Pope Francis will open the Year for Consecrated Life on November 30, 2014. We can ask, why this initiative and not another? If we could see into the heart of Pope Francis \u2013 who has the heart of a son of St. Ignatius of Loyola \u2013 it would be easy to answer. Trying to guess the reason, I like to think that Pope Francis has promoted the Year for Consecrated Life because his reasoning is like that of St. Teresa of Avila, who said: \u201cWhat would the world be like without the Religious?\u201d (Vita Consecrata, 105).<\/p>\n
Consecrated Life, in fact, belongs, in an intimate way, to the life, holiness and the mission of the Church (VC, 3), to which it offers a specific contribution through the witness of a life given to God and to one\u2019s brothers and sisters. This is why we suffer when we think of the present situation in Canada. As we know, at the beginning of the 1960\u2019s the Church in Canada had over 60,000 men and women in religious life, but today that number has dropped to little more than 15,000. The median age is 80 years and vocations are scarce; the lack of vocations causes us suffering.<\/p>\n
We are well aware that the problem of vocations to religious life \u2013 priestly and brothers and sisters \u2013 is one of \u201cvital and fundamental importance for the community of believers and for all of humanity\u201d1<\/sup>; a problem \u201clocated in the heart of the Church itself; in fact, from its solution depends its future, its development and universal mission of salvation\u201d.2<\/sup> This is why the Church suffers, just like a couple who wish to have children but are unable. But we do not suffer like people who are resigned and have lost hope. No! We do not enclose ourselves in fatalistic-losing discouragement, nor do we just stop at complaining. On the contrary, comforted by faith, we renew our commitment to throw, in the name of Jesus, the nets of the Gospel-of-vocations (Lk 5, 1-11). <\/p>\n The miraculous catch of fish, which Peter and his companions experienced with immense joy and surprise \u2013 by obeying Jesus\u2019s words inviting them to \u201cthrow out the nets\u201d again (Lk 5, 4) \u2013 assures us that the fish were there, even if during the night of trial it seemed that they were absent. By throwing the nets out again, on the word of Jesus, the catch is abundant.<\/p>\n Dear religious men and women: in this year dedicated to Consecrated Life, I invite you to throw out the nets with confidence, trusting the word that Jesus addresses to each of you: \u201cbe vocation-promoters\u201d, \u201ctake vocations to heart\u201d. <\/p>\n What does it mean to take vocations to heart? I would like to explain this invitation by proposing five concrete actions, which I will introduce with a fundamental premise. <\/p>\n The Premise<\/strong> <\/p>\n He who calls, and is the author and first protagonist of a vocation is God. Therefore, one should not ask \u201cDo I have a vocation or not?\u201d but instead \u201cWhat is God calling me to?\u201d. The call is there for every person. Even if I am called in time, it is from eternity that I am chosen by God \u201cbefore the creation of the world\u201d (Eph 1,4), \u201cwhen I was in my mother womb\u201d (Gal 1, 15).<\/p>\n Therefore, from all time \u2013 from eternity \u2013 the vocation is engraved in each person\u2019s heart. Yet this call \u2013 the voice of God \u2013 must be heard and recognized. If between God and the person who is called, there are obstacles, like impenetrable walls that block the voice, this person is not able to hear the call, even if it is present within them.<\/p>\n Until a few decades ago, life flowed within a familial social and religious context that acknowledged and favoured vocations. It is not like this today. The human and religious experience of the youth of today, because of the environment of the family, of school, and of the society in which they live and are surrounded by, is very different from that of years past. Today \u201cthe voice\u201d of a vocation is very hard to hear because it risks being suffocated in the midst of many other voices which become obstacles. Is it possible to overcome them? Yes, and I will give an example. Just as a satellite connects two points on earth which cannot connect directly – the satellite receives a signal from one point and sends it to the other – in the same way the obstacles which make it difficult to recognize a vocation can be overcome if there is an \u201cally\u201d, a person capable of being \u2013 so to speak \u2013 part of the \u201ctriangle\u201d, namely to be a \u201csatellite\u201d or the \u201cantenna\u201d between the voice engraved in the person\u2019s soul and the person himself.<\/p>\n I am convinced of one thing: also today young Samuels are not lacking (1 Sam 3,\u00a01-10). But will each of them find an Eli who helps them to understand that it is the Lord\u00a0who is calling them? In the context which characterizes the Canada of today, where it is\u00a0particularly difficult to hear the call, the figure of Eli (1 Sam 3,1) is very important. Who\u00a0is Eli? It is the person who, because he or she is familiar with the things of God, is capable\u00a0of being like an \u201cantenna\u201d, in order to help the \u201cyoung Samuels\u201d to discern the call that they, by themselves, are not able to perceive. Every religious man and religious woman\u00a0can and should be an \u201cEli\u201d, keeping watch and taking care of vocations.<\/p>\n Dear Religious men and women: in this Year of Consecrated Life Jesus addresses\u00a0to each of you a heartfelt appeal. He calls you to take care of religious vocations. He invites\u00a0you to do it with much trust and intensified passion: not only to answer an urgent need\u00a0which is paramount for the life of the Church, but also, I would say even more, to thank\u00a0Him for the gift you have received, a gift so great that it cannot but arouse an unquenchable\u00a0desire to share and communicate it (\u201cbonum est sui diffusivum\u201d).<\/p>\n Five concrete actions:<\/strong><\/p>\n What does \u201cto take care of vocations<\/em>\u201d mean?\u00a0It means \u201cgiving them some thought\u201d,\u00a0namely keeping vocations present in your mind and heart and investing all of your personal\u00a0resources for this purpose: spiritual, affective and behaviour. I would like to propose, in\u00a0particular, five courses of action:<\/p>\n 1. To take care means: to put our trust in the power of prayer.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n We can do a lot with prayer. Our Lord advises us: \u201cPray therefore the Lord of the\u00a0harvest to send out labourers into his harvest\u201d (Mt 9,38). \u201cBehind and before every vocation\u00a0to the priesthood or consecrated life \u2013 Pope Francis reminds us \u2013 there is always the strong\u00a0and intense prayer of someone: a grandmother or grandfather, a mother, a father, a\u00a0community… Vocations are born in and from prayer; and only through prayer can they\u00a0persevere and bear fruit\u201d (Regina Coeli, April 21, 2013).<\/p>\n Workers in the harvest of the Lord cannot simply be chosen, as an employer seeks\u00a0his employees, they must be called by God and chosen by Him for this service.3<\/sup>\u00a0The future\u00a0of vocations is in God\u2019s hands, but in a certain way it is also in ours. Prayer is our strength:\u00a0\u201cwith it the vocations may not diminish, nor the divine voice fail to be heard\u201d4<\/sup>. With this\u00a0strong certainty, that cannot be denied because it rests on the promise of the Lord (see Mt.\u00a07, 7-11), do not cease to raise your hands, with filial confidence: let your cry reach Heaven,\u00a0asking the Father for what Christ wants us to ask Him.<\/p>\n 2. To take care means: to manifest Jesus.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n We know that vocational animation is centred on the golden rule of leading those\u00a0who cross our path to the Lord (see Jn 1,40-42): in fact, it \u201cseeks to present the fascination\u00a0of the person of the Lord Jesus, and the beauty of the total gift of self for the sake of the Gospel\u201d.5<\/sup>\u00a0This becomes possible if the glory of the Risen One is reflected on our face as\u00a0in a mirror (see Cor 2, 3-18). It is necessary, then, as Pope Francis said to the International\u00a0Union of Superior Generals, to \u201ccontinuously make an \u2018exodus\u2019 from yourselves in order\u00a0to centre your life on Christ and on his Gospel, on the will of God, laying aside your own\u00a0plans, in order to say with St Paul: \u2018It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me\u2019\u00a0(Gal 2:20)\u201d (May 8, 2013).<\/p>\n Dearest religious women and men: if \u2013 to use a wonderful image from the theology\u00a0of the Fathers \u2013 we do not become a \u201cmoon\u201d that refracts the light of the sun that is Christ,\u00a0we are in danger of becoming an \u201ceclipse\u201d of God. An eclipse \u2013 as we know \u2013 happens\u00a0<\/span>when the moon comes between the earth and the sun, thus causing a great darkness. In that\u00a0darkness that swallows everything, nothing is seen anymore; neither the sun nor the earth,\u00a0nor the moon. Let us remember: one can become an \u201ceclipse of God\u201d not only because of\u00a0evil done, but also because of the good which was not done or badly-done.<\/p>\n Instead, \u201cWhere there is joy, fervour, a desire to bring Jesus to others, genuine\u00a0vocations arise\u201d6<\/sup>. <\/span>May no young person ever cross the road of your life in vain! May the\u00a0\u201csignal\u201d sent out by the presence of Christ in you, reach and put into action the \u201csignal\u201d of\u00a0the presence of Christ in every young person! Then the voice of the Lord-who-calls will\u00a0be heard, and, with the grace of God, followed.<\/p>\n 3. To take care means: to speak openly of the vocation to consecrated life and\u00a0to ministerial priesthood, and call courageously.<\/strong><\/p>\n – Speak openly. We must leave aside any inappropriate embarrassment and\u00a0suspicious reticence, that can be born from the unjustified fear of disturbing the interiority\u00a0of the other, and adversely influencing their freedom of choice. In fact, to echo the voice\u00a0of Him-who-calls is never an attack on the autonomy of the young, but on the contrary, is\u00a0a source of light and freedom, as well as an act of esteem and confidence in them. It is\u00a0time, therefore, to \u201cpass from a pastoral approach that waits to a pastoral approach of\u00a0proposal\u201d.<\/p>\n Now is the time to speak courageously of the vocation to Consecrated Life, as a\u00a0splendid and privileged form of Christian life. It is up to you, dear women and men\u00a0religious, to show this vocation and also \u2013 if the Lord suggests it interiorly \u2013 to propose it\u00a0explicitly. How many occasions Providence offers every day so that you can meet the\u00a0young: on the road, in school, through a talk, a letter, an e-mail, or the telephone\u2026 Do not\u00a0be afraid of conditioning or limiting their freedom! On the contrary, a precise proposal, made at the right time, can be decisive to stir in the young a free and authentic response\u00a0(see Pastores dabo Vobis n.39).<\/p>\n – Call courageously. Certainly, God can send a \u201cdirect” call into the heart of a young\u00a0person, \u201cbut generally he calls through our personhood and our words. Therefore \u2013 St. John\u00a0Paul II exhorts us \u2013 do not be afraid to call. Go among the youth. Go personally to them\u00a0and call. The hearts of many of the young, and not so young, are ready to listen to you.\u00a0Many of them are looking for a purpose for their life; they are waiting to discover a mission\u00a0that is worth consecrating their life to. Christ has tuned them into his and your call. We\u00a0must call. The Lord will do the rest, he who offers to each one his particular gift, according\u00a0to the grace that he has been given (see 1 Cor 7,7; Rm 12,6)\u201d7<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Therefore, dear Religious women and men: lend your voice to Him who also today\u00a0calls many to follow him! Don\u2019t disappoint them and their expectations. Be the messengers\u00a0of the Will of God and call with courage! Remember: young men and women have the\u00a0right to be helped to discover and live the call from God. In fact, it is only in responding\u00a0to this call that every person can find happiness.<\/p>\n 4. To take care of means: to devote oneself with generosity to spiritual\u00a0direction.<\/strong><\/p>\n We are aware that \u201cneither he who plants, nor he who waters counts for anything;\u00a0only God, who gives the growth\u201d (1 Cor 3,7); we also know, that we are not exempt from\u00a0doing our part because the Spirit has established us as \u201cGod\u2019s collaborators\u201d (1Cor 3,9).<\/p>\n We all know how important, the work of a spiritual guide, so that the seeds of\u00a0vocation sown \u201cwith full hands\u201d by the grace of God may develop and mature. This leads\u00a0us to scrutinize, with wisdom and promptness, what the Spirit writes in the hearts of today\u2019s\u00a0youth (see 2 Cor 3,2-3), by tracing the signs imprinted by the God-who-calls.<\/p>\n Therefore, it becomes essential to rediscover the great tradition of personal spiritual\u00a0guidance, which has always brought many and precious fruits into the life of the Church.\u00a0Those who exercise this role \u2013 because they have received an appointment or because\u00a0Providence has put them in the condition to be close to young people \u2013 must commit\u00a0themselves to perform it with courage and competence, accompanying the young person\u00a0in his journey and, at the same time, promoting his necessary autonomy in responding,\u00a0without forcing him or taking his place.<\/p>\n Please, direct with your counsels, but first and foremost with your witness. It is\u00a0above all with your life, example and words, with joy and qualitative apostolic work \u2013 dear\u00a0Religious men and women \u2013 that you educate others, especially the young people, to\u00a0discover the joy of serving the Church. You can, then, wait with confidence as the\u00a0vocational-seeds sown in their hearts bear fruit (see Gc 5,7-8).<\/p>\n 5. To take care means: Propose paths of communion<\/strong><\/p>\n The vocation to consecrated life is never a private matter to manage enclosed in\u00a0oneself. In reality if it is true that every vocation is a personal and an original occurrence,\u00a0it is similarly true that it also constitutes a communitarian and ecclesial fact. No one is\u00a0called to walk alone. The call from God reaches me in and through the Church: \u201cEvery\u00a0christian vocation comes from God, and is a gift of God. However it is never bestowed\u00a0outside or apart from the Church but always passes in and through the Church… and it takes\u00a0shape \u2013 in fundamental service to God \u2013 as a service to the Church.\u201d (Pastores dabo Vobis\u00a035).<\/p>\n This awareness immunizes us from the risk \u2013 which always recurs \u2013 of a privatised\u00a0attitude which thinks and deals with the history of a vocation exclusively in terms of Godand-me.\u00a0In reality, every authentic vocation \u2013 while respecting the inalienable aspects of\u00a0each individual \u2013 develops and takes shape within the frame of the \u201cwe-Church\u201d, in which\u00a0the Risen Lord is present and acts (see Mt. 18,20).\u00a0For this reason, it is of particular importance to help our youth to learn \u2018the art of\u00a0arts\u2019, namely the art of loving. Charity, in fact, is the charism which is \u201cthe greatest of all\u201d\u00a0(1 Cor 13,13). They will learn this fundamental art to the degree they find in you, people\u00a0who do not live for themselves, but persons transformed by love.<\/p>\n To help the family discover the gift of the consecrated vocation<\/strong><\/p>\n The Christian family \u2013 as we know \u2013 \u201cis the natural \u2018nursery\u2019 of vocations\u201d. 8<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0Council who defines the family as the \u201cDomestic Church\u201d (LG n. 11), indicated that it is\u00a0also the \u201cfirst seminary\u201d (OT n. 2). Among the most important \u201cservices\u201d that parents are\u00a0called to provide their children is that of helping them to discover God\u2019s call, including a\u00a0religious one (see GS n.52).\u00a0<\/p>\n It is good that the Year for Consecrated Life walks together with and gives a hand\u00a0to the celebration of the Ordinary Synod on the Family. Dear religious men and women:\u00a0keep the Family at the heart of your prayer and daily offerings. Pray particularly so that the\u00a0vocation of a son or daughter to Consecrated Life or to the Priesthood may be understood\u00a0not only as a gift from the family, but also as a special gift to the family.<\/p>\n Entrust to Mary<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear religious men and women: let us feel \u201cSustained by the certitude that the\u00a0heavenly Father continues to call very many young people to follow more closely in the\u00a0footsteps of Christ his Son in the sacred ministry, in the profession of the evangelical\u00a0counsels and in missionary life\u201d.9<\/sup>\u00a0And let us hope that many will answer \u201cyes, here I am\u201d\u00a0(cf. Lk 1,38). We pray and work for this.\u00a0With unshakable confidence, in this Year of Consecrated Life, let us entrust to the\u00a0Virgin Mary the great cause of Consecrated Life. Let us entrust to Her, the Mother of the\u00a0Vocations, our young men and women, the hope for the Church in Canada, praying so that\u00a0they may imitate her in their readiness to say \u201cyes\u201d and may follow her invitation: \u201cDo\u00a0whatever he tells you\u201d (Jn 2,5).\u00a0And let us never cease to ask the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to be able to\u00a0contemplate our Church in Canada as the mother of many sons and daughters who, in the\u00a0sign of their consecrated life, proclaim with joy the \u201cbetter part\u201d (Lk 10,42) of God.<\/p>\n + Luigi Bonazzi <\/p>\n 1 John Paul II, Message for the XXI World Day for Vocations. <\/em> Year for Consecrated Life\u2026 A time to: \u201cTake Care of Vocations\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1209"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1616,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions\/1616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nApostolic Nuncio<\/p>\n
\n2 John Paul II, Message for the XXII World Day for Vocations.<\/em>
\n3 See Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, p.204.<\/em>
\n4 John Paul II, Message for the XXIV World Day for Vocations. <\/em>
\n5 John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Consecrated Life Roma 1996, n. 64. <\/em>
\n6 Francis, Message for the CI World Day for Vocations 2014. <\/em>
\n7 John Paul II, Message for the XX World Day for Vocations. <\/em>
\n8 John Paul II, Message for the XXXI World Day of Vocations.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"