I know my own

Every year, on the fourth Sunday of the Easter season, the Church celebrates the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  This is usually the day when I tend to think about my own priesthood: about the call from God that was whispered in my ear.  I didn’t answer it right away; in fact, I would say that each day, God continues to whisper in my ear, to invite me to be a priest, and each day, I need to respond to that whisper: I need to say yes to the many ways that Jesus calls me to lay down my life for his people (cf Jn 10:11).

Some of the tasks that Jesus places in my path bring great joy, but others are not easy.  The reality is that over the twenty-five years of my priesthood, the number of priests who are serving in this diocese has declined.  There are about half the number of priests today compared with the number of priests there were then.  The decline in numbers is also being experienced in other dioceses and it is not confined merely to priests: there is also a decline in the number of Religious men and women, by which I mean Sisters, priests and Brothers who belong to various Orders.

Why has this happened?  Has God stopped whispering in the ears of our young people, or is there some other reason?  In truth, I believe that there are a number of reasons, each of which adds another layer to the puzzle.  I do not believe that God has stopped whispering, but perhaps we have forgotten how to listen for these whispers, or perhaps we have grown deaf to them because they are drowned out by competing noises.  Saint John says in today’s second reading that we are all children of God (1 Jn 3:1), but the world does not know us as such because the world no longer seems to know him.

How many of our family members and friends were Baptized and raised with faith as part of their lives, yet have forgotten how to listen for God’s whispers?  There are at least two (if not three) generations of people who now believe that faith is a private matter between God and me, or that it’s not so important for me to make time to be part of a faith community – except perhaps at Christmas or Easter.  Isn’t it funny how so many people have managed to fill up the space that would once have been considered Sacred with so many other activities that they readily admit that they are too busy to find time to take part in a local parish community?  Does this mean that the Church has somehow failed to communicate the fact that we are all precious children of God, or is it simply a matter of convenience that so many people seem to want to pick and choose the elements of faith that are convenient?

It’s difficult at times for us to see these realities in a positive light, but could it be that we are living in a time when persecution is not so much a matter of physical conflict but rather a matter of apathy?  If this is the case, then we must listen all the more for the whispers of God’s voice, prompting us to boldly proclaim the truths that we believe.  Like the apostles Peter and John, people may try to ignore what we have to say about our faith (cf Acts 4:7) but we must always be willing to bravely testify to our faith.  Like Peter, we must courageously tell others that Jesus, the stone that was rejected by the builders, has become the cornerstone (Acts 4:11).  Jesus needs each one of us to joyfully respond to the whispers he shares with us, to share the news of our faith with those we meet, and to encourage others to do the same.