Promoting vocations "is the soul of all evangelization and all of the Church's pastoral ministry." — Pope Francis
There were two instances when Pope Francis delved specifically and deeply on vocational ministry:
- Convention "Rise, go and do not fear. Vocation and Holiness: I am on a mission" (RG)
- Conference on Pastoral Work for Vocations (PWG). This will be the main outline of this article, with RG providing some anecdotes from the Holy Father.
Here are his key insights—including a sharing of actual best-practices that produced results!
Three convictions about promoting vocations
1. All pastoral action is oriented, by its very nature, to vocational discernment
- Its ultimate goal is to help the believer to discover the concrete way to carry out the project of life to which God calls him.
- Promoting vocations:
- soul of all evangelization and of all the Church’s pastoral ministry
- close connection with evangelization, education in the faith - leads to a personal encounter with Christ,
- special - pastoral care of the family. Parents to:
- assume their mission joyfully and responsibly to be the first vocational animators of their children
- free themselves and free their children from the inner barrier of selfish, calculating perspectives or of power, which often occur in the bosom of families, even those practicing the faith.
2. Promoting vocations finds its most appropriate “humus” (fertile ground) in youth pastoral ministry
- Vocation
- not to be raised only at the end of the whole process or to a group that is particularly sensitive to a specific vocational call
- must be constantly raised throughout the process of evangelization and education in the faith of adolescents and young people.
3. Prayer must occupy a very important place in promoting vocations
- Jesus: "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Mt 9: 38).
- Prayer is the first and indispensable service we can offer to the cause of vocations. Vocation - always a gift from God
- Prayer for vocations presupposes:
- praying and working for fidelity to one’s vocation
- creating environments where it is possible to listen to the Lord’s call; promoting the “Gospel of the vocation”, working tirelessly to create a vocational culture [Benedict XVI in the US said this means "to teach young people to pray and pray well", so "we will be cooperating with God’s call."]
- Pope Francis asked bishops of dioceses which were "blessed with vocations." "What did you do?" "First of all, a letter from the bishop, every month, to people who wanted to pray for vocations: old ladies, the sick, newlyweds... A letter every month, with a spiritual thought, with an aid, to accompany the prayer. Accompany prayer...We need to look for a way. The first task is prayer! Praying is the first thing. To pray with the heart, with one's life, with everything, with the desire that what I am asking be done. Pray for vocations." (RG) [See a collection of Prayer for Vocations here.]
Three challenges of promoting vocations
1. Trust in the young and trust in the Lord.
- Trust in the young
- there are many young people who seek full meaning in their lives
- Stay awake to awaken young people to be centered in the Lord. Help the young to focus on Him
- Trust in the Lord
- Be sure that He continues to awaken in the People of God various vocations
- Say no to temptation that in some environments vocations are not possible
2. Clear knowledge of our society and the current generation of young people
- So as not to give answers to questions that nobody is asking
- Today young people must be on the move. To work for vocations it is necessary to make young people walk, and this is done by accompanying them. The apostolate of walking. And how to walk, how? Inventing pastoral actions that involve young people, in something that makes them do something: during the holidays we go for a week to do a mission in that country, or to do social assistance in that other country, or every week we go to the hospital, this one, that…, or to feed the homeless. (RG)
3. Conviction that following Christ is worthwhile
- Total gift of self to the cause of the Gospel is beautiful and can give meaning to our whole life
Five Characteristics of Promoting Vocations
1. Differentiated - Jesus calls each one by his name. Offer what is needed for each person.
2. Narrative - Young people want to see the model of Jesus in a concrete life
3. Ecclesial - based on Vatican Council II; participate in the life of the Church
4. Evangelical, and as such, committed and responsible
- Start from the center of all pastoral ministry: Jesus Christ
- Place the demands of the Gospel to live radically and sincerely, to accept responsibly the consequences of faith.
5. Accompanied - create an atmosphere of trust, make young people feel that they are loved; with personal relationship
6. Persevering - sow and wait patiently for the seed to grow. Our job is to plant.
7. Youthful
- dynamic, participative, cheerful, hopeful, risky, confident
- filled with Jesus - the only path they have to travel, the only truth to which they are called to adhere, the only life for which it is worth giving everything (Jn 1.35)
Two Truths of Promoting Vocations
1. There are no magical answers
2. We are called to a true “pastoral conversion” - not only of language, but also of lifestyle, if we want to connect with young people and propose a path of faith and offer a vocational proposal.
It is true that a boy or a girl hears the Lord's call, but the call is always concrete: "I would like to become like this or like that". It is our testimonies that attract young people... Once a mother superior went to speak in a college; instead of speaking of the challenge of education, of the young people who are being educated, of all these things, she began to say: "We must pray for the canonization of our founding mother", and she spent more than half an hour talking about the founding mother, that this must be done, asking for a miracle... But the teachers thought: "But why does she tell us these things, while we need more... Yes, that's fine, that she be beatified and canonized, but we need another message". In the end, one of the teachers—I met her—said , “Mother, can I say something?” – "Yes" – Your founding mother will never be canonized." – "But why?" – "Eh, because she is certainly in purgatory." – "But don't say these things! Why do you say this?" "Because if you who are the mother superior is so – let's say – silly, to say the least, your founding mother hasn't been able to form you". It is the testimony: that they see living in you what you preach. (RG)
RESOURCES ON VOCATION PROMOTION
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