By Fr. Bel San Luis, SVD   Tomorrow is Good Shepherd Sunday. It is a day in the Catholic Church worldwide to focus attention on vocations to the religious life of priests, nuns, and brothers, and to pray for more vocations. * * * The need for priests and religious cannot be stressed enough. We need spiritual shepherds to take care of the flock of the Lord. Without ordained ministers, we cannot avail of the sacraments, especially baptism, the Eucharist, confession, and dispense their graces. * * * Every year, thousands graduate from various courses in the country. While there’s an oversupply in these courses, there is under-supply of seminary graduates. When I entered the seminary years ago, we were seven in high school special class. Little by little, our rank dwindled until I was the only one left. Being the sole survivor, I bragged that I was the valedictorian of our batch. Choosing the religious life is not easy. The long formation years and living a celibate life make it a “less traveled road.” * * * In other courses, if you have the desire, the money, and enough brains to get by, you will make it. Not so in the religious life. You may have a strong desire, the money, but if you are deemed unsuitable because of character and poor health, then you have to accept it as God’s will. It’s not shameful, therefore, to drop out during the formative years. * * * A Frenchman Louis Martin wanted to become a priest but he was not accepted in the seminary due to poor health. Eventually, he married Celia Guerin who also wanted to become a nun but didn’t make it. Their wedlock resulted in having 10 children. (There was no family planning then!) * * * Four of the girls became Carmelite nuns. One of them turned out a great saint, a doctor of the Catholic Church, and the “millennium saint”  – St. Therese of the Child Jesus. If Louis Martin had become a priest, he would not have sired one of the Church’s greatest saints. * * * Be open to the possibility of a religious vocation. Consult your parish priest or a vocation director, and ask God to help you make the right decision. Parents can show their love for God by supporting and encouraging their children who have the desire. The truth is, it is God who manifests His love for parents when He chooses one of their children to serve Him. * * * If you’re generous in giving your children to the religious life, God who’s never outdone in generosity will certainly reward you now and in the next life. And remember: Being generous to God’s call is a real test of one’s faith in Him. * * * APPEAL: It’s enrolment time again. Please help the poor seminarians we’re supporting under “Adopt a Seminarian” Scholarship Program. You may chip in an amount or sponsor a seminarian’s schooling for a year. * * * Seminarians are future priests. We cannot have priests if we don’t support seminarians now. For inquiries, e-mail me at: [email protected] or call 726-5002. * * * FAMILY TV MASS — aired on IBC 13 (channel 15 cable) at 7-8 a.m. every Sunday; also on international GMA Pinoy TV. SPONSOR: HOLY FAMILY CHAPEL, Greenhills, Mandaluyong. Mass celebrant: REV. FR. SHERWIN TRISTAN AROMIN, SVD. PRAY WITH US ON TV.