World Day of Prayer for Vocations

21 April 2013

Letter from Cardinal Mauro Piacenza

Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The universal call to holiness requires every baptised person to pray to the Father that every person of good will may recognise the path planned out for him or her, live it out day by day and so arrive at the goal of life for which we long, which has its end in communion with Him. Each of these three verbs corresponds to the three theological virtues: to recognise in Christ the Way is a movement of faith; to live according to his word is charity; to reach the goal of life for which we long is the fulfilment of hope.

The subject of hope is developed in the message written for this day by the esteemed Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, on the theme Vocations as a sign of hope founded in faith. Here we read: “Hope is the expectation of something positive in the future, yet at the same time it must sustain our present existence, which is often marked by dissatisfaction and failures. On what is our hope founded?... To have hope, is the equivalent of trusting in God who is faithful, who keeps the promises of the covenant… What exactly is God’s faithfulness, to which we adhere with unwavering hope? It is his love… fully manifested in Jesus Christ.” Hope in the merciful God gives meaning to our past life spent without paying attention to him, it gives supernatural value to the joys and sorrows of the present time, it is the “springboard” that projects us towards that future glory, overshadowed by the longing search for happiness that moves the heart of every person. Hope can be defined as a “virtue of growth”, a “virtue which gives life”: in fact it is for this reason that faith does not remain static, or charity an exercise of mere philanthropy. To have fixed before our eyes the one to whom we direct our sufferings and to whom we bring our struggles and our daily sacrifices is, as the Saints teach us so extensively, the true secret of Christian joy.

Our beloved Pope Francis recently, in particular on his visit to the young offenders’ institution at Casal del Marmo, has said repeatedly: “Do not let yourselves be robbed of hope!”. The Pontiff is not referring to a simple, albeit necessary social reintegration, nor to the expectation of a moral redemption in this passing life. To hope is to desire eternity, in the knowledge that this will certainly come, if we remain united to Christ: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us… For in this hope we were saved.” (Rom 8:18,24).

As is clear from the theme of the message of this day, the root of hope is faith. In fact, only one who lives the joyful experience of encountering Jesus, who is our Saviour, can live on the horizon of Christian hope. Moreover, the one who meets Christ also feels in his heart that Christ asks something of him. To encounter Jesus, as the Gospel teaches us, is also to understand at the same time how he wants to be followed. Therefore, vocational discernment is always tightly bound to a way of living together with and having confidence in Christ: “Vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life are born out of the experience of a personal encounter with Christ, out of sincere and confident dialogue with him, so as to enter into his will.” (Benedict XVI, Idem).

Therefore, we can understand how it must be the case that the real crisis in vocations today is not a crisis of calling – since Christ continually calls whom he wills – but rather a crisis of response. The restlessness of the young, which characterises our age so greatly – the fruit of a culture which gives so much to what is entertaining and pleasurable, but never to the answers to the larger questions of human existence, which relate to the meaning of the present life and its direction for the future, and which seem moreover most uncomfortable – it would appear that very often in the search for faith the first step in the encounter with Christ is found blocked. However, God who passes by his people like a gentle breeze (Gen 3:8, 1Kg 19:11-13) or who calls in the silence of the night, while all is quiet (1Sam 3:1-12) can be recognised and heard only in humble prayer. Peace, tranquillity and the serene passage though the events of hectic daily life seem to be rare treasures. Perhaps also for this reason it is difficult to hear the voice of the Lord, to welcome it with joy, and with it also to accept however much he asks of us, in order to carry out his plan of love: “The priest continues the work of redemption on earth.... If we really understood the priest on earth, we would die not of fright but of love.... The Priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.” (B. Nodet, Jean-Marie Vianney, Curé d’Ars, 100).

For this reason, I want to conclude with the same proclamation as the message for this World Day of Prayer: “Dear young people, do not be afraid to follow him and to walk the demanding and courageous paths of charity and generous commitment!” May you hear the voice of God in your heart like Mary, the perfect disciple of the Lord, the clearest example of fidelity to his Word, and the sure guide on the journey through life.

Mauro Cardinal Piacenza

Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy