Message of Pope Benedict XVI for 48th World Day of Prayer for Vocations
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.