FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER = VOCATION SUNDAY

 

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER (VOCATION SUNDAY)

 

 

My sheep hear my voice. And I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall not perish, for eternity. And no one shall seize from my hand. What my Father gave to me is greater than all, and no one is able to seize from the hand of my Father. I and the Father are one (John 10:27-30)

JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD = VOCATION SUNDAY

In 1964 the Holy Father declared that the fourth Sunday after Easter should be called Vocation Sunday for priests and religious. All Christians are invited to offer themselves to pray for vocation, promote vocation to brotherhood, sisterhood, priesthood. The priests and religious come from our families and we present them to the church for the great service of evangelization and holiness.

What does the Holy Father want us to do this Good shepherd Sunday? That is our assignment today. The good shepherd teaches us many things, we shall just choose a few to guide us through.

What does this Sunday mean to us?

How do we associate ourselves with the sheep metaphor?

What is our obligation as Christians?

The invitation of the Holy Father what impact does it create in us to take seriously issues of vocation in the Catholic Church. We know that every human being has been created for a purpose. There is no worker in any field will do what he or she does without having any objective of what s/he does. That means that even when God created us, he made us for reason and purpose. What is that purpose? Do we know?

The Catholic Catechism teaches us very clearly on that. We are created so that we can know Him, we love Him, we serve Him, and we live happily here on earth in preparation to join Him in heaven. This is our call this Sunday, whether we know it or not this is our obligation this Sunday.

We are called to follow the same way did when he was with us on this earth. May be one may be asking which way is that? And which work? That is what we are being told in the Gospel of Today “I am the Good Shepherd…” my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they too know me (Cf. Pope Francis – the smell of the sheep). We are all the Lord’s sheep. We have to make sure that each other as the Lord’s sheep we take good care of ourselves.

Imagine your brother having a sheepfold would you allow invaders or foxes to attack it? Now this is the call the Holy Father is inviting us to. Let us take care of the sheepfold of our brother Jesus. Let us take care of our vocation and protect the ones we already have.

How can we take care of the sheep of Jesus? After Jesus going back to the Father, he left the keys to St. Peter to take care of the Church. They chose bishops, ordained other ministers so that they can continue with the work of Christ. This continues to-date. The care, administration and sanctification of the Church continues. We have spread all over as a church, but we have few laborers, as the number of Christians increase the ministers are few, hence we are still called to pray for vocation so that we may have many priests, religious in our local churches. The laborers are few, so we prayer for the laborer to send many in his vineyard. (Mt 9:36). This is our role and we have to take it seriously hence VOCATION SUNDAY. 

It’s the Lord who chooses, its him who consecrates. “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. And I have appointed you, so that you may go forth and bear fruit, and so that your fruit may last. Then whatever you have asked of the Father in my name, he shall give you”. (John 15:16).

There are challenges that are found in the ministry, but what might be the obstacles? The hardness of heart and not having a generous heart to save a dear brother and sister. The other obstacle of selfishness and self-love, you simply love yourself so much that to give any support to the other is a challenge. Then not responding to the call, you hear the call and assume as if you have not heard, or that vocation is for someone else not me. That is where the invitation lies.

We know that these obstacles we can’t overcome them by ourselves, we need the help of the Lord overcome them. That is why Christ is telling us…” Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers to his vineyard”. The lord of the harvest to send laborers.

We pray that the youth can be found and that they may be generous to serve humanity, not selfish but generous in their sacrifice for their church.  We also pray for the parents to be able to release their sons and daughters to serve God. May parents not start bargaining with their children of what kind of work they want them to do but daily praying that their sons and daughters can follow the invitation of Christ who is daily knocking at their doors looking for servants and candidates to priesthood and religious life.

We pray for holy families that we can get good fruits of vocation, a good tree produces good fruits and a bad tree produces bad fruits (Mt. 7:17). Parents who are not good cannot expect to get good priests from their homes. Although God can also use a bad situation to bring the best out of it, but not always and it’s not his nature. How many send sons and daughters to religious life and priesthood for their own benefits?  How many seminarians whose parents still pester them to change their call for the sake of a better future and who consider priesthood as a wasted endeavor?

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” the book of Sirach advises us. The person who has no self-motivation and personal care can be dangerous to himself and to his community. A False vocation is that of a person not fearing God.

Pope Francis tells us that: “To be a saint is not a privilege for a few, but a vocation for everyone. God calls you to make definitive choices, and He has a plan and to respond to your vocation is to move toward personal fulfillment”.

Your True Vocation = Your Gifts+ Your Passion. As we have shared so far, your calling is not one specific magical job out there, but rather your unique talents, gifts, and capabilities-the things within you that you bring to a job. Thus, different jobs can tap your vocation to different degrees