World Pope Vocation Day: Do not be deaf to the call of the Lord

María Cecilia Mutual – Vatican City

"The courage to risk the promise of God" is the title of the message of the Pope made public today on the occasion of the 56th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, celebrated this year on Sunday, May 12th.

In the San Juan Bosco Message of 31 January, Francisco reflects on what he shared with young Panamanians at the 34th World Youth Day in Central America, stating that this event as well as the "Experience Synod's Fruitful Fellowship of October helped the Church pay more attention to the voice of the Spirit and the lives of young people, to their questions, to the fatigue that overwhelms them and the hopes they harbor. "

Promise and risk

The Pope's reflection on this World Day of Prayer for Vocations is centered on "how the call of the Lord makes us bearers of a promise and, at the same time, he asks us courage to take the risk with him and for him. "And for this, the bishop of Rome is based on" the evangelical scene of the call of the first disciples on Lake Galilee "(Mc 1, 16-20), which relates the experience of two pairs of fishermen brothers, Simon and Andrew, and James and John: "Some days, an abundant fishing rewarded the hard effort, but other times, the work of all night it was not enough to fill the networks and they returned to the shore tired and disappointed, "says the pope, noting that" These are ordinary situations of life ", in which each person" strives " to carry out activities that it hopes to be fruitful, go in the "sea" many possibilities in search of the good way that can satisfy your thirst for happiness.Sometimes the fishing is good, on the other hand, you must you arm yourself with the courage to ride a boat hit by the waves or you have to face the frustration of seeing you with empty nets ".

Jesus breaks the paralysis of normality

As in every call – the pope continues – in this case also, there is a meeting "and" that day, Jesus went to meet these fishermen, breaking the "paralysis of normality" and "he promised: I will make you fishermen men "

Part of a big project

The Holy Father then explains that the call of the Lord "is not an interference of God in our freedom, it is not a" cage "but on the contrary," it is the loving initiative with which God comes to meet us "to invite us to be part of the" great project "," showing us on the horizon a wider sea and abundant fishing. "For, adds-t- it, "God's desire is that our life does not end up being a prisoner of the obvious, it is not driven by the inertia of daily habits." Because "each of us is called differently to something big "and" that life should not be trapped in the networks of the absurd and that which anesthetizes the heart ".

Take the risk

To accept this promise, one must "have the courage to take risks, to decide" and to involve oneself "in all one's being, at the risk of facing an unknown challenge", adds the Holy Father, because "When we are in front of the vast ocean of vocation, we can stay to repair our networks, in the boat that gives us security, but we must trust the promise of the Lord."

"I refer especially to the call to Christian life – Francisco Francisco explains – that we all receive with baptism and that reminds us that our life is not the result of chance, but the gift of 39, be beloved children of the Lord, gathered in the big family of the church. "The Church is our mother" – she says – and "we must love her" even " when we discover in her face the wrinkles of frailty and sin ", and" help to make her ever more beautiful and bright, so that she may be in witness to the world of God's love " .

The choices of the Christian life: vocations

The Pope then explains that the Christian life is expressed through elections "which give a precise direction to our navigation" and "contribute to the growth of the Kingdom of God in society". "I refer to the decision to marry in Christ and to found a family, as well as other vocations related to the world of work and professions, to a commitment in the field of charity and solidarity, social and political responsibilities ". All the vocations that make us bear a promise of good, love and justice, not only for us, but also for the social and cultural environments in which we live, "he explains.

Consecrated life: do not fall into the fatigue of hope

And someone, in the encounter with the Lord, "may feel the fascination of the call to consecrated life or the ordained priesthood," the Pontiff continues. This call to become a male fisherman "is" an exciting and frightening discovery, "says the pope, noting that" many internal resistances can hinder such a decision, as well as in some highly secularized environments, where it seems that there is no more space for God and for the Gospel, one can fall into discouragement and the "lbaditude of hope"

Young people do not let themselves be infected by fear

The Franciscos ask young people in particular to urge them not to be "deaf to the call of the Lord", to trust him. "Do not be overcome by the fear that paralyzes us before the high summits that the Lord offers us."

Church offers young people the listening and the discernment

The pope also writes that it is not always easy to discern one's vocation and guide one's life in the right way. This is why a renewed commitment on the part of the whole Church – priests, religious, pastoral animators, educators – is necessary so that opportunities for listening and discernment are offered to young people, in particular youth. Hence the need for a ministry of youth and vocation, he adds, which helps to discover God's plan, especially through prayer, meditation on the Word of God, the Eucharistic adoration and spiritual accompaniment.

Look Marie

Finally, as has been repeated several times during the World Youth Days in Panama, the Pontifex invites once again to "turn to Mary" because she too "the vocation was both a promise and a risk". "Her mission was not easy, but she did not allow the fear of attacking her, and her yes" was the "yes" of who wants to engage and who wants to risk, who wants to bet everything, without more security than the certainty of knowing that he was carrying a promise. "

And to them, to the young people, he asks: Do they feel they carry a promise? Ask the pope to the young people. Mary, the pope illustrates, "would have a" difficult mission "but that would not be a reason to say" no. "And he concludes his message with a prayer on that day," asking the Lord to reveal to us his plan for the future ". love for our life and give us the courage to risk ourselves in the way he has thought for us from all eternity ".