Year IV, Number 27

Young friends, in the days and weeks and years ahead, for as long as you remember this evening, remember that the Pope came to the United States, to the City of St. Louis, to call the young people of America to Christ, to invite you to follow him. He came to challenge you to be the light of the world! “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it” (Jn 1:5). Jesus who has conquered sin and death reminds you: “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20). He says: “Courage! It is I; have no fear” (Mk 6:50).

On the horizon of this city stands the Gateway Arch, which often catches the sunlight in its different colors and hues. In a similar way, in a thousand different ways, you must reflect the light of Christ through your lives of prayer and joyful service of others. With the help of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the young people of America will do this magnificently!

Remember: Christ is calling you; the Church needs you; the Pope believes in you and he expects great things of you!

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

1. How does one know if one is called to a more contemplative or a more active life, or even if one is called to religious life at all?

2. Assuming I do have a vocation to some form of religious life, how do I find out where I ought to visit? How do I know which communities are faithful to Church teaching and which are not, and so on? It is difficult for me because I only get one week of vacation a year, and have a good job which I don’t want to lose. If I quit, I would find it very hard to be rehired to the same position, since it probably will be filled. I seem to think most of the time I have a vocation to a more contemplative life, but how do I know which communities to visit? There seem to be so many.

- Nathan

A. Dear Nathan,

You are asking yourself the question, so there may be something there.

At the heart of a particular vocation is an attraction that is not only natural (it seems to go with my temperament) but also spiritual (I can really show Christ my love and serve the Church in this vocation, for example). This has to be tested to see if we have the aptitudes both natural and spiritual for the particular vocation. The testing is in order to see if the attraction I feel is the echo of God’s grace working in my soul and calling me. The first stage of this testing is usually to speak with someone who has experience and the gift of discernment, and that person is most often the vocation director or formation director of the place you are interested in, or your own spiritual director. A second stage is to visit, to have some experience of the life, and on the basis of this experience speak again to that person and continue your own prayer.

You ask which community to visit, since there seem to be so many. I would suggest that you do some reading. It is often through the life of a saint or someone’s biography that we begin to get insights into what God might be doing in our lives. If something special (a mention, a reference, a remembrance) sparked the question about contemplative life look up the order that was connected with it. God usually acts through seemingly “meaningless” secondary causes in this way.

At some stage, when a particular interest has developed and when prudence says it's time to take a bigger step, you will be faced with the big decision of giving up what you have to try this path even though you have no 100% guarantees everything is going to work out. At that stage you will have to trust God and know that whether it works out ultimately that it is your vocation or not, the best decision is to give Christ the benefit of the doubt when we have done all that spiritual prudence counsels.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

My 16-year-old daughter is wondering if she may have a vocation as a nun. Can you help her? As a family, we have been inconsistent in practice recently, yet she still feels drawn. Any advice for Mom? Thank you.

- Barb

A. Dear Mom,

As you can see, a vocation is a gift that God gives freely.

My first advice is that you open your heart to this wakeup call as regards your family’s life of faith. If the family has slipped in its practice recently, your daughter’s vocation may be God’s blessing on your previous efforts and his gentle nudge back to where you belong. The beauty (and at times drama) of the call is going to be played out between your daughter and Christ, but there is no doubt that your prayer and the understanding of the vocation that will come with your returning closer to Christ is going to be a great help and support for her.

If she is interested in a particular order help her to get to know them better, give her the opportunity to go and visit, and perhaps do a retreat. Make sure she continues to grow in a sense of responsibility and she has healthy activity. Continue to protect her from whatever could harm her spiritually. And also, make sure she understands the beauty and goodness of married life so she will realize also the beautiful gift she will give God if she is called to be a nun.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

You must be convinced of this truth: Without your faithful, constant cooperation Christ cannot accomplish what he intends to do with you. You are Christ's hands, feet, eyes, mind, and heart. You are the channels and means he will use to give himself to humanity. Through you he will show people how much he loves them and wants them to love him. Through you he will reveal his mercies. Through you he will sow the peace that the angels announced and promised to men of good will the day he was born, as they sang above his cradle. Through you he will make brothers of all nations, races and social classes, wiping out all envy and hatred, uniting all men in a single heart and a single spirit in his Divine Heart. What a great honor our good Jesus has given you, but what a great responsibility he has placed on your shoulders!

You know what Christ asks of you. You know what he has called us to do.... Our institute has to be great, not in the sense of comparing it to others but in realtion to the internal values it reflects and the works of apostolate it carries out to establish Christ's Kingdom in the world.

Each one, then, ought to do his part and do everything Christ asks of him. Everyone has the duty to grow his own interior life through personal holiness, his brother's life through example, and the life of God's Kingdom through his apostolate. As God gives you power you must give the purity of your lives, the richness of your blood, the clarity of your minds, the goodness of your hearts, the strength of your body, and the energy of your whole self so that Christ's Kingdom will take hold and the great values of the Church will blossom to perfection.

Gospel: Mk 6: 7-13

He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Introductory Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, just as you commissioned the apostles to herald your Kingdom, so you send me into the world today. May I always cling in confidence to the mission you entrust to my hands. Teach me to trust in spite of trials, and to channel my burning love for you by reaching out to souls.

Petition: Lord, as your heart burns for the souls you love and died for, so enflame my heart with this apostolic zeal.

1. “He called the twelve.”

Jesus needs you. He needs his chosen band of faithful apostles to continue the mission of redemption. Jesus Christ has elected to multiply himself through us, to reach thousands of souls by we his emissaries. Christ did not have to do this. He could have decided to fulfill every aspect of salvation by himself, for indeed the saving of souls is the most pressing desire in his heart. Yet Jesus’ love for us is so great, he chose to save man by man. He has entrusted to us the fulfillment of what he desires so greatly. The mission of Christ lies in our hands, and Christ waits for our response.

“From the beginning of his ministry, he “called to him those whom he desired; ...And he appointed twelve, whom also he named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach.” From then on, they would also be his “emissaries” (Greek apostoloi). In them, Christ continues his own mission: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” The apostles’ ministry is the continuation of his mission; Jesus said to the Twelve, “He who receives you receives me” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #858).

2. He Gave Authority

Jesus does not abandon us, however, to complete this task alone. We cling to the confidence of Christ’s constant presence and grace. Alone, we can do nothing, but with Christ we can do anything. Jesus bestows upon us his power and authority to carry out his mission of redemption. We act not of ourselves, but in the name of Jesus Christ. What confidence Christians possess! If Christ is with us, who can be against us? The power of God sustains us and in his name, we shall conquer. All we have to do is trust. Our world today, as far as it has fallen from God, can and will be brought back to Christ, if we get out there and fight. All we have to do is trust. Trust in the omnipotent power of Almighty God.

“It is from God’s love for all men that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, ‘for the love of Christ urges us on.’ But the Church, to whom this truth has been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she believes in God’s universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #851).

3. Take Nothing

Anxiety assuredly flared up in the apostles when Christ told them to take nothing but a staff, sandals and tunic. The orders seem disproportionately inadequate to the magnitude of the mission. Pragmatism and down to earth practicality cringe at the very thought of such rash preparation. Yet if Christ orders it, can trusting Providence be rash?

“Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children’s smallest needs: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?”. . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #305).

How often, Lord Jesus, do I lack trust in you! Increase my trust. I believe I can change this world with nothing but my love for you.

Dialogue: I know, Jesus, that you invite me, as your apostle, to herald your Kingdom among all nations. You entrust me with the graces you won on Calvary. You call me to distribute these fruits of redemption to souls. Teach me to keep my eyes fixed on the mission and not to fall into the crevices of selfishness or laziness. Fortify my trust in you so that in every moment I will feel your presence at my side, pushing me forward to let my burning love for you reach out to souls.

Questionnaire:

1. Christ calls me to continue his mission of redemption. Does the salvation of souls burn within my heart? How does this become a reality in my life?

2. Do I really believe that Christ can change our society today? Does this fill me with joy, enthusiasm and an unwavering hope? What does this move me to do for Christ and his Church?

3. In what ways do I lack trust in God? How do I overcome those fears and respond to my mission?

With Christ, the mission seems to be secondary to the call, while “being with Jesus” emerges as the main element which gives sense to the mission. And he went up into the hills, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3:13-15) He calls each one by name.

At their first calling some of the apostles hear the words follow me and then moments later I will make you fishers of men. Others hear simply the call to follow with no hint given of the future mission, as in the case, for example, of Matthew the tax collector.

We see the same experience in St. Paul. Christ came out to meet him on the road to Damascus. It was a personal encounter in which Paul received for the first time the gift of faith. It was an exclusive encounter because those who were with him only heard the voice but saw nothing: they stood by, speechless, while all this was happening, but we do not hear of any of them changing their ways in the same manner as Paul did. Paul continues that experience of Christ in prayer, and he tells us in his letter to the Galatians how he went away to Arabia for some years, which many commentators say was time of solitude, prayer and penance. No word to him for years of his mission. First he had to get to know Christ intimately in prayer. That was the most important thing.

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

Cheshire, CT, July 25-27, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Br Branigan Sherman at vocation@legionaries.org or at (800) 420-5409. Price: none.

Cornwall, ONT, July 25-27, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Fr William Slattery at wslattery@legionaries.org or at (613) 931-1920. Price: none.

Cheshire, CT, August 15-17, 2003, Test Your Call Retreat. Ages 16-30. Contact Br Branigan Sherman at vocation@legionaries.org or at (800) 420-5409. Price: none.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony MacDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. amacdonnell@arcol.org.

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