Year III, Number 17

"I will give you shepherds after my own heart" (Jer. 3:15).

In these words from the prophet Jeremiah, God promises his people that he will never leave them without shepherds to gather them together and guide them: "I will set shepherds over them [my sheep] who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed (Jer. 23.4).

The Church, the People of God, constantly experiences the reality of this prophetic message and continues joyfully to thank God for it. She knows that Jesus Christ himself is the living, supreme and definitive fulfillment of God's promise: "I am the good shepherd" (Jn. 10:11). He, "the great shepherd of the sheep" (Heb. 13:20), entrusted to the apostles and their successors the ministry of shepherding God's flock (cf. Jn. 21:15ff.; 1 Pt. 5:2).

Without priests the Church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt. 28:19) and "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk. 22:19; cf. 1 Cor. 11.24), i.e:, an obedience to the command to announce the Gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.

By faith we know that the Lord's promise cannot fail. This very promise is the reason and force underlying the Church's rejoicing at the growth and increase of priestly vocations now taking place in some parts of the world. It is also the foundation and impulse for a renewed act of faith and fervent hope in the face of the grave shortage of priests which is being felt in other parts of the world. Everyone is called upon to share complete trust in the unbroken fulfillment of God's promise, which the synod fathers expressed in clear and forceful terms: "The synod, with complete trust in the promise of Christ who has said: 'Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age' (Mt. 28:20), and aware of the constant activity of the Holy Spirit in the Church, firmly believes that there will never be a complete lack of sacred ministers in the Church.... Even though in a number of regions there is a scarcity of clergy, the action of the Father, who raises up vocations, will nonetheless always be at work in the Church."

Q. Hi, thanks so much for all this information. I am a 15-year-old girl who is very familiar with your order. I am confused right now because while I feel God is asking me to open my heart to religious life, it is the last thing in the world I would ever have chosen for my self. I first felt a calling at a Convention I attended, in which Fr. Maciel’s vocation story was told. I cried all night about it, I was absolutely devastated by the thought; it was as if God was asking me to give up my entire life, and everything that I love. I have talked about it with my spiritual director and she counseled me to be open and just give God a chance, that he may only be asking for my Generosity, and that if I do have a vocation that he will supply the all the joy I could ask for. My question is, are people with vocations really happy or do they just convince themselves that they are? And is it a sin for me to be so upset about God possibly giving me such a wonderful and beautiful gift? I honestly do believe that a vocation is a wonderful gift, I just don’t want it. -Kim

A. Dear Kim: You’re wonderful! You have put your finger on something major. I think you have put into words what a lot of other readers are thinking of and going through, and I am sure they are thanking you right now for saying it so clearly and honestly. I just hope I can answer in a way that will help you and them.

First off, you have to understand how we are made. We are much more in tune with the world around us than with spiritual things. Through our senses we see, hear, feel, touch, smell, talk, enjoy all those things that go on around us. Anything else seems too abstract and not really real. That is why when all our friends are going to a certain movie and our parents say we can’t, we don’t readily see why, we just want to do what everyone else is doing, and have fun with them. But when we start considering what is right or wrong, honest or dishonest, we enter into a new dimension of reality, and sometimes it means we part ways with people we thought were our friends. As we mature humanly we put less emphasis on what our senses and feelings tell us, and what is right and good becomes more important in our life.

On top of this our faith brings us into a whole different and new reality. If you have faith, you know that what you receive in Communion is not bread but the Body of Christ, and even though you can’t see or taste the difference, you treat it differently, you adore it because it is Christ really present. Our faith tells us the truth about our life, why we are here on earth, what matters, what is most important, how Christ has loved us. But the big problem for us is that we don’t reach faith through our senses. A chocolate sundae is always going exert a certain appeal that any abstract spiritual principle, no matter how beautiful it might be, just cannot seem to match in the same way. That is just the way God made us.

Now let’s get back to your question. What you are in the middle of is the struggle we all have of letting go, putting what pleases us immediately into perspective, realizing that there is another dimension to happiness that is much deeper than what appeals to us superficially. We can’t imagine there is more than we can see or feel right now, but our faith tells us something different, so none of it all makes much sense to us.

So I would say that what you are going through is not of itself a struggle with a vocation, but the struggle involved in maturing spiritually, in beginning to put Christ in first place, and practicing trust in him that he is all that matters, that he will give us true happiness.

And so my advice to you would be: don’t focus specifically on the vocation now. Read the Gospel and tell Christ that you want to get to know him, and love him. Ask for this grace. It is the center of our faith, and the only real problem we have to solve. All the rest will take care of itself once you begin to get to know and love Christ.

Please write back if you have a follow-up question. God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr. Bannon,

I have been considering the priesthood as my vocation for some time. I am 15. Sometimes I have felt that it is, and other times that it isn't my vocation. When I think of what service I could be to others as a priest it makes me happier. So, here is my question. How do I know if I am called to the diocesan priesthood or the religious priesthood? I understand vocation is a gift from God, but how do I respond to it as a priest. Let me explain. When I look at my particular diocese I see the need for many good priests assisting these people. When I see my school I see many who do not know Christ and need spiritual guidance. I see all these problems in my own diocese and I want to fix them.

On the other hand, maybe I can serve Christ as a priest in the Legion of Christ. Maybe I just would like to be a part of a religious order whose mission is to actively evangelize the Church. It is the Legion that really got me excited about the priesthood. If I were in the Legion I might be able to serve Christ well as well. Can you help me? Thanks.

A. If you become a diocesan priest there will be a lot of work for you to do, you will serve Christ well and you will do much good. If you become a Legionary the same is true.

If you look around you and see all the needs there are you will also immediately realize that there is no way you can do everything, respond to every need and solve every problem. It may be frustrating but it is true that in order to do the good that God is calling you to, you will always have to leave much more undone. That is how limited we are as humans! The most we can aspire to do is the little bit (and it really is tiny) that God wants from us, and with our prayer and sacrifice in union with Christ make the effect of our little and poor work infinite through association with him.

So the question to ask yourself is, Where does God want me to be? Try to see what are the needs that touch your heart the most -- this is one of the ways he has of telling you what he would like you to do, what part of his vineyard has he called you to. Try to see where it is that you experience, "this is where I was made for, this is home" -- not that it is going to be easy. Do not mistake thinking something is going to be easy (no vocation is, not even marriage) with where you were meant to be.

So if you don't already have a good idea of where God wants you to be, go visit your two options. Speak to the people in charge in each place, meet the seminarians, spend time in prayer, live their life a little, and see where you are more "at home", where the thirst that God has placed in your soul finds satisfaction. And again, both ways of life, the diocesan and religious priesthood, are going to mean great sacrifice and enormous generosity if you are going to do it right.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

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Introduction: "Then Peter said, 'What about us? We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have then?'" (Mt 19: 27). A reasonable question: a question Jesus desired, since following him is the road to total self-fulfillment, and not an exercise in spiritual masochism.

Gospel Passage: Lk 12: 32-34

"Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

1. He is no fool.

A missionary, Jim Elliot, slain by Indians in South America, wrote the following in his diary before he was killed: "He is no fool to give up what he can't keep in order to gain what he can't lose."

How difficult it can seem to renounce so much in order to become a priest! The tantalizing allurements of pleasure, power and money; not to mention the goodness of marriage, family and children, all cry out to us: "Wait, don't rush your decision. Think about us." So much to give up.

I recall a young bank executive who came on retreat with me who had renounced a million dollar salary in order to follow his vocation. The newspaper had printed the sensational news, journalists assailed him during lunch at a restaurant, friends urged him to reconsider and even "religious" people told him to be prudent.

"I want to be sure that I'm doing the right thing," he said. "Yet, then I ask myself the question, 'What security will I have if I put my trust in the world, money, power, pleasures and even in human love?'"

"He is no fool to give up what he can't keep in order to gain what he can't lose."

Our problem is not that we want security, but that we are content with too little security. We don't seem to grasp the fleeting nature of our earthly hopes of security, and we certainly do not faintly perceive the basis for security that Jesus Christ is offering. Try reading the reply of Jesus as if you were reading it for the first time and allow your soul to be struck with amazement: "I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life." (Mt. 19: 28-29)

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory).

"Hence, do not go after what the world promises you. Rather, consider that which the Creator of the world promises." (St. Augustine)

2. How could I doubt you?

Can you now impel yourself, my heart, above your futile fears and rise to think of who it is who calls you? The moment has come to be still; it is now that, in fullness of heart and with confidence unbounded, I turn my gaze to you, Jesus Christ:

How could I doubt you, Jesus? Since it is you who calls me, what can cause me to fear?

How could I doubt you, Jesus, who not only shed your blood for me, rose for me and wants only that I be with you, "The Love that moves the sun and all the other stars"?

What can come between you and me? Can death or life, anything that exists, anything still to come, any power or person, friend or foe, hope or fear, sorrow or delight, ever, ever separate me from you?

How could I doubt you when I have the power of your resurrection flowing through my veins?

How could I doubt you when I see you say to your Mother, "Behold your son?"

How could I doubt you when I look at Peter and John and the other apostles, flesh and blood like me, who followed you and received the hundredfold in this life and eternity?

How could I doubt when I see through the pages of history the martyrs - and among them so many young beautiful girls and young courageous soldiers - give their lives for you joyfully?

How could I doubt when I look at Benedict and Francis, Dominic and Ignatius, Francis Xavier and Don Bosco, two thousand years of saints marching joyfully towards eternal life?

How could I doubt when I gaze on you present in the tabernacle knowing that you are there to be with me?

You cried out to Peter amid the darkness of the night over Lake Galilee, "Do not be afraid!" I hear you say the same to me as you call me to place my security in you.

My heart, has anyone who placed his security in him ever been betrayed? Can I too not say with St. Augustine: "God is not a deceiver, that he should offer to support us, and then, when we lean upon him, should slip away from us."

QUESTIONNAIRE

To help you to examine your life, in the light of the inspirations God just gave you in these moments you shared with him.

1. Have I ever spent fifteen minutes reflecting on the "length" of eternal life?

2. Is it possible that anyone who is generous with Christ should be deceived?

3. What generous next step in my vocation have I been putting off? Why not tell Jesus Christ, "I trust you," and do it?

I find it incredible that some who call themselves Christians and say that they hope in eternal life (at least they repeat this in their profession of faith at Sunday Mass: “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come”), live a lifestyle as if all their hope were really consumed in this present world. And yet, if you look at everything around you, you will not find anything that is lasting, nothing that can give you a deep and unshakable security: money, fame, knowledge, power, your amusements and pastimes, your friendships, your career, your social status, even your own family. All the realities of this world, removed from their relationship with the Creator, can only offer you passing and superficial satisfaction. When all is said and done they are all finite, limited, temporal creatures. How is it that some people blindly spend their time in the sole concern of accumulating riches, eagerly seeking prestige and power, trying to satisfy any pleasure they can find?

At the very least, it seems infantile and immature to me, rather like a mountain-climber who wants to scale Mount Everest, who spends his whole life getting together his equipment, implements and provisions, and boasts that he has the best ice ax, but who never actually sets out on the trek to the top.

You have accepted the ideal of living and bringing others to live an integral Christianity, you need to set your heart on God; you have to “aspire to the things that are above,” and to be able to put the things on earth in their proper place. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” said the Lord. (Mt 6:21) He then invited his listeners to center their concern on storing treasures up in heaven and not on earth, trusting in the most loving providence of God the Father, who feeds the birds of the sky and clothes the lilies of the field

Jesus Christ calls whomever he wants. Your vocation has nothing to do with your defects, imperfections or failings. Christ does not call saints, the pure and unfailingly perfect. As we see in the Gospel, he calls whomever he pleases, among whom we find some better and some worse, but all are full of weakness and defects. A vocation is an unearned gift and not an award for merits done. Do not fall back on your faults and imperfections to doubt God's call. Remember that God has loved you exceedingly, not because of your qualities, but out of his total, free goodness.

I love you Lord, for the great gift of the Priesthood,
this mystery of power that you have placed
in my trembling hands.
The gift of your forgiveness
which releases the tide of your grace
into the ocean of our misery.
I tremble before the greatness of this mystery,
for I carry your treasure in a vessel of clay.
I love you Lord,
for you have chosen me from among all others
to reap and gather
your golden harvest.
For you have chosen me with a three-fold love,
like Peter's,
to lead your human flock up your high paths.

I know, Lord,
that you have made me a bridge between
you and your people,
that I will be a sign of contradiction,
and they may even crucify me,
like your Son, my Lord Jesus Christ.
I am your messenger,
coming from the light, all made of light,
and sent to this world that lies in the grip
of an endless night.

I shall make your word prevail,
and what do I care, Lord,
if hatred should flare up against me,
if above all I have you, and you alone are all I need?

Upcoming Events & Retreats

(( Listed here are retreats directed by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members. For a listing of diocesan activities and other events, click here to go to the vocation.com website ))

LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST

Atlanta, GA, June 6-17, "Come and See" Program. Contact Fr Patrick Murphy, (678) 428-6348. pmurphy@legionaries.org

Los Angeles, CA, June 6-17, "Come and See" Program. Contact Fr Thomas Maher, (509) 780-8130. tmaher@legionaries.org

Cheshire, CT, June 6-17, "Come and See" Program. Contact Br Shane Johnson, (800) 420-5409. vocation@legionaries.org

Edgerton, WI, June 6-17, "Come and See" Program. Contact Br Chad Wahl, (608) 884-8856. cwahl@legionaries.org

CANDIDACY. June 6 - August 26 in Cheshire, CT. Visit any time! No cost. For more details visit www.legionofchrist.org or call (800) 420-5409.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated women

Los Angeles, June 1-15. "Open Your Doors" retreat for women ages 17-30. Contact Magdalena Faine, (562) 400-3362. mfaine@inteducators.org

Syracuse, NY, June 1. Half-day retreat for women ages 17-30. Contact Laura Mayers, (914) 522-5506. lmayers@inteducators.org

Ottawa, June 16. Half-day retreat for women ages 17-30. Contact Lourdes Cano, (612) 205-7566. lcano@inteducators.org

CANDIDACY. June 28 - August 10 in Greenville, RI. Visit any time! For more information, visit www.regnumchristi.org or call (401) 378-3201.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony McDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. info@ytm.org

ShoreLines welcomes your questions and comments at questions@shorelines.org. If you do not specify otherwise, your question may be posted in the Vocations Q&A section.

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Copyright 2004, Legion of Christ.

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