Vatican City, 14 April 2015 (VIS)
“Exodus, a fundamental experience of vocation” is the title of
the Holy Father's Message for the 52nd World Day of Prayer for
Vocations, to be held on 26 April, the fourth Sunday of Easter.
In the text, the Pope explains that at
the root of every Christian vocation there is an exodus that starts
from the renouncement of the comfort and inflexibility of the self in
in order to go forth trustfully, like Abraham, towards the “new
land” that God indicates to us. This dynamic is relevant not only
to a personal calling, but also to the missionary and evangelical
action of all the Church, truly 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”. It
is a dynamic towards God and towards man that fills life with joy and
meaning, as Francis says to the young, urging them not to let
uncertainties obstruct their dreams, and not to be afraid to go
forth.
The following is the full text of the
Message:
“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'. 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. Since the Church 'is by her very nature
missionary', 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 52nd
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. 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'. 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'.
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 evangelising 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. The Church is called
to follow this way of being and acting. She is meant to be a Church
which evangelises, 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.
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 paralysing
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. May the Virgin Mary protect and intercede for
us all”.