Give us a King

Today's 1st Reading (1Sam 8:4-7, 10-22a) was quite a scary one, the prophet Samuel listed out to the Israelites all the things that the king they were asking for would take away from them. And as I was reflecting on it last nite, it seemed to be telling me what I would go through this time, when I made Christ the King of my life. That He would take away so many things away from me.

But I must thank God again for enlightening me again today at mass. It was at the consecration that all of a sudden I realised that Christ the King isn't one that takes away, but one that gives, when He gave us His Body and Blood. The Israelites were looking for an earthly king, and he is one who would take away their freedom, property. And Samuel was trying to get them to see who the real King was.

Then today's preparatory sessions were really good. The talks on the priestly identity, the vision and mission of the seminary, and the last one on formation and character gave me much to think about. Am really glad to have all that was brought up, right at the beginning before lessons start. Really challenged me to reflect on why I am here, and more importantly the mindset that I would take into the formation as a whole. The lessons, the prayers, the community life, the guidance.

1) The evangelical/mission aspect of the priesthood which is often lacking, many are pastoring, but forgetting the apostlate of spreading the Good News
2) Greatest challenge this year would be - Discovering my identity in Christ, and the priestly identity which I'm suppose to configure my life to.
3) To be formed to into the priestly identity, and also to learn how I am being formed, so that I would be able to form others, and also to discover the needs of the current society and how to be relevant and meet those needs.