"Witness Awakens Vocations"
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate and in the
Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The 47th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be celebrated on the
Fourth Sunday of Easter -- Good Shepherd Sunday -- 25 April 2010,
gives me the opportunity to offer for your meditation a theme which
is most fitting for this Year for Priests: Witness Awakens
Vocations. The fruitfulness of our efforts to promote vocations
depends primarily on God's free action, yet, as pastoral experience
confirms, it is also helped by the quality and depth of the personal
and communal witness of those who have already answered the Lord's
call to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life, for
their witness is then able to awaken in others a desire to respond
generously to Christ's call. This theme is thus closely linked to
the life and mission of priests and of consecrated persons. Hence I
wish to invite all those whom the Lord has called to work in his
vineyard to renew their faithful response, particularly in this Year
for Priests which I proclaimed on the 150th anniversary of the death
of Saint John Mary Vianney, the Curé of Ars, an ever-timely model of
a priest and a pastor.
In the Old Testament the prophets knew that they were called to
witness by their own lives to the message they proclaimed, and were
prepared to face misunderstanding, rejection and persecution. The
task which God entrusted to them engaged them fully, like a "burning
fire" in the heart, a fire that could not be contained (cf. Jer
20:9). As a result, they were prepared to hand over to the Lord not
only their voice, but their whole existence. In the fullness of
time, Jesus, sent by the Father (cf. Jn 5:36), would bear witness to
the love of God for all human beings, without distinction, with
particular attention to the least ones, sinners, the outcast and the
poor. Jesus is the supreme Witness to God and to his concern for the
salvation of all. At the dawn of the new age, John the Baptist, by
devoting his whole life to preparing the way for Christ, bore
witness that the promises of God are fulfilled in the Son of Mary of
Nazareth. When John saw Jesus coming to the river Jordan where he
was baptizing, he pointed him out to his disciples as "the lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29). His testimony
was so effective that two of his disciples, "hearing him say this,
followed Jesus" (Jn 1:37).
Similarly the calling of Peter, as we read in the Evangelist John,
occurred through the witness of his brother Andrew, who, after
meeting the Master and accepting his invitation to stay with him,
felt the need to share immediately with Peter what he discovered by
"staying" with the Lord: "We have found the Messiah (which means
Christ). He then brought him to Jesus" (Jn 1:41-42). This was also
the case for Nathanael, Bartholomew, thanks to the witness of yet
another disciple, Philip, who joyfully told him of his great
discovery: "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the
prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (Jn 1:45).
God's free and gracious initiative encounters and challenges the
human responsibility of all those who accept his invitation to
become, through their own witness, the instruments of his divine
call. This occurs in the Church even today: the Lord makes use of
the witness of priests who are faithful to their mission in order to
awaken new priestly and religious vocations for the service of the
People of God. For this reason, I would like to mention three
aspects of the life of a priest which I consider essential for an
effective priestly witness.
A fundamental element, one which can be seen in every vocation to
the priesthood and the consecrated life, is friendship with Christ.
Jesus lived in constant union with the Father and this is what made
the disciples eager to have the same experience; from him they
learned to live in communion and unceasing dialogue with God. If the
priest is a "man of God", one who belongs to God and helps others to
know and love him, he cannot fail to cultivate a deep intimacy with
God, abiding in his love and making space to hear his Word. Prayer
is the first form of witness which awakens vocations. Like the
Apostle Andrew, who tells his brother that he has come to know the
Master, so too anyone who wants to be a disciple and witness of
Christ must have "seen" him personally, come to know him, and
learned to love him and to abide with him.
Another aspect of the consecration belonging to the priesthood and
the religious life is the complete gift of oneself to God. The
Apostle John writes: "By this we know love, that he laid down his
life for us; and therefore we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren" (1 Jn 3:16). With these words, he invites the disciples to
enter into the very mind of Jesus who in his entire life did the
will of the Father, even to the ultimate gift of himself on the
Cross. Here, the mercy of God is shown in all its fullness; a
merciful love that has overcome the darkness of evil, sin and death.
The figure of Jesus who at the Last Supper, rises from the table,
lays aside his garments, takes a towel, girds himself with it and
stoops to wash the feet of the Apostles, expresses the sense of
service and gift manifested in his entire existence, in obedience to
the will of the Father (cf. Jn 13:3-15). In following Jesus,
everyone called to a life of special consecration must do his utmost
to testify that he has given himself completely to God. This is the
source of his ability to give himself in turn to those whom
Providence entrusts to him in his pastoral ministry with complete,
constant and faithful devotion, and with the joy of becoming a
companion on the journey to so many brothers and sisters, enabling
them too to become open to meeting Christ, so that his Word may
become a light to their footsteps. The story of every vocation is
almost always intertwined with the testimony of a priest who
joyfully lives the gift of himself to his brothers and sisters for
the sake of the Kingdom of God. This is because the presence and
words of a priest have the ability to raise questions and to lead
even to definitive decisions (cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis, 39).
A third aspect which necessarily characterizes the priest and the
consecrated person is a life of communion. Jesus showed that the
mark of those who wish to be his disciples is profound communion in
love: "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you
have love for one another" (Jn 13:35). In a particular way the
priest must be a man of communion, open to all, capable of gathering
into one the pilgrim flock which the goodness of the Lord has
entrusted to him, helping to overcome divisions, to heal rifts, to
settle conflicts and misunderstandings, and to forgive offences. In
July 2005, speaking to the clergy of Aosta, I noted that if young
people see priests who appear distant and sad, they will hardly feel
encouraged to follow their example. They will remain hesitant if
they are led to think that this is the life of a priest. Instead,
they need to see the example of a communion of life which can reveal
to them the beauty of being a priest. Only then will a young man
say, "Yes, this could be my future; I can live like this" (Insegnamenti
I, [2005], 354). The Second Vatican Council, in speaking of the
witness that awakens vocations, emphasizes the example of charity
and of fraternal cooperation which priests must offer (cf. Decree
Optatam Totius, 2).
Here I would like to recall the words of my venerable Predecessor
John Paul II: "The very life of priests, their unconditional
dedication to God's flock, their witness of loving service to the
Lord and to his Church – a witness marked by free acceptance of the
Cross in the spirit of hope and Easter joy – their fraternal unity
and zeal for the evangelization of the world are the first and most
convincing factor in the growth of vocations" (Pastores Dabo Vobis,
41). It can be said that priestly vocations are born of contact with
priests, as a sort of precious legacy handed down by word, example
and a whole way of life.
The same can be said with regard to the consecrated life. The very
life of men and women religious proclaims the love of Christ
whenever they follow him in complete fidelity to the Gospel and
joyfully make their own its criteria for judgement and conduct. They
become "signs of contradiction" for the world, whose thinking is
often inspired by materialism, self-centredness and individualism.
By letting themselves be won over by God through self-renunciation,
their fidelity and the power of their witness constantly awaken in
the hearts of many young people the desire to follow Christ in their
turn, in a way that is generous and complete. To imitate Christ,
chaste, poor and obedient, and to identify with him: this is the
ideal of the consecrated life, a witness to the absolute primacy of
God in human life and history.
Every priest, every consecrated person, faithful to his or her
vocation, radiates the joy of serving Christ and draws all
Christians to respond to the universal call to holiness.
Consequently, in order to foster vocations to the ministerial
priesthood and the consecrated life, and to be more effective in
promoting the discernment of vocations, we cannot do without the
example of those who have already said "yes" to God and to his plan
for the life of each individual. Personal witness, in the form of
concrete existential choices, will encourage young people for their
part to make demanding decisions affecting their future. Those who
would assist them need to have the skills for encounter and dialogue
which are capable of enlightening and accompanying them, above all
through the example of life lived as a vocation. This was what the
holy Curé of Ars did: always in close contact with his parishioners,
he taught them "primarily by the witness of his life. It was from
his example that the faithful learned to pray" (Letter Proclaiming
the Year for Priests, 16 June 2009).
May this World Day once again offer many young people a precious
opportunity to reflect on their own vocation and to be faithful to
it in simplicity, trust and complete openness. May the Virgin Mary,
Mother of the Church, watch over each tiny seed of a vocation in the
hearts of those whom the Lord calls to follow him more closely, may
she help it to grow into a mature tree, bearing much good fruit for
the Church and for all humanity. With this prayer, to all of you I
impart my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, 13 November 2009
BENEDICTUS PP. XVI
© Copyright 2010 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
