Vocations
a Sermon by Father Hervé de la Tour
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Dear People,
Today I would like to say a few words about vocations. This will be, first of all, for you young men and women who have to answer the difficult question regarding the choice of a state of life, but also for you parents so that you will be better enabled to foster vocations among your children.
First, what is a vocation? Let us open the Gospel and read one page which explains the exact nature of a vocation:
"A certain man came one day to Jesus and asked Him this question: 'Good Master, what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?' And the Savior replied by telling him to keep the Commandments. The young man evidently was not satisfied with 'this answer. "All these things have I kept from my youth, what yet is wanting in me?" In other words he meant to ask, "Is that all? Is there nothing more, nothing further that I can do?" And then Jesus, as well as St. Mark tell us, looked at him and loved him and said to him: "One thing is wanting in thee. If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Me." St. Matthew continues: "And when the young man had heard this word, he went away sad, for he had great possessions."
So, you have listened to the story of a vocation. Alas, in this case the vocation was refused, but happily many vocations are accepted. Therefore, a vocation is a divine invitation to a higher life, a life out of the world; a calling to a life in which we not only observe the Ten Commandments but also the evangelical counsels (chastity, poverty, obedience). It is a calling to a life of greater intimacy with Our Lord; a life in which we get rid of everything which can prevent us from loving Our Lord.
There are several kinds of vocations: the priesthood, the brotherhood, and the sisterhood. Election of God is a special choice . . . a choice of love. The religious life or the priesthood is a more perfect state of life. Marriage is a very good thing, but the religious life is better. Let us meditate of these vocations.
The Priesthood
The Curé of Ars used to say "A priest will never understand himself well on earth. If the priest understood himself well, he would die. Yes, die; not out of fear, but out of love from realizing how much God has given to him."
Remember, dear people, that the priest mounts the steps to the altar every day to renew the Sacrifice of the Cross in an unbloody manner. Suscipe sancta Trinitas . . . As Our Lady at Bethlehem held in her arms the Baby Jesus, so likewise the priest, after the consecration, holds in his hands his beloved Savior. In Confession, sometimes a sinful life of thirty years, the most horrible crimes or murders, are washed away by the hands of the priest. What an immense joy to give peace and happiness back to souls! When you feel the burden of your sins you may go to the angels if you wish, and say: "Please St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, mighty Archangels, absolve me from my sins!" They will reply: "We cannot. We are not priests. Only priests have the God-given power to absolve sins."
Remember that all the happy events of your life are connected with the priest: your baptism, your First Communion, your confessions or your marriage. At the hour of your death who will be there to console you and to help you pass from this life of sorrow into the eternal life of heaven? Again, it will be the priest. See the importance of the priesthood? In order to grasp a little of what a priest is, one must be a priest himself. My dear boys who are listening to me, I wish you could know the joys of offering the first Mass and giving the first blessing.
The Religious Life
Let us meditate now on another vocation, which is the religious life. You know the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. In the natural body, all members are not hands; some are the feet, for instance. Likewise, in the Church all members are not priests. There are other members who have other functions. Often the modern world does not understand the religious life. People say: "It is useless to be shut in a cloister. It is more important to preach the Gospel!" But, dear people, a priest surely can preach, hear confessions, give advice, etc., but all this acts upon the hearts of men from without. Only God can move the heart of a sinner to repentance from within, by the power of grace. And who will merit these graces of conversion? Monks and nuns who pray for the salvation of souls.
Let me give you two examples:
Once, a missionary priest was very successful in his apostolate. He was converting thousands of sinners. Do you think that these wonderful results were to be attributed to his natural eloquence? Not at all, but only to the prayer of a humble religious Brother that the priest always took with him. This Brother, hidden behind the pulpit, prayed during the sermons of the priest and attracted the grace of God down on the hearers.
It was revealed that by one single burning prayer, St. Theresa of Avila converted 10,000 heretics. See the power of the prayer of religious!
And even if there were no souls to convert, to pray for, there would still be the religious life. Why? Because prayer, before being intercession, is above all, adoration. God infinitely desires that creatures surrender themselves, consecrate themselves entirely, forever and exclusively, to contemplate, love and praise Him. God is infinite in His perfections; He is the Lord, the Absolute Good, sovereignly desirable. In short, God is ALL, and because He is ALL, He deserves to be given all. And until the end of the world, there will be souls who will be caught up and ravished by the beauty and goodness of God and will desire to live for Him alone and therefore, will enter the monastery or convent just to gaze upon Him and to love Him. These souls begin to do on earth what will make our happiness forever in heaven.
Dear girls who are listening to me, do not think that in order to be a nun you have to give up fulfilling the aspirations of being a woman. Yes, a nun also is both a spouse and mother. Sisters are really the Brides of Our Lord. The best proof is that the bishop gives them a wedding ring to symbolize their union with Our Lord. In the order of Carmel, they even wear a wedding gown on the day they receive the habit. In an earthly marriage, you marry a simple mortal. But in the religious life, you marry Our Lord Himself, the King of Kings, your loving Savior. What a sublime vocation! God is never outdone in generosity, so if an earthly husband can love his wife so much, how much more can God love the one who gave up the world in order to love Him alone!
Once, a father was telling someone: "I have four daughters; three are married and one is a sister." He should have said: "I've four daughters and all four a married; and one is more married than the others!" Yes, because the union between Jesus and His mystical bride, between the Savior and His Church, is the reality represented by the Sacrament of Matrimony. The reality is more important than its sign.
Sisters are also mothers of souls. Listen to this episode in the life of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus:
There was at the time a criminal called Pranzini, a man responsible for several murders, who had been captured and sentenced to death. He was to be guillotined. Now the chaplain who visited him in prison had never succeeded in making him regret his crimes. Pranzini received him with arrogance and sent him away without showing a shadow of repentance. The young Teresa heard talk about the notorious criminal, she was moved by compassion, and she asked God for a sign of his conversion. The day after his execution she opened the newspapers and read an account of his last moments. Pranzini had mounted the scaffold without confession, without absolution. The chaplain behind him was holding a crucifix in his hand when suddenly the condemned man turned round and kissed three times the crucifix which the priest offered him. She said: "The lips of my first child went to press themselves on the Divine wounds. What an ineffable reply! Ah, since that unique grace, my desire to save souls has grown day by day." Theresa was fifteen years old. The following year she entered Carmel.
Notice: ". . . the lips of my first child." See that a nun is truly the spiritual mother of many souls.
In conclusion, I want to give you some practical advice. First of all, how can we know whether or not we have a vocation? Do not imagine that you will hear a little voice ringing in your ears one day, telling you "You must be a priest," or that one night a beautiful angel will wake you up and tell you, "Come, God wants you to become a nun." No, the idea of a vocation will enter your mind just as an ordinary holy thought, such as an inspiration to pray or to go to confession.
But, are there at least some signs which can give you a good indication? Yes, in fact the only one the Church gives is good intention: to want to be a priest to save souls; to want to be a brother to help the Church; to want to be a sister to love God, to teach children, etc. All these are good intentions which, of course, need to be controlled by your spiritual director. Then you must be fit for the vocation (if you want to be a priest you need to be able to complete the studies; if you want to be a teaching sister you need to love children, etc.).
Then, you must be ready to accept all the sacrifices which will be asked of you because the priesthood or the religious life is a life of self denial. If you show the signs of a vocation, you can give yourself to God in complete peace of conscience. Our Lord is calling for volunteers. Remember His words: "If thou wilt be perfect, come and follow Me." God is calling many more than we think. St. John Bosco, a man of great experience, once said: "On the whole, one of out three." In large families of six, eight, twelve children, with good parents, no doubt God will call many. But alas, the little seed is sometimes choked by the thorns. Many teenagers have the desire to enter the seminary, or the monastery or the convent when they are young and then the world takes over their hearts. Dating, parties, worldly pleasures . . . all seem enjoyable and the devil and our weak nature persuade us that it is impossible to give them up. That is why several young men and women turn a deaf ear to Our Lord's voice. St. Bernard compares vocations to boats on the sea when there is a storm. Many sink; few happen to reach the harbor. Dear boys and girls, do not be afraid of sacrifice. We need so many priests, brothers, and sisters!
Finally, I would like to point out that despite the trials that priests and nuns have (but who does not have to suffer here below in this vale of tears: ask your parents if there is not suffering in marriage also!) despite our trials, we have the immense joy of having given ourselves to God. We are busy with the only really important business here below—to love God and to make Him loved. We spend our life in a profound peace and happiness. Remember these words of Our Lord: "Come to Me and I will refresh you. You shall find rest for your souls, for My yoke is sweet and My burden light."
"Everyone that hath left house, or brethren, of sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake shall receive [already here below] a hundredfold and shall possess life everlasting."
Let us pray to Our Lord so that He may give us many vocations!
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