Mass for the Vocation Directors of Australia

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at Saint Francis’ Church, Melbourne,
on Tuesday, 27th September, 2005, at 5.30pm

Introduction

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

With esteem and joy I come to celebrate with you the Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, the apostle of the poor, founder of the Vincentians and, with Louise de Marillac, articulate guide in the spiritual life of both women and men alike.

As we bring the future hopes of our Church and our congregations and dioceses to the Lord in this powerful encounter, let us, as the Giver of every good gift, inspire in the hearts of young and old alike a deep desire to know and serve Jesus Christ, to reach out to him in others, and through the gift of celibate love to be given as victims for him and for his Church.

Though with Saint Paul we acknowledge our weakness, we do know also the strength that comes from the Lord, as we call to mind or sins and beg his mercy and forgiveness.

Homily

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Gospel we have just read, appropriate as it is to Saint Vincent de Paul and his compassion for the poor and thirst for labourers in the Lord’s vineyard, is singularly appropriate for our gathering of Vocation Directors, supported by the regular congregation at Saint Francis’, as we come to encounter Our Lord, the giver of every gift, and as we consider the specific role, which we as Vocation Directors have in our dioceses and religious congregations.

Indeed it is in placing ourselves under the mantle of the Lord that we seek with all the means open to us to provide the opportunity for others to respond to the Lord.

For us this already means in the daily crucifixion of perseverance to live the special relationship, which Jesus in his early life established with some of his disciples. He called them not only to welcome the kingdom of God into their own lives, but also to put their lives at its service, leaving everything behind and closely imitating his own way of life.

For both religious life and diocesan priesthood we have been invited to live a life in the image of Christ because of a special gift of the Spirit. Our acceptance of the gift of chastity for the kingdom of heaven means that we are laying aside self and self-indulgence and comfort in its most radical form in order to follow Christ and to be given as victims for the life of the world.

For priests, this means not merely acting in the person of Christ at the altar, but being given to sacramentalise and focus on Christ the whole of our lives, so that our hearts may be open to see Christ in our sisters and brothers and to gather them by holiness, teaching and service to the fullness of life, which Christ promised.

For religious, beginning with chastity, which is a radical giving of self, we become surrounded for a moment by the splendour of the Trinitarian life and of the communion of saints, as it were caught up in the horizon of eternity, but are brought back to daily reality where we see Jesus only in the lowliness of our human nature and are invited to return to the valley to share with him the toil of God’s plan and to set off courageously in the way of the Cross.

For us all an appropriate simplicity of life ensures that our words and deeds remain consonant with each other. Indeed fulfilling the mission given us by the Saviour. For religious a vowed acceptance of poverty, imitating the emptying of self and being filled with Christ that is at the foundation of our being and of our witness to the Church, a living of the common life which again at times can be crucifying, but is a further expression of allowing our poverty to be enriched by others.

Lastly, in obedience we are invited to fulfil the mission given by Christ and the Church through our religious congregation, just as Jesus was perfectly open to fulfilling the Father’s will. Indeed, his poverty and abasement and obedience are the light which shines through our efforts to follow him and thus to embrace our sisters and brothers.

Pope John Paul gives this invitation to have that which must inspire our ministry, to avoid the distractions of the convenient following of what is relevant, or being not very different from secular social workers, with secular interests and focus. He says as the Year of the Eucharist comes to an end asking us to continue its impetus.

“The call to holiness is accepted and can be cultivated only in the silence of adoration before the infinite transcendence of God: we must confess that we all have need of this silence filled with the presence of him who is adored: in theology, so as to exploit fully its own sapiential and spiritual soul; in prayer, so that we may never forget that seeing God means coming down the mountain with a face so radiant that we are obliged to cover it with a veil ( Cf. Ex 34:33); in commitment, so that we will refuse to be locked in a struggle without love and forgiveness. All, believers and non-believers alike, need to learn a silence that allows the other to speak when and how he wishes and allows us to understand his words.” ( John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 32) ( John Paul II, Vita Consecrata, 38)

Dear friends, the invitation to vocation that we give like the words of Christ to the rich young man, ‘come and see’, is an invitation to a holiness so radical and explosive that it will bring Christ to the world, enliven the Church and ensure that the Gospel of salvation accepted humbly will flourish in ways we have not even begun to imagine.

Thank you for your constancy and faithfulness, for your love of the Church and for your readiness to walk the unknown paths that God has for all of us. May he who is our sufficiency, our light and our truth guide us now and always.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.