Fourth Sunday of Easter, John 10,27-30

God is calling (Jn 10:27-30)
The matter of the call to the ministry is still timely and relevant. God does not force anyone.

Introduction.

It is a tradition in the Church that we give attention to spiritual vocations every year on the fourth Sunday of Easter. Even the Church’s Code of Canon Law (can. 233) obliges us to develop careers. This duty is especially incumbent on Christian families, educators, and priests in a unique way. We are all to encourage and support events to develop vocations. In choosing a state of life, we must be free from any coercion and respect the right of the one who has freely chosen.
Sermon.

Before the end of the millennium, the number of spiritual vocations increased slightly. Although today we do not experience more or less a shortage of priestly vocations, we hear voices from the Church that today there is a deficit of 300,000 priestly vocations. For example, there are dioceses in Bohemia, where a priest administers more than three or four parishes. In our country too, especially in the cities, we need to set up new parishes. There are more voices for permanent clergy in hospitals, educational institutions, prisons, the army…
And so today’s Sunday of the Good Shepherd has its justification.

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” (Jn 10:27).

Familiar words. The image used by the Lord Jesus was well known and familiar to his hearers. Jesus gave deep thought to this image. The sheep know and recognize their protector’s voice and shepherd from other agents. They know that protection, help, safety, and a caring hand are behind that voice. Already in the Old Testament, the prophets speak on this theme. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of the people as sheep in the context of a shepherd who cares for them. It is not an insult to the people that they are likened to a bit of a flock. The shepherd is understood as the awaited Messiah. Ezekiel points out that the Messiah is to be a descendant of David (cf. Ez 34:23-26). He speaks of the protection and security that the sheep will receive from the shepherd, the faithful from the Messiah. The prophet Jeremiah predicts that the Messiah will gather up the scattered nation, the sheep, and the government, suffer in captivity and receive the foretelling of freedom (cf. Jer 23:3). In the prophet Micah, we read that the Messiah will walk at the head of His people and open the gates of captivity to them (cf. Mic. 2:12).
The predictions of the prophets are perfectly fulfilled in Christ. In the context of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and his words – I know them – the Hebrew origin means much more. The Shepherd – Christ has a very close to an intimate connection with His flock, the people. Therefore, those who belong to him can follow him. Here another image must also be recalled, and that is from the Book of Revelation of St. John the Apostle. John writes of Christ, who is “the Lamb,” before whom is a great multitude, which no one could number, from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne of Christ the Lamb, clothed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (cf. Rev. 7:9).

We are assured that God wants to save all people in these and other Scripture texts. That is why Jesus came into the world to redeem and save us. That is why at the Last Supper, Jesus institutes the sacrament of the priesthood and the apostles become the first priests, the new shepherds, and all who have believed in the divinity of Christ are sheep, that is, those who consciously and willingly want to be led, guided, by Jesus. And this activity continues today and will continue until the end of time.
The idea of the fold, of the sheep, of the shepherd, becomes, again and again, topical and temporal. Yet, those who embrace it and believe in its power do not become a little flock or an unnecessary shepherd, but quite the opposite. To belong to God, to be more with God, to surrender oneself wholly and entirely to him, to specifically do the will of God, to consecrate one’s life on earth to him, is to respond to the call, the address that God gives as a gift to man. Not everyone can meet the criteria to be a shepherd. We understand vocation as a gift that one must receive, cooperate with it, and be aware that one has not received it only for oneself. As a shepherd, one takes responsibility for the brothers and sisters entrusted to one’s care.

Thus vocation is a gift. It cannot be bought. When the facility is refused, it is understood as an insult to all. The giver is God. It is the mystery of his love for man. He often calls those who least expect it. Those often addressed spar excuse themselves as unworthy. Think of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, and others. And so it happens today. God addresses the invited in different ways. Through people, events, and things. He calls quietly but also insistently and forcefully. He respects the freedom of man. He does not leave man without help. He gives his graces, his strength, his assurance, his courage… From those whom He calls, He wants both external visible and internal invisible values. The externally visible values include that in the Roman Catholic Church, there is an ecclesiastical and not a divine law, that the priest does not marry, he remains free. Celibacy is not a burden but a means of service. The priest prays daily the prescribed prayers of the Church; the Breviary – the Liturgy of the Hours for himself and those entrusted to him, for the Church and the world. The priest presides at the liturgy, administers the sacraments, teaches, preaches, and manages the Church’s property… The interior, the invisible, is related to the visible. He is to be a man of faith, hope, and love. Even though he receives spiritual power through ordination, he remains a man. The inherited and acquired or acquired qualities stay with him. Therefore, a priest may be good and evil, a saintly life and a scandal to those around him. As a citizen, the priest has rights and duties; he must respect civil and ecclesiastical law. He is entitled to express his opinion on social and political matters. Because of his education, he deserves a certain status, but not that which does not belong to him. This shows that tensions, clashes, crises, or mistaken and incorrect attitudes can and do arise. Both the priest and society need to be aware of the importance and mission of the vocation. Both the priest and the non-priest-layman will be accountable to God the Judge for their conduct at their death. And let us remember that to whom much has been given. And Christ will be the righteous Judge. Therefore, we need to further remind ourselves today of the demands upon those whom God calls.

We are all responsible for future callings. There is often much mystery surrounding vocations. We are aware that we, too, are addressed, “Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest.” (Mt 9:38). We are perhaps more aware that we cannot wait with folded hands today.

Priest A. Wietrzykowski tells of the birth of a vocation as follows:
I noticed a pretty girl for girls who wanted to become nuns during the spiritual exercises. I asked her: “Why do you want to become a nun?” “I don’t know myself.” replied the girl. I feel that the Holy Spirit was guiding me at that time. I asked her: “And you don’t have a boy?” “I do!” She said bluntly. “And is he a good boy?” “Yes!” She answered directly again. “You see,” I told her now, too, “you want to go to the convent, be happy, and you don’t think you’ll spoil his life? What is he to think of you?” The girl bowed her head and asked quietly: “What should I do?” “Go home and get married! And if God wills it, pray that your son becomes a priest. But it would help if you did not force your son to do so. Pray!” Years passed, and the war ended. I have even forgotten this conversation. I became the seminary’s rector in Poznan and accepted candidates for the priesthood. Then a woman came to me. I didn’t recognize her until she told me: “I begged him for a priestly vocation, just as you preached to me. Now I want to entrust him to your hands, and I trust you will bring him to the altar.” This son of hers has been a priest for several years. He is a good, zealous priest. This reminds me of the words of a Catholic writer who wrote: “There are mothers who feel a spiritual vocation in their hearts, and because they have not been able to realize it in their own lives, they pass it on to one of their children so that what was a dream in their hearts may become a reality in the life of their child.”
It is necessary today to pay attention to future vocations. The number of children in families is decreasing, and so is the number of professions. The consumer society is seducing those who have felt a domain. Young people are threatened at the time of childhood and adolescence. Morality is declining. Resistance to spiritual things is increasing. Initiatives taken to awaken new vocations are underestimated. Responsibility is forgotten. Woe even to the girls who seduce the priest! We should pray for new works. Thanks are due to those who also materially assist in new vocations. “God bless the families of the new priest to the third generation,” says Don Bosco. It is a time of graduation, a time of discernment. It is a time to form, speak, live more, and be more ready to catch the voice of God.

“God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). In every new vocation, God gives us a new blessing. Let us ask Jesus, the Good Shepherd, for these great blessings today. Let us all pray. Parents, you young friends, but also all of you… for the harvest is excellent, and the workers are few.
Lord, hear our humble petition. Bless us with new vocations, and bless and sanctify those you have already called.