The Forty-sixth World Day of Prayer for Vocations
N.B.: The bracketed text will not likely be preached, in the interest of time and attention spans.
[The Lord Jesus rightly calls himself the “Good Shepherd” because he “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). He is both the Good Shepherd and the “Lamb of God” who takes away the sins of the world by shedding his Blood (John 1:36).
We know that a shepherd, a pastor, “is one who feeds; and Christ feeds us daily with his body and blood, in the sacrament of the altar.”[1] On the night he was betrayed he gave his Body and Blood to the disciples as their food, thus showing himself to be both Lamb and Shepherd.
Long ago, the Lord said, “I will appoint one shepherd over them to pasture them, my servant David; he shall pasture them and be their shepherd” (Ezekiel 34:23). This David, this messianic King, is Jesus Christ; it is he who feeds and shepherds us.
In order that his ministry of feeding and shepherding might not end, before he ascended to the Father, Christ Jesus told the Apostle Peter to “feed” and “tend my sheep” (John 21:15-17). He gave his sheep to Peter – and, through Peter, to the other Apostles – to feed and shepherd in his own name. In this way, he extended his command to celebrate his Passover, the Eucharist, given at the Last Supper: “Do this in memory of me” (Luke 22:19).]
“The Divine Master personally called the Apostles ‘to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons’ (Mark 3:14-15); they, in turn, gathered other disciples around them as faithful collaborators in this mission.”[2] The Master of the Harvest continues to call men to his service, to feed and tend his sheep, to bring his grace and mercy to all people through the sacraments he has entrusted to his Church.
On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, this Good Shepherd Sunday, we are aware that “a worrisome shortage of priests is evident” in our area, but we are also “sustained by the unshakable certitude” that it is the Holy Spirit who continually guides the Church to the fulfillment of the Kingdom.[3]
It is not so much that there is a shortage of vocations today, as though the Lord stopped personally inviting men to his service, as it is that men – both young and old – have not responded positively to his call. Many have simply never quieted themselves to hear his call and others have altogether ignored his stirrings in their hearts. The Lord’s call allows a free response and too few have accepted his call “to place their entire existence freely at his service so as to work with him more closely in the mission of salvation.”[4]
The Lord promised long ago through his prophet Jeremiah: “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15). He will indeed give us shepherds after his own heart, but those whom he calls must courageously accept his invitation and, with great trust, abandon themselves to him and to his mission.
Through the course of the centuries the Lord has given his Church many such shepherds, holy men who devoted themselves entirely to God and to his people and for these holy priests we must always give thanks. But we also know that there have been in the Church certain “hired men” who had “no concern for the sheep” and abandoned them, leaving them prey to the wolf (John 10:12-14). These men did not fully abandon themselves to God in humble trust and never saw the sheep as their own; they refused to give their lives that the sheep might live. They did not follow the example of the Good Shepherd.
This is a constant danger for a priest: to flee when he sees the wolves coming. If we consider a wolf, we see that he “lies in wait for the sheep, and seizes them by the throat to stifle them quickly.” [5] The wolf seeks to steal the sheep away from the shepherd, to lead them away from the path of salvation, and for this reason the shepherd must always be on guard against the wolf, looking after the good of the sheep.
The wolf, of course, symbolizes the devil and his minions, who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8). Saint Anthony of Padua tells us: “There are two things [the wolf] fears exceedingly: fire, and a well-trodden road.”[6] The fire is that of love and the well-trodden road is the way of humility, both of which are shown us by the Good Shepherd. The Lord gives us shepherds after his own heart to fan the flame of faith and love given us at Baptism and to lead us on the road to salvation.
The lives of the Saints show us many priests who, following the example of the Good Shepherd, gave their lives for their sheep, refusing to back down or flee from the wolves.
I think first of Saint Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in his Cathedral in 1170. Saint Thomas and King Henry II had been close friends, but when Henry nominated Thomas as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the King’s admiration turned to hatred. The King thought he would be able to use the Archbishop to achieve his own ends at the cost of the Church. Faced with a choice, Thomas chose God’s favor over that of the King and thus came to his death. Though he had not always lived as a saint, Thomas died as one.
I think also of Saint Maximilian Kolbe. In July of 1941, a prisoner escaped from the concentration camp at Auschwitz. The Nazis gathered the men of the block and randomly chose ten for execution. One chosen man was the father of two children, who lived with their mother outside the camp. Maximilian removed his shoes and his cap, stepped forward, and, as he offered himself in place of the other man, said to the guard, “I am old and useless. My life isn’t worth much now.” When asked his profession, Maximilian answered, “Catholic priest.” The deputy agreed and the priest was led away.
I think, too, of Blessed Damien of Molokai, who will be canonized this October the 11th. When his brother fell ill, Damien, a Belgian, offered to labor in the mission fields of Hawaii in his brother’s place, knowing he would never see his family again. His superiors consented. When the Bishop of Honolulu needed a priest to minister to the lepers in the colony on the island of Molokai, Damien immediately volunteered, and spent the last sixteen years of his life in their service. He embraced the lepers, ate with them, and called himself one of them. He contracted leprosy because of his devoted ministry; in life and in death he belonged to them.
Each of these three priests followed the example of the Good Shepherd and worked with him for the salvation of others. How easy it would have been for Thomas to agree to the King’s demands. How easy it would have been for Maximilian to remain silent. How easy it would have been for Damien to stay on the Big Island. How easy it would have been for these three priests to save their own lives, but to do so they would have had to abandon their sheep and to turn their backs on God.
Is this not a grander life than that of a stockbroker or a businessman? Is this not a more heroic life than those most young men choose today? It is men such as these three priests – and countless others like them - that the Lord calls today, men who will give themselves to his service and who will not flee from the wolf but who will give their lives for the sheep entrusted to them. Every priest is called to follow this example of the Good Shepherd and to lay down his life for his sheep, in whatever form it should be required of him.
If we are to have more priests in the years ahead to ensure the Sacraments are available to us, we need to step up our prayers for vocations. We need families who will encourage their sons to consider whether the Lord might be calling them to the priesthood and, if he is, to encourage their sons to embrace God’s will for their lives. We need young men who are willing to give of themselves so that others might live.
Let us, then, beg the Lord to bestow the gift of courage upon those young men whom he is calling to his service, that they hear his call and respond with humble and joyful abandonment to him. Let each of us encourage those we think the Lord might be calling that we might have more shepherds after his heart.
Pray for me, as well, and for Msgr. Enlow and Fr. Schmidt. Pray that each of us abandon ourselves more and more to God for your good and that we never flee from the wolves. Pray that we never abandon you, and that you never abandon us. Pray that we never give in to outside pressure; pray that we never remain silent when the truth must be spoken; pray that we never place our own safety above yours.
Above all, my friends, pray that we be holy, good and zealous shepherds after the heart of Christ that we might lead you ever closer to Jesus Christ through our ministry, which he has entrusted to us. May the Good Shepherd keep his priests close to his heart, and form our hearts after his own. Amen.
[1] Saint Anthony of Padua, Sermon for the Second Sunday after Easter, 3. In Sermons for Sundays and Festivals, Vol. I: General Prologue, Sundays from Septuagesima to Pentecost, Paul Spilsbury, trans. (Padua, Italy: Messagero di Sant’Antonio, 2007), 274.
[2] Pope Benedict XVI, Message for the 46th World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Saint Anthony of Padua, Sermon for the Second Sunday after Easter, 11. In Sermons, 292.
[6] Ibid.
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