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Pope Benedict XVI- Message- Vocations |
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
44th World
Day of Prayer for Vocations
Sunday, April 29, 2007
the vocation to the
service of the Church as communion
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear brothers and sisters!
The annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations is an appropriate
occasion for highlighting the importance of vocations in the life
and mission of the Church, as well as for intensifying our prayer
that they may increase in number and quality. For the coming
celebration, I would like to draw the attention of the whole people
of God to the following theme, which is more topical than ever: the
vocation to the service of the Church as communion.
Last year, in the Wednesday general audiences, I began a new series
of catechesis dedicated to the relationship between Christ and the
Church. I pointed out that the first Christian community was built,
in its original core, when some fishermen of Galilee, having met
Jesus, let themselves be conquered by his gaze and his voice, and
accepted his pressing invitation: "Follow me and I will make you
become fishers of men!" (Mk 1:17; cf. Mt 4:19). In fact, God has
always chosen some individuals to work with him in a more direct
way, in order to accomplish his plan of salvation. In the Old
Testament, in the beginning, he called Abraham to form a "great
nation" (Gn 12:2); afterwards, he called Moses to free Israel from
the slavery of Egypt (cf. Ex 3:10). Subsequently, he designated
other persons, especially the prophets, to defend and keep alive the
covenant with his people. In the New Testament, Jesus, the promised
Messiah, invited each of the Apostles to be with him (cf. Mk 3:14)
and to share his mission. At the Last Supper, while entrusting them
with the duty of perpetuating the memorial of his death and
resurrection until his glorious return at the end of time, he
offered for them to his Father this heart-broken prayer: "I made
known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love
with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them" (Jn
17:26). The mission of the Church, therefore, is founded on an
intimate and faithful communion with God.
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.
This is what Eli did, when he helped the young Samuel to understand
what God was asking of him and to put it immediately into action
(cf. 1 Sam 3:9). Now, docile and faithful listening can only take
place in a climate of intimate communion with God which is realized
principally in prayer. According to the explicit command of the
Lord, we must implore the gift of vocations, in the first place by
praying untiringly and together to the "Lord of the harvest". The
invitation is in the plural: "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest
to send out labourers into his harvest" (Mt 9:38). This invitation
of the Lord corresponds well with the style of the "Our Father" (Mt
6:9), the prayer that he taught us and that constitutes a "synthesis
of the whole Gospel" according to the well-known expression of
Tertullian (cf. De Oratione, 1,6: CCL I, 258). In this perspective,
yet another expression of Jesus is instructive: "If two of you agree
on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my
Father in heaven (Mt 18:19). The Good Shepherd, therefore, invites
us to pray to the heavenly Father, to pray unitedly and insistently,
that he may send vocations for the service of the Church as
communion.
Harvesting the pastoral experience of past centuries, the Second
Vatican Council highlighted the importance of educating future
priests to an authentic ecclesial communion. In this regard, we read
in Presbyterorum ordinis: "Exercising the office of Christ, the
shepherd and head, according to their share of his authority, the
priests, in the name of the Bishop, gather the family of God
together as a brotherhood enlivened by one spirit. Through Christ
they lead them in the Holy Spirit to God the Father" (n. 6). The
post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis echoes this
statement of the Council, when it underlines that the priest is "the
servant of the Church as communion because -- in union with the
Bishop and closely related to the presbyterate -- he builds up the
unity of the Church community in harmony of diverse vocations,
charisms and services" (n. 16). It is indispensable that, within the
Christian people, every ministry and charism be directed to full
communion; and it is the duty of the Bishop and priests to promote
this communion in harmony with every other Church vocation and
service. The consecrated life, too, of its very nature, is at the
service of this communion, as highlighted by my venerable
predecessor John Paul II in the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Vita consecrata: "The consecrated life can certainly be credited
with having effectively helped to keep alive in the Church the
obligation of fraternity as a form of witness to the Trinity. By
constantly promoting fraternal love, also in the form of common
life, the consecrated life has shown that sharing in the Trinitarian
communion can change human relationships and create a new type of
solidarity" (n. 41).
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).
Lastly, we turn to Mary, who supported the first community where
"all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer" (Acts
1:14), so that she may help the Church in today’s world to be an
icon of the Trinity, an eloquent sign of divine love for all people.
May the Virgin, who promptly answered the call of the Father saying,
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord" (Lc 1:38), intercede so that
the Christian people will not lack servants of divine joy: priests
who, in communion with their Bishops, announce the Gospel faithfully
and celebrate the sacraments, take care of the people of God, and
are ready to evangelize all humanity. May she ensure, also in our
times, an increase in the number of consecrated persons, who go
against the current, living the evangelical counsels of poverty,
chastity and obedience, and give witness in a prophetic way to
Christ and his liberating message of salvation. Dear brothers and
sisters whom the Lord calls to particular vocations in the Church: I
would like to entrust you in a special way to Mary, so that she, who
more than anyone else understood the meaning of the words of Jesus,
"My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do
it" (Lk 8:21), may teach you to listen to her divine Son. May she
help you to say with your lives: "Lo, I have come to do thy will, O
God" (cf. Heb 10:7). With these wishes, I assure each one of you a
special remembrance in prayer and from my heart I bless you all.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2007.
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
[Translation issued by the Holy See]
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Look at the One they
Pierced!
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
