DAY FOR VOCATIONS: TO BE FREE IS TO RESPOND TO THE LOVE OF GOD

Vatican City, 29 April 2012 (VIS) - At midday today, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the Holy Father asked people to pray "that all young people may be attentive to the inner voice of God, which speaks to their hearts and calls them to abandon everything in order to serve Him". Addressing faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Regina Coeli Benedict XVI affirmed that "the Lord calls always, but often we are not listening.

"We are distracted by many things, by other more superficial voices", he added. "We are afraid to listen to the voice of the Lord because we believe it can detract from our freedom. The truth is that each of us is the fruit of love; the love of our parents, of course, but also and more profoundly the love of God. ... When we become aware of this our lives change; they become a response to that love which is greater than any other, and thus our freedom is fully realised".

The Pope then mentioned the new priests he had ordained that morning during Mass in the Vatican Basilica. "They are no different to other young men", he affirmed, "But they have been profoundly touched by the beauty and love of God, and could not but respond with the whole of their lives". They discovered the love of God in Jesus Christ, in His Gospel, in the Eucharist and in the community of the Church. "In the Church we discover that the life of each human being is a story of love", he said.

To conclude Benedict XVI exhorted the faithful to pray that "the seeds of vocation which God so generously scatters" may germinate and come to fruit in all areas of the Church, "in the joy of having been called and in the variety of gifts. Families in particular must be the first place in which to 'breathe' the love of God, which gives inner strength even in the midst of the difficulties and trials of life. People who experience the love of God in their family, receive a priceless gift which, in time, will come to bear fruit".