Pastoral Message: Vocations Sunday 1999

PASTORAL LETTER OF BISHOP CORMAC MURPHY-O'CONNOR

To be read at all Masses
on the Weekend of the fourth sunday of Easter 1999

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

This fourth Sunday of Easter has been set aside as a special day of prayer for vocations. We are asked to reflect on some very important and fundamental questions about our Christian lives: What is a vocation? Who does God call? How does God call? Where do I fit into this picture? Often we limit our thoughts about the word 'vocation' to the call to the Priesthood or to the Consecrated Life. These are essential elements of the life of the Church but they are not the whole picture. By virtue of our baptismal dignity all of us are called to hear the voice of Christ, the Good Shepherd, leading us and guiding us. Some of you may be familiar with the words of Cardinal John Henry Newman, "God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission". I now invite you to reflect with me on this simple fact of life and to ask yourself: How is God calling me? How can I be most deeply fulfilled with the gifts God has given me?

It seems to me that there is today an urgent need for us to re-capture a new sense of vocation that touches the whole Catholic community. Quite simply, we are and should be a 'vocational community' that listens attentively to the voice of the Good Shepherd, our Risen Lord, and respond generously. Indeed, our response to Christ in our lives is the very key to our deepest happiness and fulfilment as human beings. It is there, in the unfolding of the task given us by God, that our lives are given their shape and their meaning.

Today, literature and prayer cards are being distributed to help you focus on this aspect of the word 'vocation'. Of course I want to see more priests and religious to serve the people in our diocese, now more than ever. There must be an urgent appeal to God for this to happen. However, I do not think this call will be fully answered unless we also concentrate on the vocation of every Christian by virtue of their Baptism. As we seek together to 'shape the Church to come', let us fervently ask God today and always for this intention. The alternative prayer in our Mass today says it all:

God and Father of our Lord Je~is Christ, though your people walk in the valley of darkness no evil should they fear for they follow in faith the call of the Shepherd whom you have sent for their hope and strength. Attune our minds to the sound of his voice, lead our steps in the path he has shown, that we may know the strength of his outstretched arm and enjoy the light ofyour presence for ever. With an assurance of my prayers and kindest wishes,

Yours devotedly in Christ, Rt. Rev. Cormac Murphy-O'Connor Bishop of Arundel and Brighton.

Visit the diocesan pages on priestly vocations