Excerpts
from the Message of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI for the 46th World Day
of Prayer for Vocations
(3rd May 2009,
fourth Sunday of Easter)
Theme: Faith in
the divine initiative - the human response
The exhortation of Jesus
to his disciples: “Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38) has
a constant resonance in the Church. Pray! The urgent call of the Lord stresses that prayer for vocations should be continuous
and trusting. The Christian community can only really “have ever greater faith and hope in God's providence” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 26) if it is enlivened by prayer.
The vocation to
the priesthood and to the consecrated life constitutes a special gift of God which becomes part of the great plan of love
and salvation that God has for every man and woman and for the whole of humanity. The Apostle Paul, whom we remember in a
special way during this Pauline Year dedicated to the Two-thousandth anniversary of his birth, writing to the Ephesians says,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing
in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him” (Ef 1:3-4). In the universal call to holiness, of particular relevance is God’s initiative of choosing
some to follow his Son Jesus Christ more closely, and to be his privileged ministers and witnesses.
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”
(Mk 3:14-15); they, in turn, gathered other disciples around them as faithful collaborators in this mission. In this way,
responding to the Lord’s call and docile to the movement of the Holy Spirit, over the centuries, countless ranks of
priests and consecrated persons placed themselves totally at the service of the Gospel in the Church. Let us give thanks to
God, because even today he continues to call together workers into his vineyard.
While it is undoubtedly
true that a worrisome shortage of priests is evident in some regions of the world, and that the Church encounters difficulties
and obstacles along the way, we are sustained by the unshakable certitude that the one who firmly guides her in the pathways
of time towards the definitive fulfilment of the Kingdom is he, the Lord, who freely chooses persons of every culture and
of every age and invites them to follow him according to the mysterious plans of his merciful love.
Our first duty,
therefore, is to keep alive in families and in parishes, in movements and in apostolic associations, in religious communities
and in all the sectors of diocesan life this appeal to the divine initiative with unceasing prayer.
We must
pray that the whole Christian people grows in its trust in God, convinced that the “Lord of the harvest” does
not cease to ask some to place their entire existence freely at his service so as to work with him more closely in the mission
of salvation. What is asked of those who are called, for their part, is careful listening and prudent discernment, a generous
and willing adherence to the divine plan, and a serious study of the reality that is proper to the priestly and religious
vocations, so as to be able to respond responsibly and with conviction.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church rightly reminds us that God’s free initiative requires a free
response on the part of men and women; a positive response which always presupposes acceptance of and identification with
the plan that God has for everyone; a response which welcomes the Lord’s loving initiative and becomes, for the one
who is called, a binding moral imperative, an offering of thanksgiving to God and a total cooperation with the plan which
God carries out in history (cf. n. 2062).
Who can consider
himself worthy to approach the priestly ministry? Who can embrace the consecrated life relying only on his or her own human
powers? Once again, it is useful to reiterate that the response of men and women to the divine call, whenever they are aware
that it is God who takes the initiative and brings His plan of salvation to fulfilment, is never patterned after the timid
self-interest of the worthless servant who, out of fear, hid the talent entrusted to him in the ground (cf. Mt 25:14-30),
but rather expresses itself in a ready adherence to the Lord’s invitation, as in the case of Peter who, trusting in
the Lord’ word, did not hesitate to let down the net once more even after having toiled all night and catching nothing
(cf. Lk 5:5). Without in any sense renouncing personal responsibility, the free human response to God thus becomes “co-responsibility”,
responsibility in and with Christ, through the action of his Holy Spirit; it becomes communion with the One who makes it possible
for us to bear much fruit (cf. Jn 15:5).
Those who are called should not become discouraged in the face of difficulties
and doubts but should trust in God and follow Jesus faithfully and they will be witnesses of the joy that flows from intimate
union with him. Imitating the Virgin Mary whom all generations proclaim as blessed because she believed (cf. Lk 1:48), they
should commit themselves with every spiritual energy, to realise the heavenly Father’s plan of salvation, cultivating
in their heart, like her, the ability to be astonished and to adore him who is mighty and does “great things”,
for Holy is his name (cf. Lk 1:49).