IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN
CITY (CNS) — Men and women contemplating a vocation to the priesthood,
consecrated life or marriage should
not be afraid because God
wants only for them to experience the joy that comes from serving
others, Pope Francis said.
“Our slowness and our sloth”
should not delay a response and Christians need not be “fearful of
our limitations and sins, but instead open our hearts to the voice of the
Lord,” the pope said in his message for the 2018 World Day of Prayer for
Vocations.
“It
will not fill our hearts if we keep standing by the window with the excuse of
waiting for the right time, without accepting this very day the risk of making
a decision,” the pope wrote. “Vocation is today! The Christian
mission is now!”
The
papal message for the day of prayer, which will be observed April 22, was
released Dec. 4 at the Vatican. The 2018 theme is “Listening, discerning
and living the Lord’s call.”
In
his message, Pope Francis said God’s call “is not as clear-cut as any of
those things we can hear, see or touch in our daily experiences” because God “comes silently
and discreetly, without imposing on our freedom.”
Christians,
he said, must learn
to listen carefully and “view things with the eyes of faith” in order
to listen to his voice which is “drowned out by the many worries and
concerns that fill our minds and hearts.”
“We
will never discover the special, personal calling that God has in mind for us
if we remain enclosed in ourselves, in our usual way of doing things, in the
apathy of those who fritter away their lives in their own little world,”
the pope said.
Listening
is increasingly difficult in today’s society, which is “overstimulated and
bombarded by information” and “prevents us from pausing and enjoying
the taste of contemplation” and discerning God’s plan, he said.
Often
stifled by “the temptations of ideology and negativity,” he said, Christians
need spiritual discernment which allows them to “discover the places, the
means and situations through which” God’s calls them.
“Every
Christian ought to grow in the ability to ‘read within’ his or her life and to
understand where and to what he or she is being called by the Lord, in order to
carry on his mission,” Pope Francis said.
He
also urged men and women to live out their calling once it is discovered and
“become a witness of the Lord here and now,” whether in marriage or
priesthood or consecrated life.
“If
(God) lets us realize that he is calling us to consecrate ourselves totally to
his kingdom, then we should have no fear!” Pope Francis said.
“It
is beautiful — and a great grace,” he said, “to be completely and forever consecrated
to God and the service of our brothers and sisters.”
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