Vocations
by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke
January 7, 2004 -- The Catholic Times

On this coming January 11 to 17, we will observe National Vocation Awareness Week. The theme for this year’s observance is fittingly “Baptized in the Spirit.” Beginning with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord on Sunday, January 11, the annual celebration gives us many helps in considering our share in Christ’s vocation and mission for the salvation of the world, which was revealed to the world at His baptism in the Jordan by John. As Saint John the Baptist had announced, God the Son came into the world, has united our human nature to His divine nature, in order that He may give us a share in His Spirit. When our Lord approached John for baptism, he explained to those present what God the Father had revealed to him about Christ: “The one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘When you see the Spirit descend and rest on someone, it is he who is to baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen for myself and have testified, ‘This is God’s chosen One’” (John 1:33-34). By His Baptism in the Jordan, Christ made holy the waters of Baptism, so that through them He might give us the Holy Spirit.

When He rose from the Dead, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit upon the Church for the first time. Then, fifty days after His Resurrection, on Pentecost Sunday, He poured out a second gift of the Holy Spirit upon the Church, so that her members might be His witnesses to the very ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1:4-8). Through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, He has poured out the Holy Spirit into our individual lives. Anointed with the Holy Spirit, we come to life in Christ and are sent to bring Christ to the whole world.

Vocation and vocations

From the moment of our baptism, God has a special plan for each of us. God calls us to life in Christ, in order that, with Christ, we may offer our whole life in love of God and our neighbor. At our confirmation, God strengthens and increases the life of the Holy Spirit within us, so that we will have the inspiration and strength to respond to God’s call. We are called to follow Christ in holiness of life. This is our vocation. We are called to follow Christ as a married person, a dedicated single person, a consecrated person or a priest. These are the vocations by which we respond to our universal vocation to holiness of life.

Whether God calls us to the married life, the dedicated single life, the consecrated life or the priesthood, He asks us to make the gift of our whole life. Others see Christ in us, most of all, through our faithful response to our vocation in life.

We say in the Church that our vocation is our way to salvation, and it is true. It is through our vocation that we most fully express our life in Christ and carry out our share in His mission of salvation. We are called to life in Christ, so that, when we reach adulthood, we may give our lives in response to God’s call. Therefore, it is important that children and young people pray each day to know their vocation in life, and that those of us, who have already responded to God’s call by embracing our vocation, pray each day for the virtues of fidelity and generosity in living our vocation.

During our childhood and youth, our education in the faith and its practice is to help us to hear God’s call and to prepare us to respond with an undivided heart. During our adult years, our study of the faith and its practice is to help us to respond to God’s call ever more faithfully and with as generous a heart as possible.

Responsibility for vocational discernment

The whole Church has the responsibility to assist children and young people to hear God’s call and to prepare themselves to respond, and to assist all in the Church to live fully their vocation in life. The Bishop, as Chief Shepherd of God’s flock, bears an especially weighty responsibility to assist children and young people in the discernment and pursuit of their vocation.

On the 25th anniversary of his election as Successor of Saint Peter, Pope John Paul II signed the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Gregis, “On the Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World.” In this important document, the fruit of the Tenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held in October of 2001, our Holy Father underlines very much the responsibility of the Bishop for the promotion of vocations. He reminds all Bishops that they are to foster “a vocational culture” in which young people will come to understand that our entire life is a vocation and that the various vocations are the way in which we live out most fully the one vocation of Christ, in which we have all been given a share (Pastores Gregis, n. 54a).

Our Holy Father instructs Bishops to exhort families, parishes and institutions of Catholic education “to assist boys and girls in discovering God’s plan in their lives and in embracing the call to holiness which God from the beginning addresses to each person” (Ibid., n. 54b). The Holy Father goes on to remind Bishops that the apostolate of vocations must permeate all pastoral activity. In particular, the Bishop is to entrust the vocational apostolate to the priests who are his co-workers and to other members of the faithful “capable of passing on their love for Jesus by their enthusiasm and the example of their lives” (Ibid.). Priests and others who assist the Bishop in the apostolate of vocations are to help children and young people to pray to know their vocation. They are also to accompany patiently the same young people as they strive to know God’s will for them. It will be especially important to encourage young people to participate in the Holy Mass as frequently as possible and to confess their sins regularly and receive God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance.

Special attention must be given to helping young people know about the vocations to the consecrated life and priesthood, because these calls are difficult to hear in a totally secularized society. Within the apostolate of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, there is always to be an emphasis on missionary vocations. In this regard, the Bishop is to make certain that the associations of the faithful in the Church “support the pastoral work of promoting vocations in the Dioceses and foster an acceptance of all vocations, especially those to the ordained ministry, the consecrated life and missionary work” (Ibid., n. 51c). In our Diocese, the Institute of Saint Joseph, the Serra Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, the Catholic Order of Foresters, and the National Catholic Society of Foresters are strongly committed to the vocational apostolate. I am deeply grateful to them.

Office for Vocations and for Consecrated Life

The Diocese of La Crosse gives fitting emphasis to the vocational apostolate through the constant work of the Offices for Vocations and for the Consecrated Life. The Office for Vocations principally helps me in the promotion of priestly vocations. Under the direction of Father Joseph W. Hirsch, the Office of Vocations is in regular communication with those who have expressed an interest in the priestly vocation and assists our seminarians as they respond to the vocation. The Office also sponsors various activities throughout the year, which help young men to consider God’s call to the priesthood. I refer especially to the Evenings with the Bishop, Dare To Follow Days and the Threshold Retreat. Father Hirsch is also actively engaged in promoting the participation of young men of the Diocese in the informational weekends sponsored by the two college seminaries that our seminarians attend, Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona and Saint John Vianney Seminary in St. Paul. Please contact Father Hirsch about any question you may have in the matter of the promotion of priestly vocations (608-791-2666).

Sister M. Regina van den Berg, FSGM, Director of the Office of the Consecrated Life, works with Father Hirsch in promoting vocations to the consecrated life. Various activities are planned, inviting the participation of the different institutes of consecrated life. Come and See Days and Evenings with the Bishop are scheduled during the year for young women to raise in their minds the possibility of God’s call to the consecrated life. Please contact Sister M. Regina regarding any question you may have in the matter of the promotion of vocations to the consecrated life (608-791-2690).

Holy Cross Seminary House of Formation and Mater Redemptoris House of Formation not only provide appropriate formation and education for high-school students interested in the priesthood or consecrated life, they also serve as centers which young people may visit either individually or in groups to seek a deeper understanding of God’s call. Father Hirsch and Sister M. Regina will be able to arrange for visits to either House of Formation.

I refer you to the legislation found in Synod V Acts, which sets forth a clear and sound direction for the vocational apostolate in the Diocese of La Crosse (pp. 416-417, nn.76-93). The Synod V Acts provide a full presentation on the vocational apostolate in the Diocese, which I have described only briefly here.

Conclusion

Because of the importance of National Vocation Awareness Week for us all and because prayer is the foundation of the apostolate of vocations to the priesthood or consecrated life, I will celebrate the Holy Mass for the whole Diocese at 2 p.m. this coming Sunday, January 11, at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman, praying that the young men and women whom God is calling to the priesthood or consecrated life will respond faithfully and generously to God’s call. All the faithful of the Diocese are invited to the Mass. Please take part, if possible.

I am pleased that my second-to-last Mass as Bishop of La Crosse at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman, that is the last Mass before my Mass of Thanksgiving on January 18, will be part of the National Vocation Awareness Week. There is no more important and critical work for the Bishop than to promote vocations. Please join me for the celebration of the Mass on January 18. Please pray daily in your homes that our children and young people will come to know God’s plan for them, and that all the faithful may be confirmed in fidelity to their vocations.