Message of Pope Francis for the 52nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations
26 April 2015 - Fourth Sunday of Easter
Theme: Exodus, a Fundamental Experience of Vocation
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Fourth Sunday of Easter offers us the figure of the Good Shepherd
who knows his sheep: he calls them, he feeds them and he guides them.
For over fifty years the universal Church has celebrated this Sunday as
the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In this way she reminds us of our
need to pray, as Jesus himself told his disciples, so that “the Lord of
the harvest may send out labourers into his harvest” (
Lk 10:2).
Jesus command came in the context of his sending out missionaries. He
called not only the twelve Apostles, but another seventy-two disciples
whom he then sent out, two by two, for the mission (cf.
Lk 10:1-6). Since the Church “is by her very nature missionary” (
Ad Gentes,
2), the Christian vocation is necessarily born of the experience of
mission. Hearing and following the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd,
means letting ourselves be attracted and guided by him, in consecration
to him; it means allowing the Holy Spirit to draw us into this
missionary dynamism, awakening within us the desire, the joy and the
courage to offer our own lives in the service of the Kingdom of God.
To offer one’s life in mission is possible only if we are able to leave ourselves behind. On this 52
nd World
Day of Prayer for Vocations, I would like reflect on that particular
“exodus” which is the heart of vocation, or better yet, of our response
to the vocation God gives us. When we hear the word “exodus”, we
immediately think of the origins of the amazing love story between God
and his people, a history which passes through the dramatic period of
slavery in Egypt, the calling of Moses, the experience of liberation and
the journey toward the Promised Land. The Book of Exodus, the second
book of the Bible, which recounts these events is a parable of the
entire history of salvation, but also of the inner workings of Christian
faith. Passing from the slavery of the old Adam to new life in Christ
is a event of redemption which takes place through faith (
Eph 4:22-24).
This passover is a genuine “exodus”; it is the journey of each
Christian soul and the entire Church, the decisive turning of our lives
towards the Father.
At the root of every Christian vocation we find this basic movement,
which is part of the experience of faith. Belief means transcending
ourselves, leaving behind our comfort and the inflexibility of our ego
in order to centre our life in Jesus Christ. It means leaving, like
Abraham, our native place and going forward with trust, knowing that God
will show us the way to a new land. This “going forward” is not to be
viewed as a sign of contempt for one’s life, one’s feelings, one’s own
humanity. On the contrary, those who set out to follow Christ find life
in abundance by putting themselves completely at the service of God and
his kingdom. Jesus says: “Everyone who has left home or brothers or
sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake,
will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life” (
Mt 19:29).
All of this is profoundly rooted in love. The Christian vocation is
first and foremost a call to love, a love which attracts us and draws us
out of ourselves, “decentring” us and triggering “an ongoing exodus out
of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through
self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the
discovery of God” (
Deus Caritas Est, 6).
The exodus experience is paradigmatic of the Christian life,
particularly in the case of those who have embraced a vocation of
special dedication to the Gospel. This calls for a constantly renewed
attitude of conversion and transformation, an incessant moving forward, a
passage from death to life like that celebrated in every liturgy, an
experience of passover. From the call of Abraham to that of Moses, from
Israel’s pilgrim journey through the desert to the conversion preached
by the prophets, up to the missionary journey of Jesus which culminates
in his death and resurrection, vocation is always a work of God. He
leads us beyond our initial situation, frees us from every enslavement,
breaks down our habits and our indifference, and brings us to the joy of
communion with him and with our brothers and sisters. Responding to
God’s call, then, means allowing him to help us leave ourselves and our
false security behind, and to strike out on the path which leads to
Jesus Christ, the origin and destiny of our life and our happiness.
This exodus process does not regard individuals alone, but the
missionary and evangelizing activity of the whole Church. The Church is
faithful to her Master to the extent that she is a Church which “goes
forth”, a Church which is less concerned about herself, her structures
and successes, and more about her ability to go out and meet God’s
children wherever they are, to feel compassion (
com-passio) for
their hurt and pain. God goes forth from himself in a Trinitarian
dynamic of love: he hears the cry of his people and he intervenes to set
them free (
Ex 3:7). The Church is called to follow this way of
being and acting. She is meant to be a Church which evangelizes, goes
out to encounter humanity, proclaims the liberating word of the Gospel,
heals people’s spiritual and physical wounds with the grace of God, and
offers relief to the poor and the suffering.
Dear brothers and sisters, this liberating exodus towards Christ and
our brothers and sisters also represents the way for us to fully
understand our common humanity and to foster the historical development
of individuals and societies. To hear and answer the Lord’s call is not a
private and completely personal matter fraught with momentary emotion.
Rather, it is a specific, real and total commitment which embraces the
whole of our existence and sets it at the service of the growth of God’s
Kingdom on earth. The Christian vocation, rooted in the contemplation
of the Father’s heart, thus inspires us to solidarity in bringing
liberation to our brothers and sisters, especially the poorest. A
disciple of Jesus has a heart open to his unlimited horizons, and
friendship with the Lord never means flight from this life or from the
world. On the contrary, it involves a profound interplay between
communion and mission (cf.
Evangelii Gaudium, 23).
This exodus towards God and others fills our lives with joy and
meaning. I wish to state this clearly to the young, whose youth and
openness to the future makes them open-hearted and generous. At times
uncertainty, worries about the future and the problems they daily
encounter can risk paralyzing their youthful enthusiasm and shattering
their dreams, to the point where they can think that it is not worth the
effort to get involved, that the God of the Christian faith is somehow a
limit on their freedom. Dear young friends, never be afraid to go out
from yourselves and begin the journey! The Gospel is the message which
brings freedom to our lives; it transforms them and makes them all the
more beautiful. How wonderful it is to be surprised by God’s call, to
embrace his word, and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, in adoration of
the divine mystery and in generous service to our neighbours! Your life
will become richer and more joyful each day!
The Virgin Mary, model of every vocation, did not fear to utter her “
fiat”
in response to the Lord’s call. She is at our side and she guides us.
With the generous courage born of faith, Mary sang of the joy of leaving
herself behind and entrusting to God the plans she had for her life.
Let us turn to her, so that we may be completely open to what God has
planned for each one of us, so that we can grow in the desire to go out
with tender concern towards others (cf.
Lk 1:39). May the Virgin Mary protect and intercede for us all.
From the Vatican, 29 March 2015
Palm Sunday
FRANCIS
