Fr. Beni Leu
25 years, dealing with vocation, challenge, and solution
By Fr. Beni Leu, SVD
Celebrating 25 years of the anniversary of my priesthood is a gift and blessing. It is a gift because God has begun in me His calling and fulfilled it with the power of His Spirit, and it is a blessing for me forever. I have enjoyed the great work that God has done in me, and what he is doing in me is unimaginable. In addition, those who know me, my friends and extended family have taken part in my journey. They are witnesses of the joy in my vocation life, helped me to handle all the challenges, stood with me to face challenges, and encouraged and gave me the spirit to find solutions to keep my ministry alive as an instrument of God for the salvation of human beings.
Vocation
My religious vocation came from the attraction of the personality and the life of Jesus in His public ministry. When I discovered the calling of the Lord to live as a religious man, I did not realize that I had to observe the evangelical counsels and commandments as guides to my life.
The journey of my vocation has a long story. However, certain practices highlight understanding religious life as a freely chosen path, motivating me to move forward. The calling to follow the lifestyle of Jesus, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Mathew 11:29), is a challenge. Learning about the humility of Jesus, how he listened to His Father’s teaching, and how to listen to the people, I got the motivation to learn from the reality of the people and communicate to them about the Kingdom of God. Therefore, religious life primarily is to serve God and His people, such as Jesus had done at the last supper, well-known as the washing of the feet, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mathew 20;28). This attraction of Jesus called me to imitate his actions and style of life to serve God and his people so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
Challenge
All living things encounter challenges to grow, develop, and bear fruits. For example, a seed planted in the soil grows and finds some challenges, such as lack of water, weeds, and rocky stones. On the other hand, the vocation of religious life is about more than just enjoying celibacy without challenges, as many think.
There are still challenges of personality and character issues, commitment, wrong decisions, personal interest, or influence of others. Those are the challenges for whoever is on the journey of religious life. In my case, I have faced several challenges since I said “yes” to the Lord in the silence of my heart; among them include the culture of ignoring the poor and giving respect to the arrogant or the dominant people in the community. In our local community, those who had a higher social status had the power to approve which children could study or not because people who were in the lower class were ignored. I am one of those children who didn’t have the approval to study because my parents were impoverished and they were not Catholic. It was the biggest challenge in my journey for religious life.
Solution
My conversion to be Baptized and to follow the footsteps of Jesus had a memorable history and experiences that taught me about being a Christian and a priest in the Catholic church. I can’t tell the story of my vocation without mentioning the challenges because each challenge was an opportunity to engage my more profound relationship with God and my behavior. I knew God called me to work in His vineyard as a missionary to preach the Good News to everyone. However, the challenge of responding to the calling of the Lord was inevitable and demanded that I find a better solution to continue my ministry. Therefore, vocation, challenge, and solution are the three keywords that invariably arise in my life as a priest. To take care of my vocation, I must be strong to face any challenges and look for a good solution.
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