The following is an interview conducted by Phil and Mary Lou Dreis for the Catholic Family Focus radio program. Phil and Mary Lou spoke with Fr. Christopher Foeckler, M.J.
Father, you were ordained a priest for Miles Jesu by the Holy Father at St. Peter’s Basilica, and that is a fantastic, great blessing. Is this something you dreamed of, worked towards, or was it a surprise? How did it come about?
Well, it wasn’t something that I had planned all my life, certainly. In fact, about three years before I joined Miles Jesu, someone asked me if I had ever thought about being a priest and I even got a little upset and told them, “No, no way. I’ve got my own plans. That’s not something I want to do.” But I was at Christendom College at the time, and in my family we had a good formation from my parents in our faith devotion because we prayed the rosary every day, but until I got to Christendom really it wasn’t something personal for me. There at Christendom it all started to make sense, and I started to pray really on my own.
So I started growing deeper into a relationship with Our Lord and especially with Our Lady, and I made a retreat with Miles Jesu. During the first year some of the members came and studied philosophy there at Christendom. I got to know them very well and during the springtime of the second year there I made a retreat with them, and Fr. General (Fr. Alphonsus Maria Duran) directed the retreat, and I heard Our Lord definitely calling me. At first I was afraid of it – you know, like I said, I had my own plans and things – but it was convincing. And so I continued then to discern my vocation and, after several months of discernment, I decided to join Miles Jesu with the deep conviction that that’s what God and what Our Lord and Blessed Mother wanted me to do. And now, 21 years later, I still have that strong conviction and really have reaped countless blessings from my vocation in Miles Jesu. Like study in Rome, the ordination by our Holy Father, and then, as you mentioned, I have been able to work in our different missions around the world. And helping people in many different places and cultures. And serving the Church in that way.
But I think the key to all that is being open to God’s call and listening to his call, taking an opportunity to think about what it is that God wanted me to do, and having had that opportunity then, I was able to be blessed by it so much.
And I think that when Mary is part of it, that’s a very special part of it, too. With the shortage of priests in so many places, people talk about a vocation crisis. Is there a vocation crisis?
Well, there certainly is a shortage of priests, I don’t think there’s any question about that. But if we take the words as they are – ”vocation crisis” – a vocation means a calling, and vocation, as we refer to it here, is a calling from God.
Well, God is not reducing his calls. He’s not holding back on calling people. I think the crisis really is a crisis of listening to what God is asking, to God’s call, and a crisis in discernment. See, we live in such a – especially here in the United States and in Western Europe – we live in a culture that’s just so “active.” So many entertainments. We have TV, video, all different types of music media, and so forth, that we don’t have a chance to listen to God’s call. And also because it is rather a materialistic society, it’s not high on the priority list for many people either. And good people, you know, good Catholics and so forth.
But, in the Bible, the Lord complains that the biggest problem with mankind is that they don’t reflect, they don’t think about the deep truths of our faith, and therefore don’t reap as many possible benefits from it.
And so, really, what the vocation crisis comes from is really a crisis in discernment. People not taking the time to reflect, to listen to God’s call. And also, even deeper, having that confidence that what God wants is the best thing for their lives. So I think it’s important that we emphasize the discernment of a vocation.
You yourself went through that. You mentioned, Father, how at the beginning, you rejected the idea of vocation because you had some other plans and, then, how it came about that you became open to the call that Jesus was giving you.
And, you know, everybody’s got their idea of what they want to do. In fact, you know, the idea today of most people when they approach their future like when I was at college and many, many other people I’ve had an opportunity to talk with – a lot of college students – they approach the question of, you know, their future in terms of: What do I want to do?
On the surface, it seems like a valid question. What are their preferences and so forth? But I think in terms of really looking toward the future of any individual’s life, you have to look at it from the point of view of: What does God want from me? See, because we have limited knowledge of what we can do, what our life will hold, what lies in our future, what’s in store for us really, and even knowledge of ourselves – to know ourselves very well.
So, really, approaching the question of our future, asking from the point of view of what does God want from me? What does God know that’s best for me? And let me consult with the person that can help me the most – with God himself.
We go, and we consult with counselors and student guides and student advisors and other people. Vocation Day, we’re looking different places, but the most important person of all to consult with is God himself. He knows us better than anyone else, and no one loves us nearly as much as he does. And so, he is our Father.
So to have confidence in what he wants us to do is the basis of the most secure kind of future, and that will then open up also more of the riches of the vocations to consecrated lives, to the priesthood and really to look also at marriage as a vocation. And so, to use our life as it’s supposed to be, to be ascending towards heaven toward God. We’re here to strive towards eternity. This life will end, and we must be looking forward to our future life for eternity. So ….
We want to do whatever Jesus wants us to do.
Right! Exactly! What would Jesus do? Maybe if people emphasize that question as the guide in their circumstances and, really, it should be applied to their whole life, you know.
It’s like the rich young man. He came to the Lord and asked him, “What must I do, Lord, to inherit eternal life?” Well, our Lord told him, and the thing is, our Lord wants to tell each one of us, but we have to be open to what he tells us – unlike the rich young man who had many possessions and was very attached to the things he had and went away sad from what Our Lord asked him to do.
Our Lord calls us to perfection, to come follow him, follow Jesus, and it takes not only the knowledge of what we have to do, you know – what God is calling us to do – but it also takes courage and generosity.
And how reassuring it is once you have that gift. That you’re on the right road, the one that he’s called us on.
That’s right. Oh, the blessings God gives are incredible. I can attest to that. There are so many consolations, so many blessings, so many things that nobody could even hope for.
Father, why did you join Miles Jesu? And can you tell us about that?
Glad you asked, because Miles Jesu, when I first joined, was a very young, simple organization that emphasized – that had – tremendously high ideals.
It was a community that was very poor, and we live poorly still. We beg for our food, we beg for our clothing, we sleep in common dormitories, we always travel in two's and it’s a life of intense prayer and very active, apostolic work, and those high ideals of working to really evangelize the whole world appealed to me.
And also it’s just a radical following of the gospel – the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience – taking them very seriously and taking the gospel message seriously appealed to me. I grew up knowing the Franciscans. Went to a Franciscan parish all my life. I studied in high school with the Christian Brothers. Was familiar with Jesuit priests and everything. Very good orders and so forth.
But at the time I was discerning and looking for the way Jesus wanted me to follow him, I was impressed by the members of Miles Jesu and their dedication to the gospel and wanted to live that kind of life, dedicated to our Lord, and so I joined Miles Jesu for that reason and, like I said, the last 21 years have been just tremendous blessings – tremendous challenges, but also tremendous growth – personal growth, but also in being able to work and serve other people in the Church of our Lord.
(This article appears courtesy of Miles Jesu magazine. To learn more about the Catholic lay institute Miles Jesu, call 1-800-654-7945 or visit their website at www.MilesJesu.com.)
