Vocations

A Pastoral Letter from Bishop Gerald Wiesner, O.M.I.
to the people of God in the Diocese of Prince George

Dear Brother Priests and Religious, Dear Sisters and Brothers!

Sunday, April 17, 2005 is the 42nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This reminds us of many things. In particular it reminds us that in order for the Church, the Body of Christ, to live and function well, every member must carry out their role in the body. The life and growth of the body depends upon the faithful exercise of the role of each member.

As one looks more closely at the life and growth of the Body of Christ, which is the Church, it also becomes clear to everyone that some of the roles in the body are carried out by some on behalf of and in favor of the larger group. There are roles that are carried out by a few for the greater well being of the group. We see very often how married couples and families play a major role in the life of the church. Committed Catholic singles are often pillars of parish ministries and the vocation to the single life is something to be honored as a way of living out the baptismal call of holiness.

Very basic in all of this is the universal call to holiness. All the faithful of Christ are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity. The classes and duties of life are many but holiness is one that is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of God.

To promote vocations requires that we cultivate the sense of being called across the spectrum of possible vocational forms and choices. We cannot promote vocations to ordained ministry and religious life without promoting the vocation of Christian marriage. Likewise we cannot support and encourage family life without promoting and nurturing other manifestations of the Spirit’s care for the Church. We cannot encourage those drawn to lead solitary lives without nurturing the call to service. We cannot animate people toward ordained ministry without celebrating the call experienced by many lay people to be spiritual directors, chaplains, catechists, retreat masters, missionaries and so on.

The notion of the “seamless garment” has been used at times to help us reflect on life and death issues. And so perhaps it could also be applied to vocations. Respect for life must take into account human life at all its stages and conditions. So too a “seamless garment” approach to vocational awareness covers the whole of Christian existence and the many different ways in which the followers of Jesus give expression to their union with the mystery of God.

The particular form a vocation takes is in the end secondary to the birth and development of the believer’s relationship with God in Christ. No one is going to start thinking about vocational forms and choices before they have had an experience of their lives both as a gift and a mystery. The more the Gospel takes over our minds and hearts, the more we are going to find ourselves desirous and excited about proclaiming and bearing witness to the wonderful truth of God’s saving, steadfast love.

It is within this “seamless garment” of vocations that one looks at the vocation to the priesthood and the consecrated life. In the end vocation is not about choosing an occupation or profession for the sake of personal fulfillment and financial gain. The disciples were not simply being asked to change one occupation, whether it was fishing, collecting taxes or tent making, for another sort of gainful employment. They were really being asked to become a different kind of human being, namely people transformed by the saving love of God and, just as importantly, by a saving love for God’s people.

A vocation is not a reward for a virtuous life but does presuppose a conversion of heart and a spiritual journey that begins with repentance and a commitment to ongoing growth in the spiritual life. In baptism we are all called to holiness of life. A vocation to priesthood or consecrated life is a call to a radical form of discipleship that aspires to follow Jesus’ teaching and example ever more closely. It becomes clear that the priesthood and consecrated life are not human inventions, but gifts from God by which God continues to give himself to people throughout history.

The priesthood and consecrated life are God’s gifts to the Church for the very being and greater wellbeing of the Church, God’s people. The Church teaches that,

“The consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element for her mission since it manifests the inner nature of the Christian calling and the striving of the whole Church as Bride towards union with her spouse … it is an integral part of the Church’s life and a much needed incentive towards ever greater fidelity to the Gospel” (Vita Consecrata#3).

The ordained priest is consecrated to make Christ present as shepherd and pastor of his flock. The priest is the “bearer of the mystery” that is the centre of our faith life. Christ has given us the Church and the gift of the priesthood to perpetuate the Eucharist, to preach the Gospel and to forgive sin.

From this it becomes very clear that vocations of priesthood and consecrated life are everyone’s business. If I am a Catholic I have a huge stake in the priesthood and consecrated life. As Catholics we need to promote vocations in the Church. It is the responsibility of the entire faith community to pray for vocations and to make every effort possible in the promotion of vocations.

In our Diocesan Pastoral Plan we say, “Church, become who you are”. In the process of becoming who we are and being more fully who we are, vocations are of the essence; we simply will not become and be who we are without vocations. A Church, becoming who it is called to be, has within itself what is necessary for this to happen. As a diocesan family we have come of age, we need to have from within our own resources what is necessary to make us who we are. It is no longer proper for us to look to the outside, to look to others to come and help us. As a diocesan family we need to take the responsibility ourselves.

The question is: Where do we put our energies? As mentioned above it is the business of everyone. Everyone!

We need to begin with our young people. Recruiting posters for the military in the United States depict Uncle Sam pointing a menacing finger while the caption reads, “Uncle Same wants you!” Many young people, in a spirit of loyalty and patriotism, respond.

In the Church the Holy Spirit plants the grace of a vocation in a person’s heart. “Christ wants you!” “The Church needs you!” “God’s people need you!” Sometimes the Holy Spirit’s prompting is very clear in a person’s mind and heart. But more often than not the Holy Spirit relies on the help of other people to encourage, guide and promote vocations. Vocations are there in the hearts of our young Catholics, vocations waiting to be nurtured and cultivated by our prayers and encouragement.

Our ideal goal must be to instill in our young Catholics such a love and appreciation for the sacraments and vocations that they will not only consider a vocation themselves, but they will also encourage their peers to be open to such an option. Too many vocations have fallen victim to peer pressure. One Vocation Director describes her positive experience this way: “I remember giving a talk to 4,000 teens in San Antonio, Texas. When I asked them to show me the hands of Christ, immediately I saw hands raised. I issued a challenge that all those who felt called to be missionaries stand, and many stood. Then I called for those who felt called to become priests or religious to stand up in front of their peers! When they stood the rest applauded.”

In his message for the 42nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations the Holy Father says:

“Dear adolescents and young people, it is to you in a way that I renew the invitation of Christ to ‘put out into the deep’. … I come to recognize more and more how strong is the attraction in young people to the values of the Spirit and how sincere is their desire for holiness. Young people need Christ, but they also know that Christ chose to be in need of them. Dear young women and men! Trust Christ; listen attentively to his teachings, fix your eyes on his face, persevere in listening to his Word. Allow him to focus your search and your aspirations, all your ideals and the desires of your heart”.

I make this message to young people my own.

Traditionally Catholic homes have been a privileged place for a vocation to grow and be nurtured by parents who understood the importance of priesthood and consecrated life. Today we need to appeal to parents to instill a sense of vocation in our young Catholics. Parents should not confine themselves to asking their children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” They must also ask, “And what do you think God wants you to be?” We must help young people look beyond careers and professions and answer a call from God to be holy.

For most young Catholics that call is going to be to married life. We must do all we can to help them prepare for that vocation. We can also be certain that God is calling some of our young people to lives of special service in the Church, to priesthood and the consecrated life. It is particularly challenging to present the commitment of consecrated life and priestly ministry in the context of contemporary culture. Without support, these vocations will go unheeded.

Parents can do so much by praying with their children and teaching them to seek God’s will in their lives through vocational discernment. Parents need to have a sense of vocation and mission themselves to pass on to their children. Parents receive their children from God and must be willing to give them back to God for service of his people.

A recent article in Columbia Magazine stated that 60 percent of parents discourage their children from following a vocation, 20 percent are indifferent and 20 percent are supportive. In faith, parents need to understand that their children’s true happiness depends on a generous response to God’s call and that God is never outdone in generosity and love.

In the past we were able to count on the large number of religious sisters and brothers to educate our young people in the faith. Parents are now aided in this responsibility by many lay teachers and catechists who generously serve our Catholic community. I want to appeal to all our teachers in our Catholic schools and in our religious education programs, as well as to our youth ministers, to speak with our young Catholics about the call to holiness and the importance of discerning one’s personal vocation. I appeal to you as well to speak specifically about the consecrated life and the priesthood with our young Catholics. (I remember when, as a young boy in Grade 8, a 21-year-old female teacher spoke to me personally about the possibility of a priestly vocation. I still remember this very vividly.) In so sharing with young people you will be cooperating with the Holy Spirit in building up the Body of Christ. If we fail to inspire a sense of vocation in a new generation of believers we will all suffer the consequences.

My Brother Priests, we have a special responsibility to promote vocations. This is done, first of all, by “stirring up in our hearts the gift we have received with the imposition of hands”. We need to have a sense of wonder and awe in the presence of this “mystery and gift” as the Holy Father calls the priesthood. We are vessels of clay carrying treasures for God’s people. We must speak about vocations in our homilies and in our visits to schools and religious education classes. Youth ministry is also a crucial place for a serious discussion about vocations. Our sense of mission to lead people to Jesus Christ is also a powerful motivator in prompting vocations. It is essential to remind ourselves constantly that ministry is not about me, but about Christ. We too must be “inviters” who challenge young people to search their hearts and answer God’s call to serve.

Jesus did say “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).

Our quest for vocations in the Church is a spiritual one. We need to storm heaven with our prayers. We need to pray individually, as families and as parish communities, asking the Lord of the harvest to bless us with laborers. Asking children to pray for priests, sisters and brothers is a way to signal to the child the importance of priests and religious in our lives. At the same time it indicates to the child that priests, sisters and brothers are human and need the support and prayers of the faith community.

Already in the Old Testament we read that God dwelt in a tent (or tabernacle) that was called a “meeting tent”. God desired meeting with his people. The tabernacles in our Churches house Christ present among us so that we can have this meeting with him. May we all enter the meeting tent frequently to visit Christ and to pray the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into the harvest.

As I remind all of us of our responsibility in promoting vocations I want to thank parents, priests, sisters, brothers, teachers and youth ministers for all that they already do and urge you to redouble your efforts to encourage vocations. We must see this as a crucial part of our parish life. It is in the community of faith that the spiritual gifts are bestowed and discerned, so as to be put at the service of God’s people.

May the efforts of all of us, carried out in a true spirit of prayer, further our God-given mission: “Church, become who you are”.