VATICAN - Vocations Day: “in order to foster vocations to the ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life...we cannot do without the example of those who have already said “yes” to God”

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “In order to foster vocations to the ministerial priesthood and the consecrated life, and to be more effective in promoting the discernment of vocations, we cannot do without the example of those who have already said 'yes' to God and to his plan for the life of each individual. Personal witness, in the form of concrete existential choices, will encourage young people for their part to make demanding decisions affecting their future.” This is a passage from the Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI for the 47th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which will be celebrated on April 25, 2010, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, with the theme: “Witness Awakens Vocations.”
After highlighting the theme's relationship to the celebration of the Year for Priests, the Pope mentioned that “the fruitfulness of our efforts to promote vocations depends primarily on God’s free action, yet... it is also helped by the quality and depth of the personal and communal witness of those who have already answered the Lord’s call.” Recalling the stories of those who, as Sacred Scripture says, are called by the Lord to bear witness with their lives to that which they preach, the Message affirms that this is still the case today in the Church: “the Lord makes use of the witness of priests who are faithful to their mission in order to awaken new priestly and religious vocations for the service of the People of God.”
Benedict XVI then indicated three aspects of the priest's life that are “essential for an effective priestly witness.” First of all, is friendship with Christ. “Jesus lived in constant union with the Father and this is what made the disciples eager to have the same experience... Prayer is the first form of witness which awakens vocations.” Next, a complete gift of oneself to God. “In following Jesus, everyone called to a life of special consecration must do his utmost to testify that he has given himself completely to God. This is the source of his ability to give himself in turn to those whom Providence entrusts to him in his pastoral ministry.” And lastly, living a life of communion in love. “In a particular way the priest must be a man of communion, open to all, capable of gathering into one the pilgrim flock which the goodness of the Lord has entrusted to him, helping to overcome divisions, to heal rifts, to settle conflicts and misunderstandings, and to forgive offenses.”
Making reference to the consecrated life, the Message reveals that the “the very life of men and women religious proclaims the love of Christ...By letting themselves be won over by God through self-renunciation, their fidelity and the power of their witness constantly awaken in the hearts of many young people the desire to follow Christ in their turn, in a way that is generous and complete.” After recalling that “every priest, every consecrated person, faithful to his or her vocation, radiates the joy of serving Christ and draws all Christians to respond to the universal call to holiness,” the Message closes with the hope that this World Day for Vocations will “once again offer many young people a precious opportunity to reflect on their own vocation and to be faithful to it in simplicity, trust and complete openness.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 17/02/2010)