John Robertson a/l Joseph

Kuala Lumpur

My Vocation Journey: You are Mine and You Belong to Me

As I reflect on my life again and again, I realize that the seed of my vocation began to grow in my early childhood. Yes, during that time I found myself very impressed by priests in particular Fr Naden & Fr Amalanathan, especially while they were celebrating Mass, visiting our family and whenever they came close to talk to me, I also observed their priestly clothing and vestments, and how easily they mixed around with us, the parishioners. During our daily family prayer, my mother used to pray for the priests and for more vocation to the priesthood.

When I was in Form Three, I had some medical problems. At the beginning, the doctors felt it could be cancer. One day, my mum took me to St. Anthony’s Church in Jalan Pudu to attend a Mass and an anointment of the sick. After the mass, my mother approached a priest, and asked him to pray for me. The priest called some of his parishioners and they joined him in praying over me. While they were praying, I heard a very clear voice saying that “YOU ARE MINE AND YOU BELONG TO ME “. At that time, I really did not understand what it meant, and I did not take it seriously, but it remained in my mind all the time. Two weeks later. the doctors confirmed that I was free of cancer and since then, I have been well. I know that God has other plans for me.

During that time, my Parish Priest was Fr Stanislaus, and I had the opportunity to develop a very close relationship with him. Once I told him about my experience of hearing a voice. He told me that God wanted me to serve Him and His people. At the end of our conversation, he asked me to think about the priesthood. Later, Fr Stan took me to attend Fr Paulino’s ordination, and the celebration served to increase my interest and deepen my thoughts about a vocation to the priesthood.

A day before receiving the sacrament of confirmation, I went for confessions. After my confession, the priest Fr Mitchell asked me to prepare myself to be a priest. It was a shock me as I had never spoken to him about my vocation at all. One day Fr. Peter Bretradeau came to my house. He came to know that there were 4 boys in my family. He called me aside, and asked me to think about the priesthood. I asked myself why he had chosen me and when he was about to leave, he told me ‘ prepare yourself, God has chosen you’. When he said that I remembered the voice I had heard previously. This experience further challenged me and made me think and pray. I decided to speak to Fr Philip Muthu, and during this time I also had a chance to stay with my Parish Priest, Fr. Mitchell.

In 2004, I applied to the seminary and I was accepted for the English year with a condition that I needed to get 5.5 on the TOEFL exam, but I failed to achieve the target and so I left the seminary. My SD asked me to reconsider my decision. He asked me this question ‘ Are you here for English or are you here because you want to be a good priest ‘. When I went back to Rawang, I felt embarrassed to face my fellow parishioners, but they welcomed me back. However, the desire to be a priest was still there.

Many priests have motivated and encouraged me. After several years I met with the vocation director, and spoke to him about my desire to rejoin the seminary. I have sat for IELTS exam for 6 times, but at last I managed to achieve the Band 6 score and was able to apply for admission to the seminary. I am grateful that the Bishop has accepted me.

John Robertson Joseph