SAME CALL, SAME GOAL
To the question posed by the lawyer as what he must do to
inherit eternal life, Jesus answered: “You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with
all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself”
(Lk 10:26).
Each person should endeavour to inherit eternal life by
being loyal and faithful to his call, his vocation. “Let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God
called you” (1 Cor 7: 17). Each baptized Catholic is obliged to choose any
one of the three options-, Married Life, Single Life or avowed religious life
(of priests and nuns). The vast majority of the people opt for married life. A
few are called to live single lives. Yet others are called upon to live the
life of Nuns, bound by their religious vows of chastity, charity and obedience.
It is a special call directed addressed by Jesus to His chosen ones a love.
The Catholic Church is observing April 13th of
this year as the Day of Prayers for Religious Vocations. Normally that day we
all pray to have more vocations from our midst so that more and more of our
youths opt for religious lives by joining various Religious Orders and
Congregations. It is necessary to increase the number of the Religious as they
constitute the fore front soldiers of the church like Navy, Military and Air
force. It is just and right to pray especially for them. It is also equally
important to pray for families because these days family relations are getting
wrecked, wreaking havoc in society. After all, it is from families that persons
have to come for various vocations, be it married, single or religious life.
Family is the first place of formation. Parents are the main formators.
Whatever may be the call,
be it married life, single life or religious life, fundamentally the call and
the goal are the same for all. It is God who call us all. It is He who selects
us and entrusts us with our separate errands or missions. The call, basically,
is tantamount to becoming the Gospel and proclaiming it. So it would be
meaningless to say that one call is Superior or Inferior to the other. Each
baptized individual becomes part and parcel of the royal priesthood of Jesus. “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
a Holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts
of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 pet
2:9). Probably it was because not enough representation was given in the royal
priesthood, of which all Christians are an integral part, that the laity not
aver and exhibit enough zeal and enthusiasm in the evangelization mission.
On the Special Day of Prayer for Divine Vocations, April
13th, let us take an oath: We will live in accordance with the
values set down in the Gospel, praising and glorifying God and sharing whatever
we have with those in greater need than ours. This way let us proclaim the
kingdom of God with our wealth, words, deeds and even by dedicating and
rededicating our lives in the service of God, the author of everything.
2007 is history. 2008 is here! The beginning of a new year
always a great time to re-think your goal in life. Are there more of a
difference in your life? Our spirituality is influenced by the world which is
characterized by positive features like diverse
world views, broader perspectives, greater connectivity and
communication between nations, rapid economic progress, powerful impact of the
multimedia, major advances in science and technology and negative features like
the widening of the divide between the rich and the poor, misuse of modern
technology, ecological degradation, terrorism, increase in violence, loss of
human life, increase in consumerism and growing materialism.
A Divine Call:
What the world needs now is generous justice, limitless listening,
genuine care and concern and true friendship. What is needed now is a model of
compassion, universalism, as ecology of life and justice and peace. This is
imperative if the planet is to survive and all the people are to live decent human lives. What
religious life needs now is the cultivation of virtues, of spiritual
disciplines that enable the religious to respond to these new issues with
personal strength, contemplative consciousness and a common focus.
There was only one Abraham, One Moses, One Judith, One
Deborah and One Samaritan woman: all of them flawed and fragile. Yet they
turned their worlds upside down because they were in search of truth and
direction.
Religious life promises a life steeped in scriptures. You
come to religious life only to seek of God. It is a calling to be “leaven in
the dough”. It is a life set apart – a disciplined lifestyle, a love for prayer
and solitude. A call to be authentic and relevant. A spiritual journey wherein
you create your space to be based on your firm convictions, simple choices and
focused priorities.
Our Spirituality is a gift to be treasured. As Religious
we are accountable to those who came before us and answerable to those who come
after us. The New Year 2008 will witness the transformation of our world into
God’s dream for humankind. As we make this journey of the heart together may we
hasten the coming of a culture of peace based on justice, of a civilization of
love based on valuing the gift of diversity, caring for the integrity of the
earth, protecting the rights of the vulnerable, nurturing the promise of our
children, cherishing the wisdom of the elderly, asking pardon, risking
forgiveness.
May we use every means in
our power of bring about this transformation believing that God desires to do
this work in us and through us, and that the result will be infinitely more
than we can ask for or imagine.
The independence and
status that have been acquired can make it very difficult for some young men to
answer the call, like the rich young man in the Gospel who turns his back on a
vocation because, “his possessions were
many”. When a vocation goes unanswered it is not only a sadness for the one
who declines God’s call, but also a sadness for the entire Catholic Community.
Traditionally, Catholic homes
have been a privileged place for a vocation to grow and be nurtured by parents
who understood the importance of Priesthood and religious life. My own family
was a great source of encouragement for my vocation. Today, we need to appeal
to parents and teachers to instill a sense of vocation in our young Catholics.
They should not confine themselves to asking their children: “what do you want to be when you grow up?” They
must also ask “and what do you think God
wants you to be?” we must help young people look beyond careers and
professions and answer a call from God.
Parents can do so much by
praying with their children and teaching them to seek God’s will in their lives
through vocational discernment. Parents receive their children form God and
must be willing to give them back to God for service of His people. Vocations
tend to appear in families where the parents are actively involved in the faith
formation of their children and instill in them a love and respect for
Religious. Asking children to pray for nuns is a way to signal to the child the
importance of nuns in our lives and at the same time indicates to the child
that priests are human and need the support and prayers of the faith community
to persevere in their service to the Church.
We have many young people
today who lead good and generous lives, but are not involved enough in the life
of the Church or familiar enough with the teaching of the Gospel to be able to
identify a call or to respond. Vocations are in the hearts of our young Catholics,
waiting to be nurtured and cultivated by our prayers and encouragement. God is
calling many… can we help them to respond? It is the duty of each of us to help
the young of today to respond.
No priests and religious are employees. But rather consecrated
persons chosen by God to serve mankind says the secretary for the Congregation
for ---------------- and religious.
As the Gospel accounts for
Christ’s washing of the feet testifies the task of religious is found in
unconditional surrender. The religious does not belong to himself / herself. They are at the service of the
people without limits of schedule or calendars.
People are not for the
Priests and religious. But the religious are for the people in its totality
without ever restricting their service. We cannot choose the post we like it is
assigned to them from the authorities with discernment the will of God.
So, friends let us pray!
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