Good Shepherd Sunday - Vocation Sunday

- by Sr Annette Green

The Feast of the Good Shepherd is a good time to give some thought to our vocation whatever our vocation is in life. We are each of us called to help shepherd one another. The Commandment, " Love our neighbour as ourselves" gives us the responsibility to care for others throughout our life. Vocation is a call to mission and this call we receive at Baptism. The baptism of Jesus by John was the beginning of His public ministry, to be about his Father's mission. Whatever our vocation the mission we are called to is the mission of the Church. Pope Benedict in his message for this World Day of Prayer for Vocations invites us to reflect on the theme

"Vocation in the Mystery of the Church"

While we might focus today on Religious vocations, they could not exist without marriage.

The call to vocation is a mystery and that call can begin in early life as in the story of Samuel. God speaks to us in silence, but unfortunately today young people have very little opportunity of quiet times of silence.

We all need times of silence to reflect on our relationship with our creator and the purpose of our life - God's gift to us. Have you watched small Children as they sit in wonder at all around them and wondered what they are thinking.

Who is responsible for fostering vocations?

Each one of us has this responsibility. We can all help in creating the environment where young people are nurtured to know and love God and of course this needs to begin in the family. However we should not underestimate the power of the Spirit working within even young children.

Do We Encourage Vocations?

When I reached my teens I was not so keen to hear God's call to a religious vocation. I had soon learned to keep such thoughts to myself because of the ridicule from class mates and discouraging remarks from adults. Many parents talked their children out of ideas of a religious vocation.

We may speculate on why we have no religious vocations but how many young catholic people today receive the Sacrament of Marriage. The seed bed for religious vocations usually begins in the home, so in this way depends on good Marriages.

This is a quotation I came across a few years ago from St.John Chrysostom (4th Cen):

" When Marriage is not esteemed, neither can consecrated virginity
or celibacy exist, when sexuality is not regarded as a great value
given by the creator, the renunciation of it, for the sake of
the Kingdom - loses its meaning."

This it seems to me is the situation in our society today, as marriage is not widely esteemed and may well be the reason why young people are not ready to embrace a religious vocation today. This saddens me because I had a choice to choose marriage, a single or religious vocation and I thought seriously about these choices at the age of 17.

It was seeing young people with disabilities and realising I had been given so much that attracted me to the Sisters of Compassion, but also without realising it, the stories my Mother told me of Suzanne Aubert whom my grandfather had helped and whom the family came to know in their travels up and down the Wanganui River. Stories are so important.

Vocation is a mystery for in spite of the fact that when I visited the Home of Compassion in Wellington I did not like anything about the Home and certainly not the Habit the Sisters wore, yet I still knew this was where I had to come. However it was not without some trepidation, for like a decision to marry, there is no absolute certainty and one experiences some nervousness and requires courage to actually take the step.

My 50 years of life as a Sister of Compassion has given me the privilege of walking alongside people from all sections of society as well as experiences of other cultures, other places. I have experienced a very happy life that offered me opportunities to widen my horizons, and stretch my spiritual, education, creative and practical experiences. With the ups and downs of life it has blessed me with the wonderful support of family, Sisters and many friends in so many places.

It was encouraging to hear our cook (Not a Catholic) assure us she believed religious vocations would return with the next generation. Two generations she said have run away from Religion in pursuit of material goods and worldly experiences especially after the two world wars, but the new generation are growing up with the familiarity of all these things and looking for more meaning in life. While young adults have endless options of more than one career, and move in and out of careers, we are not helping them to realise that a vocation is quite different and is a life time commitment. Their education is preparing them for careers - but what preparation is there for the serious thought of vocation?

Conclusion

What can you and I do to foster good marriages and religious vocations. Prayer for vocations is important, but God also expects us to work with him in creating the environment where young children and teenagers are nurtured to know and love God, be in touch with the Spirit dwelling within them and to hear the voice of God in the many unexpected places, especially in times of silence and stillness.

Young children and teenagers relate best to older people. They will listen to older people and they love to hear their stories, so we older people should take every opportunity to be with young children. They need times of stillness and will only learn this if we adults share quiet times with them. Spending time with young ones can call for some sacrifice, however they also have much to offer us and will give us new life, a less selfish outlook and renewed Hope.

Do we need Religious Vocations?
I believe we do for as I observe society today I see people with even greater needs than in Suzanne Aubert's day. God's mission is not accomplished yet.

Religious Life must adapt to the needs of the time and therefore will not be as we know it today, but our efforts may help create the environment where new seed can take root, so God's call can be heard for the future. That is all we can do, for God will do the rest. In the centre of each person dwells the Holy Spirit and even at a young age a special unique relationship with God begins to develop, like a tiny seed it needs to be nurtured and that is something we all have a responsibility to do.