Today, April 30, 2023, is Good and Beautiful Shepherd Sunday, but it is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. How can we understand it?
The date
The date designated by the Church for observing the World Day of Prayer for Vocations is the fourth Sunday of Easter, when, through the liturgy and the Gospel, we encounter the Good and Beautiful Shepherd, the risen Christ: he calls us to follow him, to live in conformity with his Gospel and to be witnesses to his love for the world. Each with our own specific vocation, to bring a “marvelous polyhedron” to life, through «the richness of the variety of vocations of which the Church is composed» (Pope Francis, Christus Vivit 207).
The objective
To encourage everyone, and young people in particular, to discover their vocation, that is, the loving plan God has for his children, the dream of joy that God holds dear for each of his creatures.
The World Day of Prayer for Vocations reminds us that our life is the fruit of a free and gratuitous act of love on God’s part, and that each day we are called to make our existence a gift for others and that, united together, we can create a “marvelous polyhedron”, in the colorful beauty and richness of being the Church, so that the Lord’s love may spread through us.
The World Day of Prayer for Vocations therefore offers an opportunity to pray, reflect on and deepen our understanding of the gift and mystery of Christ’s call to follow him – in consecrated life, ordained ministry, marriage and the laity lived in service of the Gospel –, and the responsibility that derives from it for every baptized person.
“A marvelous polyhedron”
This is the theme chosen for this edition, taken from the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit by Pope Francis, addressed to young people and to the entire People of God. With the image of the polyhedron, Pope Francis draws attention to the plurality and reciprocity among different “callings” in the Church and in the world: «[Youth] ministry can only be synodal, that is, capable of giving shape to a “journeying together” that involves valuing the charisms that the Spirit grants according to the vocation and role of each member of the Church through a dynamic of co-responsibility […].
In this way, by learning from one another, we will be able to reflect better that wonderful polyhedron that the Church of Jesus Christ must be. It can attract young people precisely because it is not a monolithic unity, but a network of diverse gifts that the Spirit ceaselessly pours into it, making it ever new despite its miseries» (206-207).
Reflection of the mystery of Christ
The different vocations are therefore so many faces of the same polyhedron, united by a single word that, in due time, each of us hears addressed to us: «Follow me» (Mt 10:8). At that moment, God's loving gaze reaches us in Jesus in a completely unique way and, to the extent that we open our hearts to his love, our existence changes. Vocation is in fact a friendship with the Lord, in a story written together with him and with others day after day, spending one's life in love.
Every vocation (consecrated life, ordained ministry, marriage, and the laity) reflects something of the mystery of Christ and of the richness of the gifts of the Spirit present in the Church. The reciprocity and communion of vocations express the entire mystery and make the beauty of Christ shine forth, because «this is the mystery of the Church: in the conviviality of differences, it is a sign and instrument of what all humanity is called to. For this reason, the Church must become increasingly synodal: capable of walking together in harmony amid diversity, in which everyone has a contribution to make and can participate actively» (Francis, Message for the 59th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Rome, May 8, 2022).
Christian life is always and entirely a response to God's call, whatever the vocation.
At the conclusion of these reflections, let us pray together:
Prayer for the 60to World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Good Father, giver of life,
creation, time, and history speak to us of You,
of your love and passion for each one of us.
To you who called us from our mother’s womb,
sowing great desires in us
of happiness and fulfillment, we ask:
send your Spirit
to illuminate the eyes of our hearts
so that we may recognize and appreciate all the good
which you have given to our lives.
Let your light shine through us
so that they may be reflected by your Church
the colors of your beauty
and each one of us,
by responding to their own vocation,
participants in the wonderful and multifaceted work
which you wish to accomplish throughout history.
We ask this of you in Christ Jesus,
your son and our Lord.
Amen.
