Fr. John shares his story

candlesMy Response to God's Call

It seems rather novel these days to be able to pick up a news article which does not mention the Credit Crunch. Our present global economic crisis has dominated the national and international media, so maybe we could expect our own Oblate Connections to be free from such a secular agenda, especially when it concerns vocations to the religious life and priesthood, yet the Sacred and the secular are not parallel worlds that do not interact. The Truth of the Incarnation reveals to us that God is made flesh, and it's in the flesh of everyday ordinary life that God continues to reveal and call his people to the fullness of life. Ultimately, I suppose that's what a vocation is - whether married, single, lay, religious or ordained we are called by God in his Church to the fullness of life which Jesus came to offer. Our response to that call, that invitation to life in Christ, is what then becomes our vocation.

Looking back now on my own vocation story after 10 years ordained a priest and some 18 years as an Oblate, the origins of my Oblate vocation are not exactly divorced from the secular world of international finance.

During the 1980s, things were quite different! As the music of that time was so much richer than what we're subjected to today, so too the world of finance offered exciting career opportunities for the young and upwardly mobile (Yuppies!). Being attracted to all that such a career could offer, I left Scotland and set off for the Channel Islands with the appropriate attire fitting for one to become a Yuppie. The economic climate could not have been more different than it is at present and there was ample opportunity for gainful employment in the exciting world of international finance. Within a short space of time I had secured an attractive position with a leading commercial bank and began talking in the language of international currency exchange. Things could not have been so different from the quiet, almost rural life of my previous banking career in Scotland - something of which I would often remind myself, with frequent trips back home, (which I could comfortably afford!). One thing however, that was not different and had never changed with my transfer to the yuppie world and the luxury that went with it - each Sunday I would attend Mass in our local parish Church.

Over the years, this practice began to intrigue me. Comfortable with my career and all that it offered, I wondered what was it that continued to bring me to this small church each Sunday morning, especially when my peer group had abandoned such practice? Was it simply my Catholic obligation, my sense of duty born from blessed and formative years at the loving hands of my parents and grandparents? Yes, I believe it was. Yet, now was the favourable time - a time to examine, pray and decide what place my faith would play in my future life away from home.

During the next couple of years my priorities and interest began to change gradually. I started to relish and look forward to that short space of time on a Sunday morning which offered a gentle fulfilling alternative to the chaos of brokering currency deals. I longed for that tranquillity even more and found myself regularly attending Mass before going to work each morning.

Significantly, priesthood/religious life did not attract me at this time. It all seemed too institutional, contradictory, confusing and even at times hypocritical. So why then did I have such passionate opinions about something that did not interest me? Luckily enough I was introduced to a local priest who had gained much wisdom through his years. I enjoyed our long debates about Church and all things connected to it. He allowed me to hear that there was such a place for young men such as myself in the priesthood/religious life. Thereafter, I was introduced to Peter Clucas who told me about the Oblates - enough said!

Looking back now, after my years of formation in Dublin and South Africa, after 10 years of priesthood as a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate, I am so very grateful for all who have formed me and allowed me to experience the fullness of life that God calls us to in Christ Jesus. The Oblates fulfilled that passionate desire I had, to belong to a Church which took the words of Christ literally, “when you did it to the least of my people you did it to me.” I have tried to be faithful to those words throughout these years by ministering as a Prison Chaplain in Scotland. Now as part of the Oblate Mission Centre, Edinburgh, I hope to continue to experience that fullness of life Christ offers to all.

John Mc Fadden, OMI