Good Counsel Needed for Vocations, Says Pope Benedict
Good spiritual counsel and thoughtful parents go far in helping a young person discern a calling to religious life or the priesthood, Pope Benedict XVI said at his Jan. 15 Sunday Angelus address.
“I would like to emphasize the critical role of spiritual guidance in the journey of faith and, in particular, in response to the vocation of special consecration for the service of God and his people,” the Pope said.
A “Big Brother” Important
“God’s call to follow Jesus more closely, giving up forming their own family to dedicate themselves to the great family of the Church, is normally done through the testimony and proposal from a ‘big brother,’ usually a priest.”
Also instrumental in the process, the Holy Father said, were parents, “who by their genuine faith and joyful married love, show children that it is beautiful and possible to build all your life on the love of God.”
The Pope spoke from his apartment high above St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, and reflected how, in the reading of that day, the Gospel tells that John the Baptist identified Jesus as “the Lamb of God” on the banks of the River Jordan. Thus he acted in the “role of mediator,” leading two of his disciples to discern that they must now follow Christ.
Another mediator, as shown in the first reading of the day’s Mass, is the high priest Eli who advises Samuel that it is God, and not he who is calling him in the night. Samuel takes his advice and, on the fourth occasion of being called, replies, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”
The Pope concluded his comments by entrusting all educators, “especially priests and parents,” to the Virgin Mary as they help young people discern their vocation in life.
Read the complete article in the National Catholic Register.
Read also on this website, Formation With the Dominican Sisters.
