Fr. John Ryan

 

FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

VOCATIONS SUNDAY

29th April 2007

As we celebrate today Vocations Sunday we are asked to focus our thoughts and prayers on the need for vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. In the promotion of vocations it is understood that all of us have a role to play, not just through our prayers but through our witness to the God in whom who believe. By living our faith in a concrete manner, allowing the world to see the Spirit of God alive and active in us, we testify to the grace of God operating effectively and thus enable the Word to unfold in the world and thereby encouraging others to explore their relationship with Jesus Christ and indeed to discern whether the calls them to a life of service in the Lord's vineyard. In his Letter for Vocations Sunday Pope Benedict speaks of the importance of communion in the promotion and encouragement of vocations. He writes: The Second Vatican Council's Constitution Lumen gentium describes the Church as "a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" (n. 4), in which is reflected the very mystery of God. This means that the love of the Trinity is reflected in her. Moreover, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, all the members of the Church form "one body and one spirit" in Christ. This people, organically structured under the guidance of its Pastors, lives the mystery of communion with God and with the brethren, especially when it gathers for the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the source of that ecclesial unity for which Jesus prayed on the eve of his passion: "Father...that they also may be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (Jn 17: 21). This intense communion favours the growth of generous vocations at the service of the Church: the heart of the believer, filled with divine love, is moved to dedicate itself wholly to the cause of the Kingdom. In order to foster vocations, therefore, it is important that pastoral activity be attentive to the mystery of the Church as communion; because whoever lives in an ecclesial community that is harmonious, co-responsible and conscientious, certainly learns more easily to discern the call of the Lord. The care of vocations, therefore, demands a constant "education" for listening to the voice of God. Continuous growth in communion, a constant development of faith, draws us deeper into the mystery of Jesus and ultimately into the life of the trinity and we express this in how we encounter the world around us as a community of faith, living, working, and worshiping together. The nourishment of such development is found primarily in the celebration of the Eucharist where we encounter Jesus in the Word and in Holy Communion. Again we look at Pope Benedict's words for today: At the centre of every Christian community is the Eucharist, the source and summit of the life of the Church. Whoever places himself at the service of the Gospel, if he lives the Eucharist, makes progress in love of God and neighbour and thus contributes to building the Church as communion. We can affirm that the "Eucharistic love" motivates and founds the vocational activity of the whole Church, because, as I wrote in the Encyclical Deus caritas est, vocations to the priesthood and to other ministries and services flourish within the people of God wherever there are those in whom Christ can be seen through his Word, in the sacraments and especially in the Eucharist. This is so because "in the Church's Liturgy, in her prayer, in the living community of believers, we experience the love of God, we perceive his presence and we thus learn to recognize that presence in our daily lives. He loved us first and he continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love" (n. 17). We pray that we may grow in faith as community and through our living faith encourage many to answer the call of Jesus Christ our Lord.