(The two scholastics of the Province of Australia, along with a prenovice, spent their holidays travelling around the province to promote the Oblate vocation during this “Year of Oblate Vocations”. Here are some excerpts of their travel journal…)

Over the 6-week study break, the St Mary’s students have been travelling around to our Oblate communities promoting vocations as a part of the Year of Oblate Vocations. Scholastics Brothers Joshua NASH and Duc Thuan BUI, together with prenovice Chris Villanueva, left Melbourne on the 16th June for a country-wide tour of Oblate schools and parishes with one goal in mind: vocations. With this year being the Year of Oblate Vocations, the seminary students wished to do something special to promote the Oblate vocation and to encourage young men to discern such a vocation. So, it was decided to try and get to all Oblate communities around Australia throughout the year to be present, to share our stories, to witness to our faith and our calling and to promote the Oblate way of life. It is important for the students to get to the communities outside Victoria, so that young people and the many other people with whom we work get to see that there is a great new life in the Oblate congregation and there is a future for the Oblates and the religious life.

We started our travels in the West, with nine days spent in Fremantle. We spoke at all the masses the first weekend we were there and then rotated the following week, so that each mass time got to hear from at least two different guys. We would use the Gospel of the day to give a short reflection on our vocation after communion, and then be around after mass to meet and greet people. As it is in many places, there aren’t many young men attending mass at Fremantle. There are a few however, and it was good to have a chance to speak with them, be a witness to them and provide them with our contact details. The other important part of it was to speak to the regular parishioners and to allow them to see that it is important to pray and support vocations in their own communities and the wider Oblate family. …