Pope calls on Church to go “Forth,” proposes vocation as “Exodus” for young people with shattered “Dreams”

Apr 15, 2015

VATICAN CITY: In his message for the 52nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations on the fourth Sunday of Easter (26 April), Pope Francis said for the Church to “go forth” carrying her proclamation into the world, unconcerned about herself, it needs vocations, people willing to pass over, to experience the exodus rooted in Jesus Christ, in “the service of the growth of God’s Kingdom on earth".

Released today by the Vatican Press Office, the message is aimed particularly at the “young, whose youth and openness to the future makes them open-hearted and generous. At times uncertainty, worries about the future and the problems they daily encounter can risk paralyzing their youthful enthusiasm and shattering their dreams, to the point where they can think that it is not worth the effort to get involved, that the God of the Christian faith is somehow a limit on their freedom.”

“Dear young friends, never be afraid to go out from yourselves and begin the journey! The Gospel is the message which brings freedom to our lives; it transforms them and makes them all the more beautiful."

For Francis, “the Christian vocation is necessarily born of the experience of mission. [. . .] To offer one’s life in mission is possible only if we are able to leave ourselves behind”. In this sense, “exodus” [. . .] is the heart of vocation, or better yet, of our response to the vocation God gives us.”

"At the root of every Christian vocation we find this basic movement,” the pontiff said, “which is part of the experience of faith. Belief means transcending ourselves, leaving behind our comfort and the inflexibility of our ego in order to centre our life in Jesus Christ. It means leaving, like Abraham, our native place and going forward with trust, knowing that God will show us the way to a new land. This “going forward” is not to be viewed as a sign of contempt for one’s life, one’s feelings, one’s own humanity. On the contrary, those who set out to follow Christ find life in abundance by putting themselves completely at the service of God and his kingdom.”

"He leads us beyond our initial situation, frees us from every enslavement, breaks down our habits and our indifference, and brings us to the joy of communion with him and with our brothers and sisters. Responding to God’s call, then, means allowing him to help us leave ourselves and our false security behind, and to strike out on the path which leads to Jesus Christ, the origin and destiny of our life and our happiness."

For the Holy Father, "This exodus process does not regard individuals alone, but the missionary and evangelizing activity of the whole Church. The Church is faithful to her Master to the extent that she is a Church which “goes forth”, a Church which is less concerned about herself, her structures and successes, and more about her ability to go out and meet God’s children wherever they are, to feel compassion (com-passio) for their hurt and pain."

"To hear and answer the Lord’s call is not a private and completely personal matter fraught with momentary emotion. Rather, it is a specific, real and total commitment which embraces the whole of our existence and sets it at the service of the growth of God’s Kingdom on earth.” Hence, "A disciple of Jesus has a heart open to his unlimited horizons, and friendship with the Lord never means flight from this life or from the world.”

After urging young people to respond to the call, so that their life may “become richer and more joyful each day," the message ended with an appeal to Mary, "model of every vocation."

“Let us turn to her, so that we may be completely open to what God has planned for each one of us, so that we can grow in the desire to go out with tender concern towards others (cf. Lk 1:39). May the Virgin Mary protect and intercede for us all.”--Asia News