At noon today, in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience a group of persons participating in the International Convention of Vocation Directors, an initiative which has been organized by the Congregation for Clergy.
Your Eminences,
Dear brother bishops and priests
Brothers and sisters,
I welcome you with joy at the conclusion of your Convention, organized by the Congregation for Clergy, and I thank Cardinal Beniamino Stella for the courteous words he has offered in the name of all of you.
I must confess that I am always a bit hesitant to use some common expressions in our ecclesiastical language: vocation ministry may suggest one of a number of fields of ecclesial action, an office in the curia or, worse, the development of a project. I am not saying that this is not important, but there are many other things: the pastoral work of vocations is aimed at a meeting with the Lord! When we welcome and accept the living Christ, it is a decisive encounter that sheds light on our existence, draws us out of the anxiety of our little worlds and gives us awareness that we are beloved disciples of the Lord.
It is no accident that you chose as the title of your Congress Miserando atque eligendo, the words of Bede the Venerable (cf Homily 21: CCL 122, 149); Liturgia Horarum, 21 Sept., Officium lectionis, lectio II). You know – I have said it other times – that I chose this motto recalling the youthful years in which I felt the Lord’s strong call: it did not happen after a conference or because of some good theory, but because of having experienced Jesus’ merciful gaze upon me. It was like this, I tell you the truth. Therefore, it is good that you came here, from many parts of the world, to reflect on this subject but, please, may it not all end with just a beautiful congress! Vocational pastoral care is about learning Jesus’ style, which happens in places of daily life, pauses without hurry and, looks at brothers with mercy, leading them to the encounter with God the Father.
The evangelists often evidence a particular point about Jesus’ mission: He goes out on the streets and sets off (cf Lk 9:51), He entered cities and villages (cf Lk 9:35); and goes to meet the sufferings and the hopes of the people. He is a God with us, who lives amid the homes of His children and is not afraid to mix in the crowds of our cities, becoming a source of novelty where the people struggle for a different life. We find the same detail also in the case of Matthew’s vocation: first Jesus goes out to preach again, then He sees Levi seated on the tax bench and, finally, He calls him (cf Lk 5:27). We can pause and focus on these three verbs, which indicate the dynamism of all vocational pastoral work: go out, see, call.
First of all: go out. Vocational pastoral workrequires a Church in movement, able to widen her borders, measuring them not based on the narrowness of human calculations or the fear of making a mistake, but on the wide measurement of God’s merciful heart. There cannot be a fruitful sowing of vocations if we simply remain closed in the complacent attitude that says: 'We have always done it this way', without being bold and creative in this task of rethinking the goals, structures, style and methods of evangelization in their respective communities (Evangelii Gaudium, 33). We must learn to go outside of our rigidities, which make us incapable of communicating the joy of the Gospel, outside of the standard formulas that are often anachronistic, outside of the preconceived analyses that box people’s lives in cold limitations. We must come out of all this.
I ask this especially of Pastors of the Church, of Bishops and priests: you are the ones who are principally responsible for Christian and priestly vocations, and this task cannot be relegated to a bureaucratic office. You also lived an encounter that changed your life, when another priest – a parish priest, a confessor, a spiritual director – made you experience the beauty of the love of God. and so you also: going out, listening to young people — patience is needed! – can help them to discern the movements of their hearts and guide their steps. It is sad when a priest lives only for himself, shutting himself in the safe fortress of the Rectory, of the sacristy, or of the narrow group of the very faithful. On the contrary, we are called to be Pastors in the midst of the people, capable of leading a pastoral activity of encounter and of spending time to receive and listen to all, especially young people.
Second: to see, to go out, to see. When He passes on the streets, Jesus pauses, and His look meets that of the other, without haste. It is this that makes His call attractive and fascinating. Today, unfortunately, the speed and velocity of the stimulations to which we are subjected do not always leave room for the interior silence in which the Lord’s call resounds. Sometimes, it is possible to run this risk even in our communities: Pastors and pastoral workers often fall prey to speed, excessively concerned with things to do, and risk the possibility of falling into an empty organizational activism, without being able to pause and to meet people. Instead, the Gospel makes us see that a vocation begins with a look of mercy that focused on me. It is that term miserando, which expresses at the same time the embrace of the eyes and the heart. It is in this way that Jesus looked at Matthew. Finally, this publican did not perceive a look of contempt or judgment, but he felt looked at within, looked upon with love. Jesus challenged people’s prejudices and etiquette. He created an open space, in which Matthew was able to look at his life again and begin a new path.
This is how I like to think of the style of vocational pastoral care. And, allow me, I imagine in the same way the look of every Pastor: attentive, not hasty, capable of pausing and of reading in depth, of entering into the other’s life without ever making him feel threatened or judged. The Pastor’s look is one that is capable of arousing amazement at the Gospel, of awakening from the constant movement in which the culture of consumerism and superficiality immerses us and of arousing genuine questions of happiness, especially in young people. It is a look of discernment, which accompanies individuals, without either taking possession of their conscience or pretending to control God’s grace. In the end, it is an attentive and vigilant look and, therefore, called continually to be purified. And when it is a question of priestly vocations and of entering the Seminary, I beg you to carry out discernment in truth, of having a shrewd and cautious look, without lightness or superficiality. I say this in particular to Brother Bishops: vigilance and prudence. The Church and the world need mature and balanced priests, intrepid and generous Pastors, capable of closeness, of listening and of mercy.
Go out, see and, the third action call. It is the typical verb of the Christian vocation. Jesus does not make long speeches, He does not give a program to which we should adhere, He does not engage in proselytism or give pre-packaged answers. Turning to Matthew, He limits Himself to saying: Follow me! With these few words, He arouses in him the fascination of discovering a new goal, opening his life to a place that goes beyond the small bench where he is seated. Jesus’ desire is to get people to set off, to move them from a lethal sedentariness, to break the illusion that one can live happily remaining comfortably seated among one’s securities.
This desire to search, which often dwells in the young, is the treasure that the Lord puts in our hands and that we must look after, cultivate and cause to sprout. We look at Jesus, who passes along the banks of existence, gathering the desire of one who seeks, the disappointment of a night of fishing that did not go well, the burning thirst of a woman who goes to the well and draws water, or the strong need to change one’s life. So, we too, instead of reducing the faith to a book of recipes or to an assembly of norms to be observed, can help young people to ask the right questions of themselves; to set off and to discover the joy of the Gospel.
I know well that your task is not an easy one and that, sometimes, despite a generous commitment, the results can be scarce and we risk frustration and discouragement. However, if we do not close ourselves off from complaints and continue to go out to proclaim the Gospel, the Lord stays beside us and gives us the courage to throw out the nets even when we are tired and disappointed because we have not caught anything.
To Bishops and priests especially, I would like to say: persevere in making yourselves close, in closeness – that synchronized effort of the Father and the Son with us –; persevere in going out, in sowing the Word, with looks of mercy. Vocational pastoral care is entrusted to your pastoral action, to your discernment and to your prayer. Take care to promote it adopting possible methods, exercising the art of discernment and giving impulse, through evangelization, to the subject of priestly vocations and consecrated life. Do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel, to encounter, to direct the lives of young people. And do not be timid in proposing to them the way of priestly life, showing, first of all with your joyful witness, how good it is to follow the Lord and to give Him your life forever. And, as the foundation of this work, always remember to entrust yourselves to the Lord, imploring Him to send out new labourers for His harvest and supporting prayer initiatives in support of vocations.
I hope that these days – in which so much richness has circulated, thanks also to the Relators that took part – will contribute to recalling the fact that vocational pastoral care is a fundamental task in the Church and calls into question the ministry of Pastors and of the laity. It is an urgent mission that the Lord asks us to carry out with generosity. I assure you of my prayer and you, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Address of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to participants in the
International Convention of Vocation Directors
Your Eminences,
Dear brother bishops and priests
Brothers and sisters,
I welcome you with joy at the conclusion of your Convention, organized by the Congregation for Clergy, and I thank Cardinal Beniamino Stella for the courteous words he has offered in the name of all of you.
I must confess that I am always a bit hesitant to use some common expressions in our ecclesiastical language: vocation ministry may suggest one of a number of fields of ecclesial action, an office in the curia or, worse, the development of a project. I am not saying that this is not important, but there are many other things: the pastoral work of vocations is aimed at a meeting with the Lord! When we welcome and accept the living Christ, it is a decisive encounter that sheds light on our existence, draws us out of the anxiety of our little worlds and gives us awareness that we are beloved disciples of the Lord.
It is no accident that you chose as the title of your Congress Miserando atque eligendo, the words of Bede the Venerable (cf Homily 21: CCL 122, 149); Liturgia Horarum, 21 Sept., Officium lectionis, lectio II). You know – I have said it other times – that I chose this motto recalling the youthful years in which I felt the Lord’s strong call: it did not happen after a conference or because of some good theory, but because of having experienced Jesus’ merciful gaze upon me. It was like this, I tell you the truth. Therefore, it is good that you came here, from many parts of the world, to reflect on this subject but, please, may it not all end with just a beautiful congress! Vocational pastoral care is about learning Jesus’ style, which happens in places of daily life, pauses without hurry and, looks at brothers with mercy, leading them to the encounter with God the Father.
The evangelists often evidence a particular point about Jesus’ mission: He goes out on the streets and sets off (cf Lk 9:51), He entered cities and villages (cf Lk 9:35); and goes to meet the sufferings and the hopes of the people. He is a God with us, who lives amid the homes of His children and is not afraid to mix in the crowds of our cities, becoming a source of novelty where the people struggle for a different life. We find the same detail also in the case of Matthew’s vocation: first Jesus goes out to preach again, then He sees Levi seated on the tax bench and, finally, He calls him (cf Lk 5:27). We can pause and focus on these three verbs, which indicate the dynamism of all vocational pastoral work
First of all: go out. Vocational pastoral work
I ask this especially of Pastors of the Church, of Bishops and priests: you are the ones who are principally responsible for Christian and priestly vocations, and this task cannot be relegated to a bureaucratic office. You also lived an encounter that changed your life, when another priest – a parish priest, a confessor, a spiritual director – made you experience the beauty of the love of God. and so you also: going out, listening to young people — patience is needed! – can help them to discern the movements of their hearts and guide their steps. It is sad when a priest lives only for himself, shutting himself in the safe fortress of the Rectory, of the sacristy, or of the narrow group of the very faithful. On the contrary, we are called to be Pastors in the midst of the people, capable of leading a pastoral activity of encounter and of spending time to receive and listen to all, especially young people.
Second: to see, to go out, to see. When He passes on the streets, Jesus pauses, and His look meets that of the other, without haste. It is this that makes His call attractive and fascinating. Today, unfortunately, the speed and velocity of the stimulations to which we are subjected do not always leave room for the interior silence in which the Lord’s call resounds. Sometimes, it is possible to run this risk even in our communities: Pastors and pastoral workers often fall prey to speed, excessively concerned with things to do, and risk the possibility of falling into an empty organizational activism, without being able to pause and to meet people. Instead, the Gospel makes us see that a vocation begins with a look of mercy that focused on me. It is that term miserando, which expresses at the same time the embrace of the eyes and the heart. It is in this way that Jesus looked at Matthew. Finally, this publican did not perceive a look of contempt or judgment, but he felt looked at within, looked upon with love. Jesus challenged people’s prejudices and etiquette. He created an open space, in which Matthew was able to look at his life again and begin a new path.
This is how I like to think of the style of vocational pastoral care. And, allow me, I imagine in the same way the look of every Pastor: attentive, not hasty, capable of pausing and of reading in depth, of entering into the other’s life without ever making him feel threatened or judged. The Pastor’s look is one that is capable of arousing amazement at the Gospel, of awakening from the constant movement in which the culture of consumerism and superficiality immerses us and of arousing genuine questions of happiness, especially in young people. It is a look of discernment, which accompanies individuals, without either taking possession of their conscience or pretending to control God’s grace. In the end, it is an attentive and vigilant look and, therefore, called continually to be purified. And when it is a question of priestly vocations and of entering the Seminary, I beg you to carry out discernment in truth, of having a shrewd and cautious look, without lightness or superficiality. I say this in particular to Brother Bishops: vigilance and prudence. The Church and the world need mature and balanced priests, intrepid and generous Pastors, capable of closeness, of listening and of mercy.
Go out, see and, the third action
This desire to search, which often dwells in the young, is the treasure that the Lord puts in our hands and that we must look after, cultivate and cause to sprout. We look at Jesus, who passes along the banks of existence, gathering the desire of one who seeks, the disappointment of a night of fishing that did not go well, the burning thirst of a woman who goes to the well and draws water, or the strong need to change one’s life. So, we too, instead of reducing the faith to a book of recipes or to an assembly of norms to be observed, can help young people to ask the right questions of themselves; to set off and to discover the joy of the Gospel.
I know well that your task is not an easy one and that, sometimes, despite a generous commitment, the results can be scarce and we risk frustration and discouragement. However, if we do not close ourselves off from complaints and continue to go out to proclaim the Gospel, the Lord stays beside us and gives us the courage to throw out the nets even when we are tired and disappointed because we have not caught anything.
To Bishops and priests especially, I would like to say: persevere in making yourselves close, in closeness – that synchronized effort of the Father and the Son with us –; persevere in going out, in sowing the Word, with looks of mercy. Vocational pastoral care
I hope that these days – in which so much richness has circulated, thanks also to the Relators that took part – will contribute to recalling the fact that vocational pastoral care is a fundamental task in the Church and calls into question the ministry of Pastors and of the laity. It is an urgent mission that the Lord asks us to carry out with generosity. I assure you of my prayer and you, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
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