Reflection: Past, Present and Future…

Vocation to Religious Life in Belgium and at the MSC.

In my parents’ marriage book, I discovered that my uncle, a CICM missionary in China, had baptised me! Our country, located in Europe, has over 11,000,000 inhabitants, and in my younger days, many large families like ours. This was “the” breeding ground for vocations because everyone was Catholic. Due to the numerous applications, one could even enter the large female congregations twice a year.

The situation remained the same when my oldest brother (98) became an M.S.C. in 1945. In my village, with a population of 3,000, there were once 11 M.S.C. alive in addition to Fathers and Sisters from other congregations and diocesan priests.

I (84), the youngest in our family, began the novitiate in 1961. The world was changing; secularisation was taking place, new ideas were being spread, families had shrunk significantly, the vocation crisis was in full swing, and for example, in the Netherlands, one out of three confreres left our Congregation. When I became Novice Master in 1970, we followed the common novitiate program for all Congregations. In 1996, the last Belgian novices completed their novitiate in Ireland. Each year, the number of religious in our country decreases by 550. Eighty percent are older than 75, less than 5% are younger than 60, and 15% are over 90. Is this the end of religious life? Certainly not! We, the M.S.C. in Europe, have fulfilled our mission. Through our efforts, God can now, “ubique terrarum (everywhere in the world),” call young people to become M.S.C. We owe that to our fellow brothers!

Vocations today and tomorrow start with young people who deliberately choose to engage with the world as people of faith and raise their children in that spirit. This serves as “the humus” from which God can call young people, and they must be able to do so in a way that resonates with others. The Intercultural Community in Belgium (ICB) seizes that opportunity: they rent a house in a disadvantaged and multicultural neighbourhood in the big city, live ‘among’ these people, stand as equals to them, and receive support from our Leadership Team.

Being “called by God’ would be a truly wonderful experience for contemporary young people. God, who personally invites you, asks, ‘Will you follow Me?’ I, who am total Love, promise you, “I will be there for you and refresh you!” The older I get, the more I strive to dwell with Him, and the more He reveals Himself to me. Our M.S.C. spirituality lies at the heart of that “following.” God wants to pour out His Heart to me, and I get to share His gifts from my heart. This continues to fulfill me more and more each day. He has given me “everything” to share with others “His Good News,” and in doing so, bring them happiness. Is there anything more beautiful than being “called” by a God who loves me with “His Divine Heart” as I reach the end of my life, especially within the “Most Sympathetic Congregation”?

Raf Ingels, MSC

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