups' tangible fruit, which was already officially started and somehow formally "anticipated" in Los Angeles - CA on the Feast of St Joseph, March 19, 2015, at the Gethsemane Catholic Store & International Distributor. We offer many thanks to the Vela’s family support, especially that of the spiritual leader of the family, Capuchin's father Rev. Jesus Vela. We also thank the employees of the Gethsemane Catholic Store. Conceived and defined at the beginning of 2015, written during March 2015 and initiated/registered in our Official Log of Events/Updates on March 19, 2015, precisely at the Feast date of St. Joseph, the main model and Patron Saint for this Vocational Platform, alongside Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida.  

1. The "Gethsemane Religious Vocation Network" is a Roman Catholic Male Conjugality's Josephine Catechetical Program, designed not only to foster Catholic Consecrated Lives for Catholic Men, having Saint Joseph as a Patron Saint and a model for our broad programmatic internal concept of Priesthood, but to gradually become in God's Mercy, our Culture of Vocations' backbone. We offered up this new apostolic work in honor and under the protection of the Blessed Family of Saint Joachim our Patriarch, probably the first "Priest" of a "Domestic Church," in anticipation of the merits of Christ's redemption. It is based on our still incipient but well-founded pro-unity spirituality named "Male orFemale Catholic Conjugality."

2. Why Josephine? Firstly, St. Joseph is the patron of a Holy Death! Anything more important? That said, He was a just, obedient, and trustworthy man of God. Real Christian men are, as much as possible, ever-growing natural imitators of St Joseph: Generous givers, not takers; strong protectors, never abusers; proud foot-washer servants, not self-oriented; first providers, seldom receivers; empathetic listeners, not shouters; diligent doers, not procrastinators; deeply just, rarely unfair; creative and laborious, not lazy complainers; and so on. In other words, “battle” ready and promise-keeper servant leaders (prayerful, proactive “locomotives,” not “wagons”); kind, faithful, prudent, merciful, and patient good-shepherds full of good will, good instincts, and good habits whether entrusted by God with just one family like St. Joseph, or up to a whole nation, such Joseph of Egypt.

3. Out of our shared Priesthood derived from the sacrament of Baptism, and onlyfor this particular outreach vocational program, we defined six (1+5) internal pastoral-pedagogical broad dimensions of Catholic "Priesthood"* (please read end-notes). These are not necessarily theological dimensions in a strict sense or canonical legal sense. The first dimension (Sacerdotal Priesthood) is the only one only possible if realized in "persona Christi capitis." Therefore, it is critically central and, by far, incomparable to any other five programmatic dimensions:

1- SACERDOTAL PRIESTHOOD (Sacerdocio Presbyterial)
Universal Institutional Catholic Church: Ordained Priests & Bishops.

A- DIACONAL PRIESTHOOD (Sacerdocio Diaconal)
Vital and direct support to Bishops & Priests, serving Humanity on behalf of our Catholic Church as Ordained Deacons.

B- MATRIMONIAL PRIESTHOOD (Sacerdocio Matrimonial)
Domestic Churches: Husbands under the sacrament of Matrimony, seriously committed to building a sacred marriage on a path of increasing holiness.

C- EDUCATIONAL PRIESTHOOD (Sacerdocio Educacional)
Members of Educational Religious Communities: Vowed Religious Brothers/Friars as professional educators, such as The Marists, Lassalists, Salesians,…

D- "CONTEMPLATIONAL" PRIESTHOOD (Sacerdocio Contemplacional)
Non-ordained Monks and other contemplative Brothers or Friars who practice religious asceticism, living either alone or with any contemplative community (Please read the orthographic end-note).

E- FOUNDATIONAL PRIESTHOOD (Sacerdocio Fundacional)
For lack of a better term, we had to use the word "foundational" in a natural more than supernatural sense (which would then apply to the first "dimension") for all other vowed Brothers or Friars; consecrated Lay Missionaries under vows or not; Ecclesial Ministries with or without voluntary or personal vows; consecrated Lay members of New Ecclesial Communities, etc.

Wow! Here are six major holy vocational gateways for men. Every vocation is intensely personal and individual. Only in fulfilling one of these six vocational life-paths can a real man find true, lasting security, deep peace, and the great joy to share our Lord's life and adventure, helping His Church to save souls and build a family-centered "Civilization of Love and Life".

4. Therefore, under this strategy, we now have and can develop unique pastoral methods combined with bold outreach catechetical techniques likely never done before. Under our vocational pedagogy, the shared common denominator for all men will be that they can reach in proper time (God's timing), a unique cherished consecrated life status, focusing on a deep love for God and His Church, without any excuse! Love for mankind is the implicit prerequisite, which will then increase exponentially, strongly growing towards the highest standard that Chiara Lubich stated for all of us: "Lose everything, even the attachment to holiness, so that you aim only at one thing: To Love!"Combined with the power of our "Conjugality" Catholic Spirituality, as a broader and higher Vocational relational concept proposition (even higher than Motherhood!), we will be able to have strong support and presence of wives, sisters, children, nuns, mothers, etc. Furthermore, in most of our future meetings, events and decisions, their feminine genius and partnership are so critically indispensable, to the point of having women’s coordination and leadership at every possible level, under our internal St. Andrew's Pledge & Rules.

5. We are convinced that by keeping our focus on male vocations, but also having a massive and engaged amount of women who are experts in 'fishing' male people of any age, God will also grant us, as collateral blessings, many parallel women vocations, not only to the matrimonial dimension but all other dimensions, excepted Sacerdotal and Diaconal. We are committed to developing the Gethsemanet platform where each little male "Fish" will then be nurtured, raised, and supported after their consecration not only by that “Angel fisherwoman," but by an army of Godmothers and adoptive Grandmothers: Women not only deeply comfortable with the Male-onlyPriesthood forever, according to the Order of Melchizedek, but overwhelmed by joy and gratitude, in profound synergy with the mind of God the Father, in His absolute sovereignty, for having decidedto establish the "Eternal Order of Priests" exclusively for His only Son, the only sufficient Victim, and not for His daughter (Mary or any other).  Why sacrifice two victims? Gethsemane and the subsequent inevitable crucifixion are a very heavy "price-place" charged against brave volunteer men only.

6. Nevertheless, how many holy priests, often crucified alive for decades, suffer more for not having the comfort, respect, gratitude, and loving support of any mother at the foot of their own crosses, than for the huge price they freely offered to pay as a victim united with and in "persona Christi," the only real Priest, also in behalf of women? No other human being deserves and needs that permanent support more than validly Ordained Catholic Priests, especially those not so holy or fruitful in appearance, since only God can judge them.

7. Thank God we now can try out unusual types of weekly events lead by volunteers, such as our Fridays for "Fishermen/Fisherwomen" Gethsemanet open prayer meeting, or our informal 7-minute "flash-exchanges" 7-after & 7-before Sunday Mass in the parish lobby, to exchange flyers and contacts, etc.  This can eventually be supported by a parking-lot presence of a Gethsemanet van, at least half an hour before and half hour after any possible Sunday Mass, for Pastors that request it.

8. This also includes possible partnerships with the Knights of Columbus, Serra Club Int'l., Diocesan Vocational Programs, Confirmation Preparation Programs; Catholic Men's Conferences; and especially with the congregation founded by Saint Annibale Maria Di Francia, The Rogacionists of the Heart of Jesus (rcj.org), the world's most important mission for the propagation and practice of the "Rogatio," which is the critical teaching of Jesus regarding vocations: Matt.9:38 Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out more laborers into his harvest,or Luke 10:2 The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

9. Under our Mission Statement and long-term Pastoral Planned Goals, in order to help with our (mankind’s) desperate need to take possession of such a powerful but mysterious gift-mandate (The "Rogatio"), we are finishing up our little Gethsemane's portable wood chapel prototype (similar to the Serra's T. Chalice), containing at least a victory cross and a simulated altar behind a specially designed liturgical chalice with five sides (not six!), since the first dimension is the whole chalice, that engulfs and permeates all other five shared vocational dimensions.

10. Before this future devotional miniature altar and work of sacred art can travel to homes and other places, each chalice must first be used during Mass, not only to contain the blood of Jesus but also His Eucharistic body at least once. In the Mercy and from the Mercy of God, we hope to inspire many brothers and sisters to help in our Church's duty to elevate the "Rogatio" mandate to new levels of understanding, compliance, and fruitfulness for millennia to come. "Why not just come and follow Him even before you make a lifetime decision, or while you choose with Him and His friends, together, your best gateway for a true and meaningful life? After all, sharing the Gethsemane also as a 'place' in itself, and at least historically, a place for men, will help you to realize, develop and maintain a deep prayer life until the end of your life. Or, if you are now heading in the wrong direction, why not trade your current shallow or sad gateway to a miserable life, for a new road to freedom and to a joyful-meaningful life, plus eternal Salvation?

11. Many would reasonably question if such religious vocational programs aren't an enormous waste of time in a “wounded” world? A pornified world more than ever dumping tsunamis of hopeless broken-heart lives, mostly with additional “baggage”, traumatized by domestic violence and extreme poverty, the majority coming from dysfunctional families or single-parent houses, not homes? Bishop J.I. Munilla reminded us that “The hearts of men belong not to those that broke them, but to those that help to restore them!”

12. Despite the small number of participants, we already began this ministry on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 12, 2015, when our first group of Gethsemanet members committed to begging God the Father, under the intercession of St. Anibal Maria, to have Mercy on our poor Humanity and send into His beloved Church abundant new holy vocations for the salvation of souls and a more just and peaceful world. Ad majorem Dei gloriam, Amen!

From Gethsemane Garden to Everlasting Life. 

FOR CRITICAL PREREQUISITES: please read here, our PLEDGE OF ST. ANDREW.