All of us have a vocational story to discern.

Fourth Sunday of Easter A   2020

The fourth Sunday of the Easter Season is always Good Shepherd Sunday.  This is how Jesus identifies himself: “I am the Good Shepherd.”   As the Good Shepherd, Jesus comes to his sheep and is recognized by them.  The sheep recognize His voice as He calls them by name and they follow Him.

We seek to recognize the voice of Jesus as our Good Shepherd and to follow him.   Hearing and trusting and recognizing the voice of Jesus in our lives is our path of discipleship.  In our Catholic tradition, our vocation is our response to the call of God in our lives.  The root meeting of the word “vocation” goes back to the Latin word vocare which mean to call.  Responding to God’s call is our vocation.   This vocation we all have is never a solitary vocation; in some God-given way, we share in the mission of Jesus in leading others to become more aware of God’s love for them.

Good Shepherd Sunday is also the World Day of Prayer for vocations. In discerning one’s vocation as a disciple, my first message is that all of us have a vocational story to discern.  While I would like to consider how you discern God’s call in your life from the vantage point of three lenses, my hope is that you claim in one or more of these lenses your own vocational journey.

The first lens perhaps is the more familiar one when we pray for vocations.  We pray that young men will respond to the call of God in the vocation of an ordained priest.

I had the great privilege of serving in our diocese for ten years as the Director of Seminarians and for five years before that as the spiritual director and the rector of Becket Hall – our diocesan discernment house for candidates to the ordained priesthood.  It is very humbling to mentor young men in discerning whether God is calling them to serve in the Church as ordained priests.  This has been a treasured part of my ministry for many years.

May we as a faith community of Holy Spirit and St Joseph’s mentor, foster, pray, and encourage young men from our parishes to serve the Church as ordained priests.  This would be such a great blessing for our parish communities.  While I said young men, I should correct that.  God can call men of any age to consider the vocation to the ordained priest.  Praying for vocation needs to a consistent part of our prayer.

I also would invite us to look at this World Day of Prayer for vocations with a wider lens.  We are to pray that each and every one of us claim the vocation, the call we receive from God.  In our Baptism, God calls each of us to witness to His love in this world.  There are as many vocations in this parish as there are baptized parishioners.

The second vocational lens in ministry within the Church.  Our parish community is blessed with permanent deacons, vowed religious women, and lay ecclesial ministers.  These are valued and faith-filled ministers of the Gospel that breathe a Spirit-filled vibrancy to our parish ministries.  Following the example of these men and women, I would ask that you pray over God’s call in your life:  Is God calling you to make this kind of commitment in the service of the Church?  As we are grateful for our permanent deacons, our vowed religious men and women, and our lay ecclesial ministers, may they inspire others to serve in the ministry of the Church for generations to come.

In our parish life, we are grateful for parishioners who have responded to the call of God to be catechists, to be involved in youth ministry, to engage in liturgical ministry, music ministry, pastoral care, social outreach, and parish governance on our parish council, our finance council, and our stewardship council.  We are grateful for the young men and women who will soon celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation and then witness to their faith by the way they live their lives.

The same Eternal Word that became flesh in Jesus longs to become flesh in our lives—in our home, workplace, parish, global marketplace.  Indeed, there is no shortage of need for compassionate people who continue Jesus’ mission.

On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, we pray that the church may be provided with the leaders needed to its work of spreading the Gospel.   

Our third vocational lens is probably what we are now doing -- be it as spouses, parents, teachers, doctors, civil servants, running a business, salespersons… or whatever.

On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, each one of us should be asking ourselves today:

·        Is what I am spending my energies on every day my real vocation?

·        Is this what God wants me to be doing with my life?

·        How is what I am doing giving witness to my Christian faith?

·        What contribution am I offering to making this world a better place for people to live in?

·        To what extent am I a spreader of truth, of love, of justice, of freedom, of tolerance and acceptance…?

·         Is God calling me to greater service of my Church and my community?  Am I giving something through my life or am I just using society (and even the Church) to get what I want?

God is calling every single one of us to work for the Gospel.  For a small number it may be as a priest or religious – and that call can come at any time in one’s life. I asked you to pray for vocations to the ordained priesthood, but may your first prayer today be for the grace to discern your own vocational call. There are hundreds of other ways of serving the Church and helping to build up the Christian community.  Where is God calling me to make my own unique contribution based on the particular talents God has given me?

If every single one us were to answer that question sincerely and to act upon it, I am confident that our Church would have all the leadership it needs.  There would be a new Pentecost, a spiritual awakening that would be part of the life of the Church in the aftermath of Covid-19.  What do you think?

Have a Blessed Day.