Robert: How about an article for this weekend on vocations?
Fr Joe: Sure thing, Robert. How long?
Robert: A page at least, even two pages. And we haven’t had anything on vocations as such. What is a vocation?
Fr Joe: I’ll see what I can do. You want it by when? Tuesday? OK! No Probs!
Except there were plenty of problems! The Computer! The Cold! The amount of material to sift through! The time frame...
However, there were plenty of inspiring people on the Church’s calendar in recent weeks – Saint Martha, Saint Dominic, Saint John Vianney, Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Lawrence (a Deacon!), and of course Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop: she was someone who visited our own country, and lived and grew and realised her sanctity amongst us; Saint Maximilian Kolbe whose heroism and sanctity was displayed in different circumstances. Not all of those named were ordained priests, nor have they taken formal religious vows: Saint Martha commends herself to us as someone living an ordinary life extraordinarily well, as did Saint Jane Frances de Chantal whose feast day it was recently; Saint Bartholomew (Nathaniel) and Saint Monica discovered the way to holiness in quite different situations. Saint Bartholomew by his response to Jesus, which was a bit ambiguous to start off with, and Saint Monica by her fidelity to her calling as a mother, in her case, of Saint Augustine, who certainly followed an ambiguous path to holiness! Many more people find their way to holiness in the course of their lives without ever having anyone promote their “cause for canonisation”.
Robert: Father, this is supposed to be an article on vocations, so why are you talking about saints?
Fr Joe: Because we are all called to be saints when we are baptised, this is everyone's primary vocation. It is what we anticipate being through the mercy of God, even though there is a certain reticence, shyness, hesitation about actually affirming that that is in fact what our life’s aim is. We are all called to be saints.
It is not easy for me to talk about sainthood and sanctity because I know that I have fallen short so very often, that my deeds even more than my words have not made Christ an attractive person to follow. If I am representative of his followers, is what I stand for, is the example I give good enough to prompt others to find out more?
Joan of Arc’s martial and nationalistic spirit is portrayed as akin to a religious vocation, “perhaps as a paradox, Frank Sinatra’s I did it my way, and Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s Prayer of Oblation tell my story of 50 years,” Father Robert McCulloch summing up his reflection on his priestly vocation: an Australian Columban priest who gave up a Commonwealth Government full university scholarship and went to the Columban seminary, and following ordination went to remote areas of Pakistan and was involved in translating the Catholic Catechism into Urdu, and then went to Rome to serve his order and develop his understanding of ecumenism, working with other Christian denominations.
"Sister Leonella lived the mission all the way...our founder Blessed Giuseppe Allamano encouraged us to be at the service of the Missions, even at the cost of life. Sister Leonella’s martyrdom is an impulse for us to live the mission all the way,” says Sister Renata Conti, a colleague of Sister Leonella, an Italian missionary, who died in Mogadishu, Somalia on 17 September 2006, gunned down while on her way to the hospital where she served. Mohamed Mahamud, the guard who tried to rescue her, died also. “Our community has followed the whole procedure of the cause for beatification, step by step with trepidation and anxiety, and today we feel immense joy. It was the general chapter of our institute in 2011 that decided to proceed with the cause of beatification of Sister Leonella, so she would become an example of how to live the mission in today’s context.” - Sr. Renata Conti.
Baptism, a calling, Mission, life’s purpose... an understanding and an awareness of these in one’s lived experiences can help us appreciate what our vocation in life actually is, or could become.
Recent passages from the Bible that have been read at Mass in recent days: Corinthians 2 9:6–10; Luke 1:39–56, and last Monday’s Gospel Matthew 19:16–22, plus the passages from the prophet Ezekiel, all offer some pointers to what a call might sound (and look) like, and what the impact could be of failing to heed “the call”.
I know that this is the month designated to pray for Vocations, especially to the Diocesan priesthood in our own Diocese, and I hope that you are able to offer some time to that intention. Also, please pray for vocations to whatever lifestyle and in whatever area. The world surely will be a better place for people being baptised, recognising the value and privilege of being called to participate in the Mission of Jesus, and fulfilling life’s purpose of living it fully (ref: John 10:10).
