In addition to celebrating the Fourth Sunday of Easter (known as Good Shepherd Sunday), it also is the 60th anniversary of Vocations Sunday. It is usually the day when we hear a homily on praying for future priests, deacons and religious life vocations. Well, maybe, not so much for deacons.
Aside from recognizing Church vocations, do we see what we do in our Catholic faith as a vocation? The simple answer based on involvement of 1.3 billion Catholics is NO! The expectation is that Church leaders will tell us what we need to know and do and respond to their teaching as we can based on our life circumstances.
In essence, we allow the world to dictate what we can and should do because it is difficult to balance one with the other and not be able to live a life that feeds our wants, much less our needs. The world is more segregated financially than in the past where the classes are divided into rich and poor with little room for anyone or anything else.
Though this is nothing new, it is becoming more difficult for people to commit to discipleship of following Jesus and His ways when one no longer has the capacity to help those in need; especially economically. And, yet, the need to select a vocation for the sake of others is one of the few ways we can change the world as did Jesus when He died, rose and ascended to correct all the things that limited our ability to be one with God in love and with all He created.
Though vocations on this Sunday are normally thought of as a divine call to church leadership roles, they don’t all have to end that way. Each of us by our Baptism is called by God to practice our vocation(s). Few end in ordinations or final vows for religious life. If they did, we wouldn’t have the shortage in those areas as we do.
In the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, St. Peter calls us to penance and conversion because of our sin nature to condemn others who do not meet our expectations, even though they are following God’s ways. He reminds us of how our parents, godparents or ourselves promising in our Baptism to love God above all and all He created to solidify our relationship with Him.
Our second reading from St. Peter’s letters stresses the importance of suffering in Christian life because it is part and parcel of human nature and Christ suffered on our behalf to give us the gift of forgiveness and eternal happiness. It is our way of giving thanks to what Jesus did for our life here and in heaven forever.
There are parishioners throughout the world who believe they are called to serve the larger community of God in addition to their own family. Some examples are faith formation teachers in religious education for sacraments; Eucharistic ministers who visit the sick and dying at home, in hospitals or nursing homes; Those who visit incarcerated adults and youths in local detention centers; and others who serve the poor and homeless in all types of settings to name a few.
Sometimes our call can be funneled into many directions. In my own case, I initially believed I was called to be a priest in my youth and attended a minor high school seminary which I left after two years. I believe God called me to my marriage with my wife and we recently marked 55 years. My call to become a deacon took 33 years before I entered formation and this month I will celebrate 18 years as a deacon.
God is speaking to us as the Good
Shepherd does to His sheep in St. John’s Gospel today. He is telling us that if we follow His ways
we will be saved and receive everlasting life.
He is telling us that in addition to praying for religious vocations, we
need to pray for our own vocation to reach out beyond our comfort zone to the
larger community so it can grow and thrive in abundance.
Let us take the time to listen to our Master’s voice, to be open to His bidding and to say “yes” so that our lives can grow in the peace and joy of His grace. Who knows? Maybe there is a deacon among you, or a committed lay person to grow our Church. In doing so, Jesus, our Good Shepherd, will take care of us so we can take care of others and bring all of us to the promise of eternal life.
Reading 1: Acts 2: 14a, 36-41
Reading 2: First Peter 2: 20b-25
Gospel: John 10: 1-10
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