MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE 48th WORLD DAY
OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
FOR THE 48th WORLD DAY
OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
15 MAY 2011 FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
Theme: "Proposing Vocations in the Local Church"
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The 48th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be celebrated on 15
May 2011, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, invites us to reflect on the theme: “Proposing Vocations in the Local Church”.
Seventy years ago, Venerable Pius XII established the Pontifical Work of
Priestly Vocations. Similar bodies, led by priests and members of the lay
faithful, were subsequently established by Bishops in many dioceses as a
response to the call of the Good Shepherd who, “when he saw the crowds, had
compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd”, and went
on to say: “The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Pray therefore
the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest!” (Mt 9:36-38).
The work of carefully encouraging and supporting
vocations finds a radiant
source of inspiration in those places in the Gospel where Jesus calls
his
disciples to follow him and trains them with love and care. We should
pay close attention to the way that Jesus called his closest
associates to proclaim the Kingdom of God (cf. Lk 10:9). In the first place, it is clear that the first thing he did was to pray
for them: before calling them, Jesus spent the night alone in prayer, listening
to the will of the Father (cf. Lk 6:12) in a spirit of interior detachment from mundane concerns. It is Jesus’
intimate conversation with the Father which results in the calling of his
disciples. Vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life are first
and foremost the fruit of constant contact with the living God and insistent
prayer lifted up to the “Lord of the harvest”, whether in parish communities, in
Christian families or in groups specifically devoted to prayer for vocations.
At the beginning of his public life, the Lord called some fishermen on the shore
of the Sea of Galilee: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”
(Mt 4:19). He revealed his messianic mission to them by the many
“signs” which
showed his love for humanity and the gift of the Father’s mercy.
Through his words and his way of life he prepared them to carry on his
saving
work. Finally, knowing “that his hour had come to depart out of this
world to
the Father” (Jn 13:1), he entrusted to them the memorial of his death and resurrection, and
before ascending into heaven he sent them out to the whole world with the
command: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19).
It is a challenging and uplifting invitation that Jesus addresses to those to
whom he says: “Follow me!”. He invites them to become his friends, to listen attentively to his word and to
live with him. He teaches them complete commitment to God and to the extension
of his kingdom in accordance with the law of the Gospel: “Unless a grain of
wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears
much fruit ” (Jn 12:24). He invites them to leave behind their own narrow agenda and
their notions of self-fulfilment in order to immerse themselves in another will,
the will of God, and to be guided by it. He gives them an experience of
fraternity, one born of that total openness to God (cf. Mt 12:49-50)
which becomes the hallmark of the community of Jesus: “By this everyone
will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for
one another” (Jn 13:35).
It is no less challenging to follow Christ today. It
means learning to keep our
gaze fixed on Jesus, growing close to him, listening to his word and
encountering him in the sacraments; it means learning to conform our
will to
his. This requires a genuine school of formation for all those who
would
prepare themselves for the ministerial priesthood or the consecrated
life under
the guidance of the competent ecclesial authorities. The Lord does not
fail to call people at every stage of life to share in his
mission and to serve the Church in the ordained ministry and in the
consecrated
life. The Church is “called to safeguard this gift, to esteem it and
love it. She is responsible for
the birth and development of priestly vocations” (John Paul II,
Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Pastores Dabo Vobis, 41).
Particularly in these times, when the
voice of the Lord seems to be drowned out by “other voices” and his invitation
to follow him by the gift of one’s own life may seem too difficult, every
Christian community, every member of the Church, needs consciously to feel
responsibility for promoting vocations. It is important to encourage and support those who show clear signs of a call
to priestly life and religious consecration, and to enable hem to feel the
warmth of the whole community as they respond “yes” to God and the Church. I
encourage them, in the same words which I addressed to those who have already
chosen to enter the seminary: “You have done a good thing. Because people will
always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world
and globalization: they will always need the God who has revealed himself in
Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the universal Church in order
to learn with him and through him life’s true meaning and in order to uphold and
apply the standards of true humanity” (Letter to Seminarians, 18 October 2010).
It is essential that every local Church become more sensitive and attentive to
the pastoral care of vocations, helping children and young people in particular at every level of family,
parish and associations – as Jesus did with his disciples - to grow into a
genuine and affectionate friendship with the Lord, cultivated through personal
and liturgical prayer; to grow in familiarity with the sacred Scriptures and thus to listen
attentively and fruitfully to the word of God; to understand that entering into
God’s will does not crush or destroy a person, but instead leads to the
discovery of the deepest truth about ourselves; and finally to be generous and fraternal in relationships with others, since
it is only in being open to the love of God that we discover true joy and the
fulfilment of our aspirations.
“Proposing Vocations in the Local Church” means having the courage, through an
attentive and suitable concern for vocations, to point out this challenging way of following Christ which, because it is so
rich in meaning, is capable of engaging the whole of one’s life.
I address a particular word to you, my dear brother
Bishops. To ensure the
continuity and growth of your saving mission in Christ, you should
“foster priestly and religious vocations as much as possible, and should
take a
special interest in missionary vocations” (Christus Dominus, 15). The Lord needs you to cooperate with him in ensuring that his call reaches the
hearts of those whom he has chosen. Choose carefully those who work in the Diocesan Vocations Office, that
valuable means for the promotion and organization of the pastoral care of
vocations and the prayer which sustains it and guarantees its effectiveness.
I
would also remind you, dear brother Bishops, of the concern of the universal
Church for an equitable distribution of priests in the world. Your openness to
the needs of dioceses experiencing a dearth of vocations will become a blessing
from God for your communities and a sign to the faithful of a priestly service
that generously considers the needs of the entire Church.
The Second Vatican Council explicitly reminded us that
“the duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole Christian
community, which
should exercise it above all by a fully Christian life” (Optatam Totius, 2). I wish, then, to say a special word of acknowledgment and
encouragement to those who work closely in various ways with the priests in
their parishes.
In particular, I turn to those who can offer a specific contribution to the
pastoral care of vocations: to priests, families, catechists and leaders of parish groups.
I ask priests to
testify to their communion with their bishop and their fellow priests, and thus
to provide a rich soil for the seeds of a priestly vocation. May families be “animated
by the spirit of faith and love and by the sense of duty” (Optatam Totius, 2) which is capable of helping children to welcome generously the call to
priesthood and to religious life. May catechists and leaders of Catholic groups
and ecclesial movements, convinced of their educational mission, seek to “guide
the young people entrusted to them so that these will recognize and freely
accept a divine vocation” (ibid.).
Dear brothers and sisters, your commitment to the promotion and care of
vocations becomes most significant and pastorally effective when carried out in
the unity of the Church and in the service of communion. For this reason, every
moment in the life of the Church community – catechesis, formation meetings,
liturgical prayer, pilgrimages – can be a precious opportunity for awakening in
the People of God, and in particular in children and young people, a sense of
belonging to the Church and of responsibility for answering the call to
priesthood and to religious life by a free and informed decision.
The ability to foster vocations is a hallmark of the vitality of a local
Church. With trust and perseverance let us invoke the aid of the Virgin Mary,
that by the example of her own acceptance of God’s saving plan and her powerful
intercession, every community will be more and more open to saying “yes” to the
Lord who is constantly calling new labourers to his harvest. With this hope, I
cordially impart to all my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 15 November 2010