As he wraps up his ministry, Archbishop Vigneron reflects on his calling, encourages young men to 'do what you were made for'
DETROIT — While looking out on more than 200 young discerners, priests and seminarians gathered for an evening of prayer, fellowship and inquiry Feb. 18 at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron wondered aloud what each of their testimonies would be.
The annual evening of prayer and dinner hosted by the Office for Priestly Vocations gives young men ages 15 and older an opportunity to talk with Sacred Heart seminarians about their lives in the seminary, to listen to vocation stories and discern their own vocations.
The evening began with prayer in the seminary chapel, followed by dinner in the gymnasium. There, the young men had an opportunity to view video testimonials of newly ordained priests, as well as hear in-person testimonies from current seminarians Joseph Lennon and Jonathan Ligenza.
Before the evening ended, however, Fr. Craig Giera, director of priestly vocations for the Archdiocese of Detroit, passed the microphone to Archbishop Vigneron, who reflected on his own vocation story.
“I thought about the priesthood at a very early age,” Archbishop Vigneron said, explaining to the young men that the seminary used to have a high school program, where he enrolled in September 1962 and continued there for college.
“My testimony has to do with the fact that God, who brought me here, sustained me in not just the good times, but the bad times, too,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Somebody at my table asked me if I ever had doubts, and certainly, I came very close to leaving the path, leaving the seminary in 1968 in a time of great confusion. But God has stood by me, and I have a sense that as I come to the end of my life, I've done what God made me to do. And that’s, I think, the best testimony anybody could make — it’s the greatest testimony I think any man can make about his life.”
Archbishop Vigneron's reflection comes as he prepares to transition to retirement; on Feb. 11, Pope Francis announced his successor, Archbishop-designate Edward J. Weisenburger, who will be installed on March 18. Following the installation, Archbishop Vigneron said he will live at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where he once was a student and later served as rector.
Archbishop Vigneron encouraged the young men to ask Jesus what he made them for; someday, once they have answered Christ’s call for their own lives, they will have the opportunity to share their own testimony of how they heard God and followed His will, whether to a vocation of the priesthood, marriage or religious life, he said.
“There's a true opportunity for every one of you to give your personal and deepest testimony to how you have come to Christ and said, ‘What do you want of me?’ And (how) you listened to him say what it is he wants from you, and then you've had the courage and the love to respond,” Archbishop Vigneron added.
In their own testimonies, both Lennon and Ligenza repeated the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary as part of their response to God’s call to discern the priesthood.
“Thanks to be to God just as Mary, mother of Jesus, answered the angel, Gabriel, ‘Let it be done unto me according to thy word,’ when she was answering her own vocation to be the mother of God," Lennon said. "So too, was I able to say those same words: ‘OK, Jesus if you want me to go more deeply into relationship with you, then let it be done unto me."
In his testimony, Ligenza shared that while sitting in adoration, he asked God, “What do you want?” The Lord’s response was clear, Ligenza said, quoting from Jesus' words to St. Peter in Scripture: “Follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men.”
Ligenza ended by reading a quote from Pope St. John Paul II’s address on the 42nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations in 2005:
"To you, young people, I repeat the word of Jesus: 'Duc in altum!' In proposing His exhortation once more to you, I think at the same time of the words which Mary, his Mother, addressed to the servants at Cana in Galilee: 'Do whatever he tells you' (Jn 2:5). Dear young people, Christ is asking you to 'put out into the deep,' and the Virgin Mary is encouraging you not to hesitate in following Him."
Archbishop Vigneron told the young men that as a pastor, his deepest wish for each one of them is that they will have the courage to “Do whatever he tells you.”
“That’s my prayer; that you will put yourself on that path eventually to testify about how the Lord has worked in your life, shown you what you were made for and given you the courage and generosity to say ‘Yes,’” Archbishop Vigneron said. “I once was tested about courage, and as I told you, I came close to being a coward, but God gave me the courage to move forward, and that’s my testimony. And someday — maybe it will be the end of the world on judgment day — I look forward to hearing the testimony of each one of you as we stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus.”
