God is calling. The issue of vocation to spiritual service is still current and timely.

Although today we do not feel more or less a lack of priestly vocations in particular, we hear voices from the Church that today there is a deficit of 300 thousand priestly vocations. There are dioceses, for example, in Bohemia, Litoměřice, Pilsen, and Budějovice, where a priest administers more than three or four parishes. 

Jesus said: “My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27). These are Familiar words. The image used by the Lord Jesus was well known and close to his listeners. Jesus gave this image a deep meaning. Thought. The sheep know, recognize the voice of their protector, and shepherd from other voices. They know that behind this voice is protection, help, safety, and a caring hand.Already in the Old Testament, the prophets speak about this topic. The prophet Ezekiel refers to the people as sheep about the shepherd who cares for them. It is not an insult to the people that they would be compared to an unreasonable herd. The shepherd is understood as the expected Messiah. Ezekiel points out that the Messiah is to be a descendant of David (cf. Ezekiel 34, 23-26). He talks about the protection and safety that the sheep will receive from the shepherd, that is, the faithful from the Messiah. The prophet Jeremiah predicts that the Messiah will gather the scattered nation, the sheep, that is, the nation that suffered in captivity at that time, receives a prediction 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 for them (cf. Micah 2:12).

The idea of ​​the shepherd, the sheep, the shepherd again and again becomes current and timely, and those who accept it and believe in its power do not become a little herd or an unnecessary shepherd, but the opposite. To belong to God, to be more with God, to give oneself completely and completely to Him, to fulfill God’s will specially, to dedicate one’s life on earth to God, is the answer 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 a vocation as a gift that a person must receive, cooperate with it, and be aware that he did not receive it only for himself, but as a shepherd he takes responsibility for the brothers and sisters entrusted to him. Vocation is a gift. It cannot be bought. God is the giver. It is the secret of his love for man. He often calls those who least expect it. We are all responsible for future occupations. There is often a lot of mystery surrounding the profession. It is necessary, even today, to pay attention to future professions. The number of children in families is decreasing; thus, the number of jobs is also decreasing. Consumer society seduces those who have felt the call. Young people are threatened during childhood and adolescence. Morale is falling. Resistance to spiritual things is increasing.

Today, let’s ask Jesus, the “Good Shepherd, ” for these great blessings.