Homily for Fourth Sunday of Easter (Vocations Sunday)
Today we are asked to reflect on, and pray for, vocations. Honest reflection refines our prayer. It winnows away the chaff of self-deception. Prayer that evades, or wishes away reality, is mere escapism. In our prayers for vocations we have refined escapism down to a fine art. This must not surprise us. As humans, we are beset with ambiguity. The actor's challenge to his critics could be addressed to us all: 'Let him who is without sin stone the first cast'.
The current 'vocations crisis' has been exhaustively analyzed. Its cultural and social roots have been exposed. Only a fool would ignore such important factors. But as Christians we are not just dealing with a cultural crisis. Something more specific, something deeper, confronts us. And we are obliged to address this issue as passionate believers, not as disinterested social scientists. We are faced with a change in religious sensibility, a marked alteration in the way we feel about our God, our religion and our world. It is not that God has been banished. Far from it. But our aesthetic sense of his place and role in our world has altered. We defer to him as a benign 'Chairman of the Board'. Like all good chairmen, he is not intrusive. He affords each the space to develop, or to die. And there is a certain logic in our tasteful evolution. God is good, we are assured. So we invest him with democratic respectability, and all the civilizing traits of our culture. For instance, our absence from his 'board meetings' won't send him into a flap. Like all enlightened father-figures, he is concerned for our welfare, he will listen to our troubles, but above all, he will mind his own business. He is a 'Santa Claus for all Seasons'.
These aesthetic alterations colour our approach to vocations. It has made a significant contribution to this disturbing truth: neither parents nor their offspring regard the priesthood or religious life as 'being worth the risk' Parents openly admit that they would discourage such a choice. They genuinely seek the best for their children, but, as far as they are concerned, 'the best' doesn't lie down that particular road. Young people are disarmingly open (and selfish) in their stance: the life-style demanded is entirely at odds with their ambitions and expectations. Most have been educated by priests or religious. They hold nothing against them. Neither will they hold much for them! And most parents still want their children educated by religious. However, they would never wish a child of theirs to join them. Prayers for vocations from such confused quarters must require, not the gift of tongues, but the gift of forked tongues! Willing for others what we would not wish upon our own is a dubious type of praying indeed.
Vocations will not rain from the skies at our pious behests or requests. They may 'grow from the ground' if we confront some of our ambiguities and comforting idols. Luther remarked that no one is converted by a sunset. No one is threatened or challenged by our bland 'Chairman' either. The Father sent Jesus to challenge us, not to applaud us. Now the last thing we need, our God needs, is the celestial sheepdog of days gone by. He over- specialized in worrying the flock. The Good Shepherd is more biblical and more promising. And Jesus himself liked it! The Good Shepherd combines gentleness and fierce passion. He leads from the front, ever alert for new pastures for his flock. His voice may be gentle, but he lambasted the hirelings. And, when necessary, he will insert himself between the predator and his prey. He literally lays down his life for his flock. How different to the anemic idol we have fashioned for ourselves.
While mankind has needs, God will call. And those needs are as glaring today as they ever were. St Paul's simple observation has not been blunted by time: 'They will not hear of him unless they get a preacher'. But a believing community must will those preachers and work for them. They will not be plucked like white rabbits from the magician's hat. Nor from the hats of 'Vocations Directors'. But our malaise is not new: T. S. Eliot meditated on it fifty years ago in words as timeless as Paul's, and as instructive too:
All men are ready to invest their money
but most expect dividends.
I say to you: make perfect your will.
I say: take no thought of the harvest, but only of proper sowing.