Vocation Promotion Day of Yangon Archdiocese was observed with the Eucharistic Celebration in Yangon St. Mary Cathedral at 8:00 am on June 15, Holy Trinity Sunday.

His Excellency Bishop Francis Than Tun, Auxiliary Bishop of Yangon Archdiocese, was the main presider of the Eucharistic Celebration.

Bishop Francis said that St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary in Bago is the heart of the archdiocese, from which the future priests have been trained for decades.

Fr. Paulu Klo Htoo, Rector of Bago St. Joseph’s Intermediate Minor Seminary, Fr. Francis Dass, Spiritual Director of the Minor Seminary, and Fr. Gabriel Soe Min Naing, Disciplinarian of the Minor Seminary, joined in the Mass.

Since it was the Holy Trinity Sunday, Fr. Paulu Klo Htoo encouraged the faithful to always be true to their faith in the Holy Trinity. Only one person did not carry out the saving work, but the three persons cooperate for the salvation of humankind, and we should strengthen I and God and neighbor relationship. We are to imitate the relation of the triune God.

For the academic year 2025-2026, there are 43 Minor Seminarians, and 12 of them are learning English for the Entrance Exam. 12 of them represent the minor seminarians to observe the vocational promotion event in Yangon St. Mary’s Cathedral.

At the end of the Eucharistic Celebration, the pamphlets which carry the information of the Vocation to Priesthood and the Minor Seminary were distributed to the Mass attendees.

According to the distributed pamphlets, although there are different kinds of vocations for human beings, there are three steps for the call to priestly and religious life vocation: the Call of God, Human Response, and the Support of the Holy Mother the Church.

And the seminarians are trained with four-dimensional formations, namely, the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral formation, which also appear in the pamphlets.

And there are five different steps for the training of future priests. They are namely (1) Minor Seminary, (2) Preparatory Year (which last 1 or the most 2 years), (3) Philosophy or discipleship year (2 Years Course), (4) Theology or Configuration Year (3 Years Course), (5) Pastoral or Vocational Synthesis Year ( 1 year Course).

Whole faith, Right Intention, Due Knowledge, Good Esteem, and Physical and Mental Qualities are necessary for future priests.

A seminarian is expected

1- to know himself well and to grow in simplicity

2- to have the right intention

3- to examine his call and to become a good future missionary

4- to be able to choose the true call within a short time

Christopher Herry Lin, a seminarian, shared his experiences of the call from God before the final blessing of the Holy Mass.

“When I was young, I had seen the major seminarians teach the young people catechism and music in our village as they were sent during their holidays. What the major seminarians did to us became the inspiration and motivated me to become a priest.”

He was at the gate of the seminary together with his parents and his parish priest. He received a Phone Call from the company that the job was available, which he applied for. He left the job and joined Bago Minor Seminary in 2024.

By RVA Sgaw Karen