Well, it's been, how long? over 18 months since I last blogged. I've taken several classes at seminary, done a lot of spiritual direction and soul searching, and it seems like the right time to resurrect this blog and begin with baby steps once again in order to share some thoughts.
Suffice it to say right now that I am still on my vocational journey, still intimately connected to the Catholic Church, both through my work and through my role as Oblate of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank.
I noticed that there is still traffic to my site- although that has been going down over time. I hope this reminds me that my goal is not to drive the numbers up but to be faithful in sharing my thoughts.
Showing posts with label Vocation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vocation. Show all posts
Monday, April 27, 2009
Friday, August 03, 2007
First Fruits is You
We've been particpating in a concept at our parish called "First Fruits." It's really a lot more than a stewardship program or a round-about way of getting dollars in the door. It's about discipleship under the Lord Jesus and a way of living the Life.Today's First Reading recounts the source of this "first fruits" concept. Each year Israelites were asked to bring to God the first produce from their crops (Leviticus 23:11) . The priest took the portion and offered it to God in thanksgiving for all that God had given.
Similarly, we are asked to give a portion of our substance to God through the Church- time, talent, treasure.
Today I've been thinking about the future. What might I offer to God? I could go a lot further in obeying the evangelical counsels- which deal (among other things) with food, power, and the thought life.
But even if I were to give up more personal options on how to spend my money, my time, my energy, I could still withhold myself from God. It could end up sounding something like this: "ok, Lord, you can have this part of me. Aren't I grand and spiritual for making this sacrifice?"
But somehow I think that idea misses the real point of First Fruits. Really, all that we have, all of who we are, belongs to God in the first place. Unless we recognize that fact, all of our sacrifices are really nothing more than a great big shell game with the Divine. It's really about total abandonment to God.
I realized this last Wednesday afternoon after I was being prayed for at the Companions of Christ Conference. At one point in the prayer time all I could do was cry out "Lord, all that I want is YOU." As I prayed those words, I realized that my whole life has to be given to God, not just my time, not just money, not just my sex life. And all of this happens BEFORE a word is said about vocation. It's just part of the great divine exchange program.
His riches for our poverty.
His obedience for our rebellion.
His purity for our unclean-ness.
God gives us all of who He is in Christ and His Spirit. It seems to me that once that work is recognized and appropriated, the giving back becomes a part of living,.... not an obligation, but a joyful surrender of self.
Sometime earlier this month I read in the Office of Readings these words from 2 Corinthians. Paul is speaking about the Macedonian churches and their generous response to his collection on behalf of fellow Christians in the Holy Land. "First they gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us through the will of God" (2 Cor. 8:5).
That's what I purpose to do. God give me strength.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
a Generous and Unconditioned Yes
A prayer totally appropriate for today's gospel:“Ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers"
John Paul II Message for the XXXVIII World Day of Prayer for Vocations, 6th May 2001
"Holy Father, eternal source of existence and love, who, in living man, show the splendour of your glory, and who put in his heart the seed of your call, let no-one, by reason of our negligence, ignore or lose this gift, but may everyone walk, with wholehearted generosity, towards the realisation of your Love.
Lord Jesus, who in your pilgrimage along the roads of Palestine, chose and called the apostles and entrusted to them their task of preaching the Gospel, feeding the faithful and celebrating divine worship, ensure that today, too, your Church may not lack numerous holy priests, who can bring to all the fruits of your death and resurrection.
Holy Spirit, who sanctify the Church with the constant pouring out of your gifts, place into the hearts of those called to the consecrated life a deep-rooted and resolute passion for the Kingdom,so that with a generous and unconditioned "yes", they may place their entire existences at the service of the Gospel.
Most holy Virgin, who without hesitation offered yourself to the Almighty for the carrying out of his plan of salvation, pour trust into the hearts of young people so that there may always be zealous pastors who are able to guide the Christian people on the way of life, and consecrated souls who may know how to witness, in chastity, poverty, and obedience, to the freeing presence of your risen Son. Amen."
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Have you heard the Shepherd's voice?
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, in Year C marked by that most evangelical of all statements, John 10:27-30:"Jesus said:‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from me. The Father who gave them to me is greater than anyone, and no one can steal from the Father. The Father and I are one.’"
I loved this Sunday as a Lutheran. It fit in well with deluge of post-Easter pastoral activity: baptisms, confirmations, graduations, first communions, all in a rush to happen before Summer sets in. Besides, it gave the congregation a chance to sing "The King of Love My Shepherd Is" before everyone decamped for the summer, while we still had the good basses and sopranos to provide harmony.
In my Roman Catholic incarnation, I've come to see the shepherding through different eyes. It's less about activity, and more about being in relationship. True to that insight, I found that this Sunday is the annual World Vocations Sunday in the Catholic Church. It's about the call to be totally for God.
Many people are surprised to find that I, as a former Lutheran pastor, don't immediately jump on the bandwagon of support for married priests and women priests. Part of the reason is that I now see the priesthood as a state of life, not simply a career, or even what many would call a calling or vocation. The depth of that calling demands one's all- that tiresome old saw about being married to the Church and all that.
It's true.
The Shepherd is also the true Spouse. While that doesn't automatically narrow the field of candidates to single males, it does say a lot about how priesthood is "done." I speak from experience, that one who is called to the depth of ministry inherent in shepherding will always, ALWAYS, feel a pull between family ties and that calling. This isn't to say that it's not possible. I just see lots of common sense in the Church's wisdom.
Many say, especially here in the USA, that we Catholics have a shortage of vocations, and for that reason we should open the priesthood to married men and women.
Nothing could be further from the truth. We don't have a priest shortage.
We have a shortage of persons hearing the call, a shortage of men listening and responding. If you don't believe me, just visit any mainline Christian denominational seminary and listen to their tales of woe about the pulpits going unfilled these days. And many of these ecclesial bodies already have both married and women clergy. The calling to give totally of oneself is just not easily heard within this culture of "what's in it for me."
Finally, what I have found nurturing to my sense of vocation is not necessarily to ask "God, what would you have me do?" That's a good question.... but there's something more basic here.
I found that when I got really serious about developing a habit of virtue ...
being a more loving person....
praying more....
attending daily Mass....
praying the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet....
regularly confessing my sins....
When I began to get serious about these things, then all of sudden the listening got easier.
It's almost as if I was a weathervane and by turning toward the wind I found my purpose for being.
Last night I had a dream and could remember only one word from it, and a date, Canisius, and the year 1534.
I googled that word this morning and discovered a saint by that name, Peter Canisius. I must've heard about him somewhere in the past, buried in the subterranean recesses of my mind. But this morning I found this quote from Peter Canisius. By the way, he was a Jesuit in Germany who was styled the second apostle to the Germans. He swayed many fellow Germans with his sermons to return to the Catholic faith from nascent Lutheranism. I still can't figure out what 1534 signifies, but Canisius was in the middle of his preparation for priesthood, and working on a master's degree at that time.
But I did find his own commentary on his calling to priesthood. It's all about the pursuit of virtue, hidden in the Good Shepherd's most loving heart:
Before he set out for Germany, Saint Peter Canisius received the apostolic blessing, and underwent a profound spiritual experience. He describes it:
"It was as if you opened to me the heart in your most sacred body. I seemed to see it directly before my eyes. You told me to drink from this fountain, inviting me, that is, to draw the waters of my salvation from your wellsprings, my Savior.
I was most eager that streams of faith, hope, and love should flow into me from that source. I was thirsting for poverty, chastity, obedience. I asked to be made wholly clean by you, to be clothed by you, to be made resplendent by you.
"So, after daring to approach your most loving heart, and to plunge my thirst into it, I received a promise from you of a garment made of three parts: these were to cover my soul in its nakedness, and to belong especially to my religious profession. They were peace, love, and perseverance. Protected by this garment of salvation, I was confident that I would lack nothing but all would succeed and give you glory."
May all those called to priesthood and the religous life be as motivated, and as successful.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Where Holiness and Community Meet
One question Father Charlie Lachowitzer had proposed to me for my retreat:
Why is it that so often the call to community and the call to personal holiness seem to be mutally exclusive?
In parish life it often seems that parishes filled with holy people are often "zero" in the category of community life; their worship and common life seems like parallel play. On the other hand, parishes with a vibrant community life often seem to have a spiritual life that's a mile wide but an inch deep.
That dichotomy extends to our own personal lives. I had been finding it so in my own life for at least the last 3 months. This weekend one bridge for that chasm came to me, oddly enough while I was washing dishes in the Abbey kitchen, helping a very excellent chef in my own small way with the preparation for the common Sunday meal.
All I could hear was the phrase from Paul's letter to the Colossians, (1:24) :
Why is it that so often the call to community and the call to personal holiness seem to be mutally exclusive?
In parish life it often seems that parishes filled with holy people are often "zero" in the category of community life; their worship and common life seems like parallel play. On the other hand, parishes with a vibrant community life often seem to have a spiritual life that's a mile wide but an inch deep.
That dichotomy extends to our own personal lives. I had been finding it so in my own life for at least the last 3 months. This weekend one bridge for that chasm came to me, oddly enough while I was washing dishes in the Abbey kitchen, helping a very excellent chef in my own small way with the preparation for the common Sunday meal.
All I could hear was the phrase from Paul's letter to the Colossians, (1:24) :
"for I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the affliction of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church."
The remainder of the chapter is filled with sollioquy and song about the cosmic Christ, his sufferings and resurrection. But in this verse is where the contact point comes.... it is exactly in the every day arena of the community where Christ's sufferings become real and effectual... in the rubbing and grinding as we find our way day by day to be together in the presence of the Crucified and Risen Christ. Wherever we offer ourselves in service to others we continue to fill up our world with the Presence of the Crucified.
What a gift to be given, and to be received.
I am reminded of Frederick Buechner's saying, which is plastered on the wall of the Shared Ministry Room in my parish:
"to find your vocation you must find where your greatest joy meets the world’s great need."
The remainder of the chapter is filled with sollioquy and song about the cosmic Christ, his sufferings and resurrection. But in this verse is where the contact point comes.... it is exactly in the every day arena of the community where Christ's sufferings become real and effectual... in the rubbing and grinding as we find our way day by day to be together in the presence of the Crucified and Risen Christ. Wherever we offer ourselves in service to others we continue to fill up our world with the Presence of the Crucified.
What a gift to be given, and to be received.
I am reminded of Frederick Buechner's saying, which is plastered on the wall of the Shared Ministry Room in my parish:
"to find your vocation you must find where your greatest joy meets the world’s great need."
Friday, March 23, 2007
Who ARE you?
I know that I've mentioned my love of CSI before. But here I go again. I love the opening title song, "Who are you?" by, of course, The Who. I often mock it at home by singing a nondescript "ew-wah, ew,ew,ew,ew" to the same tune. 
Who ARE you? Major parts of each episode are spent trying to discover the identities and stories of the cadavers laying on the autopsy table. In fact, that journey is a major element of the series' appeal, at least to me.
Who ARE you? It's the Christological question which consumes the author of John's gospel. The answer, as discussed in a previous post, is the One who does the Father's will. Jesus lives so completely in the bosom of the Father that He and God are best described as one.
A companion question is "where are you FROM? That's evident in today's Gospel reading- John 8:1-11. It's the first century Mediterranean basin way of asking the same question. If one knew where someone was from, you could identify who they were, because their self identity was drawn primarily from the community in which they lived. Witness "Jesus of Nazareth", "Lazarus of Bethany" etc.
In the case of our Lord the answer to both who and where from is the same. The Father. Jesus descended from the Father to show us the way and lead us back to him. The followers of Jesus in John's gospel are all caught up in that identity and the journey of return to God.
Who ARE you? So finally we get to the point. When I hear Jesus's words I am looking into a mirror, held up to me by God. I am required by that gaze to ask the questions.
Who am I?
Where am I from ?
Where am I going?
Important questions to ask and answer in the presence of God.
"When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy."
-- St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto
Who ARE you? Major parts of each episode are spent trying to discover the identities and stories of the cadavers laying on the autopsy table. In fact, that journey is a major element of the series' appeal, at least to me.
Who ARE you? It's the Christological question which consumes the author of John's gospel. The answer, as discussed in a previous post, is the One who does the Father's will. Jesus lives so completely in the bosom of the Father that He and God are best described as one.
A companion question is "where are you FROM? That's evident in today's Gospel reading- John 8:1-11. It's the first century Mediterranean basin way of asking the same question. If one knew where someone was from, you could identify who they were, because their self identity was drawn primarily from the community in which they lived. Witness "Jesus of Nazareth", "Lazarus of Bethany" etc.
In the case of our Lord the answer to both who and where from is the same. The Father. Jesus descended from the Father to show us the way and lead us back to him. The followers of Jesus in John's gospel are all caught up in that identity and the journey of return to God.
Who ARE you? So finally we get to the point. When I hear Jesus's words I am looking into a mirror, held up to me by God. I am required by that gaze to ask the questions.
Who am I?
Where am I from ?
Where am I going?
Important questions to ask and answer in the presence of God.
"When we contemplate the blessings of faith even now, as if gazing at a reflection in a mirror, it is as if we already possessed the wonderful things which our faith assures us we shall one day enjoy."
-- St. Basil, De Spiritu Sancto
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Between the Grasshopper and the Ant
Work can be all consuming sometimes. We get so involved in what we DO for a living that we lose our perspective on who we ARE.
Jesus had no such problem.
His work on this earth arose completely out of who he was. This is never more evident than in yesterday's Gospel reading from John (5:17-30).
"My Father is at work until now, so I am at work."
and
"The Son cannot do anything on his own," but only what he sees the Father doing;
for what He does, the Son will do also.
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything that He Himself does."
The gentle truth lies somewhere between the grasshopper and the ant.
Believing in God's love and care for us doesn't mean that we can forget about planning, struggle, labor, sweat and tears. But neither does it mean that we are called to labor endlessly in the vineyard, never lifting our eyes to heaven. There is no holiness to be gained by putting our nose continually to the grindstone.
Instead, our identity as God's children calls us over and over, daily, hourly, minute by minute, to ask ourselves, "what is the Father's work in me?" This doesn't mean that we are always working... for sometimes the Father's work is to go for a walk, enjoy a good movie, put away a few cold ones with friends.
If we are truly listening for the Father's voice, and the direction it provides, we will hear now and then the suggestion to come away for a while, to relax, to let go and let God.
I like the story from the personal diary of Blessed John XXIII, who was staying up late one evening praying. This was during Vatican II and all the concerns at Vatican II were truly trying the patience of the usually jovial Pope. The Pope was extremely frustrated. So he ended the day with the prayer/message to God: "It's your church, God, I'm going to bed."
Jesus had no such problem.
His work on this earth arose completely out of who he was. This is never more evident than in yesterday's Gospel reading from John (5:17-30).
"My Father is at work until now, so I am at work."
and
"The Son cannot do anything on his own," but only what he sees the Father doing;
for what He does, the Son will do also.
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything that He Himself does."
The gentle truth lies somewhere between the grasshopper and the ant.
Believing in God's love and care for us doesn't mean that we can forget about planning, struggle, labor, sweat and tears. But neither does it mean that we are called to labor endlessly in the vineyard, never lifting our eyes to heaven. There is no holiness to be gained by putting our nose continually to the grindstone.
Instead, our identity as God's children calls us over and over, daily, hourly, minute by minute, to ask ourselves, "what is the Father's work in me?" This doesn't mean that we are always working... for sometimes the Father's work is to go for a walk, enjoy a good movie, put away a few cold ones with friends.
If we are truly listening for the Father's voice, and the direction it provides, we will hear now and then the suggestion to come away for a while, to relax, to let go and let God.
I like the story from the personal diary of Blessed John XXIII, who was staying up late one evening praying. This was during Vatican II and all the concerns at Vatican II were truly trying the patience of the usually jovial Pope. The Pope was extremely frustrated. So he ended the day with the prayer/message to God: "It's your church, God, I'm going to bed."
Sunday, March 11, 2007
More on Dense Community
What do you do with conflict?
I am still thinking about St Frances of Rome this morning and her life of commitment to Benedictine ideals. It seems her own values led her to an inner conflict as well as an outer one. She wanted to serve her family and yet at the same time she felt an overwhelming compassion for the poor of Rome. The community around her was dense in the sense that it pressed in on her from all sides. She felt an inner compulsion and yet her outward surroundings refused to support what she was drawn to.
How like that we are so often in our own spiritual lives, both within our own selves and externally with others.
Sometimes the question comes as an inner one.
What shall I do? What does GOD want me to do? We are of two minds. We want to serve God in the best way possible but sometimes our differing values come into conflict with one another. The best example I can think of is the case of a priestly vocation. A young man wants to enter seminary and be ordained. He feels God calling him. And yet, he could live a productive life outside of Holy Orders. What to do?
This can also happen in the external forum.
I want to support my family member, but she has chosen something which I believe is not best for her. I am conflicted, because I feel the need to support her, but cannot in good conscience do so because what she is doing is wrong. How do I respond to this situation?
Is there ever a cure for being pulled in two directions at once? I'm not sure that this is not just part of the human condition. I'm quite sure that it is our common human inheritance. But it is not so with God.
God is one in will, love, and action.
As James said, "there is no shadow of turning" in the Divine. We can always be sure that God is up to the best, even if we have a hard time figuring out what that best is or have difficulties in accepting it for our own lives.
I'm not sure I know of any "cures" for such conflicts.
However, one helpful thought occurs to me with reference to Frances of Rome. Her inner conflict lessened once she became more at peace with herself. Her inward being became singly focussed on God and God alone, through the gift of contemplation, mediated to her by her human suffering.
In essence, the thorn in her side became the way of salvation for her, because it caused her to lean ever harder on God, trusting Him to work in and through her.
That is one possible pathway through these difficult decisions.
There is a pious legend that Frances was sometimes guided by angels bearing lanterns when she ventured out into the dark night to help the poor of Rome. If there is any truth to these stories, it must come from the fact that Frances' own circumstances were the messengers of God to her, both lighting her way and enabling her to walk in the path God had chosen for her, even in the midst of dense community.
Monday, February 05, 2007
More on Love...
.... from Hans Urs Von Balthasar, The Christian State of Life
"All beings are, in the last analysis, interpreted according to their goal and calling, which, in man's case, is always love. All else is but means to an end; love alone is the goal. But because man himself is not love, because the calling to love is a grace given to him by God to draw his whole nature, like a magnet, above itself to its final goal, for this reason the calling to love has for man the form of service.
He has the privilege of serving, and there is no service that enobles the servant as this one does. He is free to serve, for nothing frees so deeply as love. But he can never regard himself in his human nature as identical with his calling; therefore, his love will always be a service."
"All beings are, in the last analysis, interpreted according to their goal and calling, which, in man's case, is always love. All else is but means to an end; love alone is the goal. But because man himself is not love, because the calling to love is a grace given to him by God to draw his whole nature, like a magnet, above itself to its final goal, for this reason the calling to love has for man the form of service.
He has the privilege of serving, and there is no service that enobles the servant as this one does. He is free to serve, for nothing frees so deeply as love. But he can never regard himself in his human nature as identical with his calling; therefore, his love will always be a service."
A Message to Young People on Love
I ran across this today on Zenit- it is B-16's message to youth in preparation for World Youth Day local celebrations. I was struck once again by the clarity of thought concerning our vocation, which, as Therese of the Child Jesus said, is love!
I am far too old to attend a Youth Day, but this message fills me with hope for all those who will hear and follow the call of Love, whatever our ages.
My dear young friends,
On the occasion of the 22nd World Youth Day that will be celebrated in the dioceses on Palm Sunday, I would like to propose for your meditation the words of Jesus: "Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (Jn 13:34).Is it possible to love?Everybody feels the longing to love and to be loved. Yet, how difficult it is to love, and how many mistakes and failures have to be reckoned with in love! There are those who even come to doubt that love is possible. But if emotional delusions or lack of affection can cause us to think that love is utopian, an impossible dream, should we then become resigned? No! Love is possible, and the purpose of my message is to help reawaken in each one of you -- you who are the future and hope of humanity --, trust in a love that is true, faithful and strong; a love that generates peace and joy; a love that binds people together and allows them to feel free in respect for one another. Let us now go on a journey together in three stages, as we embark on a "discovery" of love.
God, the source of love
The first stage concerns the source of true love. There is only one source, and that is God. Saint John makes this clear when he declares that "God is love" (1 Jn 4:8,16). He was not simply saying that God loves us, but that the very being of God is love. Here we find ourselves before the most dazzling revelation of the source of love, the mystery of the Trinity: in God, one and triune, there is an everlasting exchange of love between the persons of the Father and the Son, and this love is not an energy or a sentiment, but it is a person; it is the Holy Spirit.The Cross of Christ fully reveals the love of GodHow is God-Love revealed to us? We have now reached the second stage of our journey. Even though the signs of divine love are already clearly present in creation, the full revelation of the intimate mystery of God came to us through the Incarnation when God himself became man. In Christ, true God and true Man, we have come to know love in all its magnitude. In fact, as I wrote in the Encyclical Deus caritas est, "the real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in the figure of Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those concepts -- an unprecedented realism" (n. 12). The manifestation of divine love is total and perfect in the Cross where, we are told by Saint Paul, "God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us" (Rm 5:8). Therefore, each one of us can truly say: "Christ loved me and gave himself up for me" (cf Eph 5:2). Redeemed by his blood, no human life is useless or of little value, because each of us is loved personally by Him with a passionate and faithful love, a love without limits. The Cross, -- for the world a folly, for many believers a scandal --, is in fact the "wisdom of God" for those who allow themselves to be touched right to the innermost depths of their being, "for God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength" (1 Cor 1:25). Moreover, the Crucifix, which after the Resurrection would carry forever the marks of his passion, exposes the "distortions" and lies about God that underlie violence, vengeance and exclusion. Christ is the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the sins of the world and eradicates hatred from the heart of humankind. This is the true "revolution" that He brings about: love.
Loving our neighbor as Christ loves us
Now we have arrived at the third stage of our reflection. Christ cried out from the Cross: "I am thirsty" (Jn 19:28). This shows us his burning thirst to love and to be loved by each one of us. It is only by coming to perceive the depth and intensity of such a mystery that we can realize the need and urgency to love him as He has loved us. This also entails the commitment to even give our lives, if necessary, for our brothers and sisters sustained by love for Him. God had already said in the Old Testament: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18), but the innovation introduced by Christ is the fact that to love as he loves us means loving everyone without distinction, even our enemies, "to the end" (cf Jn 13:1).Witnesses to the love of ChristI would like to linger for a moment on three areas of daily life where you, my dear young friends, are particularly called to demonstrate the love of God.
The first area is the Church, our spiritual family, made up of all the disciples of Christ. Mindful of his words: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn 13:35), you should stimulate, with your enthusiasm and charity, the activities of the parishes, the communities, the ecclesial movements and the youth groups to which you belong. Be attentive in your concern for the welfare of others, faithful to the commitments you have made. Do not hesitate to joyfully abstain from some of your entertainments; cheerfully accept the necessary sacrifices; testify to your faithful love for Jesus by proclaiming his Gospel, especially among young people of your age.
Preparing for the future
The second area, where you are called to express your love and grow in it, is your preparation for the future that awaits you. If you are engaged to be married, God has a project of love for your future as a couple and as a family. Therefore, it is essential that you discover it with the help of the Church, free from the common prejudice that says that Christianity with its commandments and prohibitions places obstacles to the joy of love and impedes you from fully enjoying the happiness that a man and woman seek in their reciprocal love. The love of a man and woman is at the origin of the human family and the couple formed by a man and a woman has its foundation in God's original plan (cf Gen 2:18-25). Learning to love each other as a couple is a wonderful journey, yet it requires a demanding "apprenticeship". The period of engagement, very necessary in order to form a couple, is a time of expectation and preparation that needs to be lived in purity of gesture and words. It allows you to mature in love, in concern and in attention for each other; it helps you to practice self-control and to develop your respect for each other. These are the characteristics of true love that does not place emphasis on seeking its own satisfaction or its own welfare. In your prayer together, ask the Lord to watch over and increase your love and to purify it of all selfishness. Do not hesitate to respond generously to the Lord's call, for Christian matrimony is truly and wholly a vocation in the Church. Likewise, dear young men and women, be ready to say "yes" if God should call you to follow the path of ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life. Your example will be one of encouragement for many of your peers who are seeking true happiness.Growing in love each day
The third area of commitment that comes with love is that of daily life with its multiple relationships. I am particularly referring to family, studies, work and free time. Dear young friends, cultivate your talents, not only to obtain a social position, but also to help others to "grow". Develop your capacities, not only in order to become more "competitive" and "productive", but to be "witnesses of charity". In addition to your professional training, also make an effort to acquire religious knowledge that will help you to carry out your mission in a responsible way. In particular, I invite you to carefully study the social doctrine of the Church so that its principles may inspire and guide your action in the world. May the Holy Spirit make you creative in charity, persevering in your commitments, and brave in your initiatives, so that you will be able to offer your contribution to the building up of the "civilization of love". The horizon of love is truly boundless: it is the whole world!"Dare to love" by following the example of the saintsMy dear young friends, I want to invite you to "dare to love".
Do not desire anything less for your life than a love that is strong and beautiful and that is capable of making the whole of your existence a joyful undertaking of giving yourselves as a gift to God and your brothers and sisters, in imitation of the One who vanquished hatred and death forever through love (cf Rev 5:13). Love is the only force capable of changing the heart of the human person and of all humanity, by making fruitful the relations between men and women, between rich and poor, between cultures and civilizations. This is shown to us in the lives of the saints. They are true friends of God who channel and reflect this very first love. Try to know them better, entrust yourselves to their intercession, and strive to live as they did.
I shall just mention Mother Teresa. In order to respond instantly to the cry of Jesus, "I thirst", a cry that had touched her deeply, she began to take in the people who were dying on the streets of Calcutta in India. From that time onward, the only desire of her life was to quench the thirst of love felt by Jesus, not with words, but with concrete action by recognizing his disfigured countenance thirsting for love in the faces of the poorest of the poor. Blessed Teresa put the teachings of the Lord into practice: "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40). The message of this humble witness of divine love has spread around the whole world.
The secret of love
Each one of us, my dear friends, has been given the possibility of reaching this same level of love, but only by having recourse to the indispensable support of divine Grace. Only the Lord's help will allow us to keep away from resignation when faced with the enormity of the task to be undertaken. It instills in us the courage to accomplish that which is humanly inconceivable. Contact with the Lord in prayer grounds us in humility and reminds us that we are "unworthy servants" (cf Lk 17:10). Above all, the Eucharist is the great school of love. When we participate regularly and with devotion in Holy Mass, when we spend a sustained time of adoration in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, it is easier to understand the length, breadth, height and depth of his love that goes beyond all knowledge (cf Eph 3:17-18). By sharing the Eucharistic Bread with our brothers and sisters of the Church community, we feel compelled, like Our Lady with Elizabeth, to render "in haste" the love of Christ into generous service towards our brothers and sisters.
Towards the encounter in Sydney
On this subject, the recommendation of the apostle John is illuminating: "Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth" (1 Jn 3:18-19). Dear young people, it is in this spirit that I invite you to experience the next World Youth Day together with your bishops in your respective dioceses. This will be an important stage on the way to the meeting in Sydney where the theme will be: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8). May Mary, the Mother of Christ and of the Church, help you to let that cry ring out everywhere, the cry that has changed the world: "God is love!" I am together with you all in prayer and extend to you my heartfelt blessing.
From the Vatican, 27 January 2007
I am far too old to attend a Youth Day, but this message fills me with hope for all those who will hear and follow the call of Love, whatever our ages.
My dear young friends,
On the occasion of the 22nd World Youth Day that will be celebrated in the dioceses on Palm Sunday, I would like to propose for your meditation the words of Jesus: "Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another" (Jn 13:34).Is it possible to love?Everybody feels the longing to love and to be loved. Yet, how difficult it is to love, and how many mistakes and failures have to be reckoned with in love! There are those who even come to doubt that love is possible. But if emotional delusions or lack of affection can cause us to think that love is utopian, an impossible dream, should we then become resigned? No! Love is possible, and the purpose of my message is to help reawaken in each one of you -- you who are the future and hope of humanity --, trust in a love that is true, faithful and strong; a love that generates peace and joy; a love that binds people together and allows them to feel free in respect for one another. Let us now go on a journey together in three stages, as we embark on a "discovery" of love.
God, the source of love
The first stage concerns the source of true love. There is only one source, and that is God. Saint John makes this clear when he declares that "God is love" (1 Jn 4:8,16). He was not simply saying that God loves us, but that the very being of God is love. Here we find ourselves before the most dazzling revelation of the source of love, the mystery of the Trinity: in God, one and triune, there is an everlasting exchange of love between the persons of the Father and the Son, and this love is not an energy or a sentiment, but it is a person; it is the Holy Spirit.The Cross of Christ fully reveals the love of GodHow is God-Love revealed to us? We have now reached the second stage of our journey. Even though the signs of divine love are already clearly present in creation, the full revelation of the intimate mystery of God came to us through the Incarnation when God himself became man. In Christ, true God and true Man, we have come to know love in all its magnitude. In fact, as I wrote in the Encyclical Deus caritas est, "the real novelty of the New Testament lies not so much in new ideas as in the figure of Christ himself, who gives flesh and blood to those concepts -- an unprecedented realism" (n. 12). The manifestation of divine love is total and perfect in the Cross where, we are told by Saint Paul, "God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us" (Rm 5:8). Therefore, each one of us can truly say: "Christ loved me and gave himself up for me" (cf Eph 5:2). Redeemed by his blood, no human life is useless or of little value, because each of us is loved personally by Him with a passionate and faithful love, a love without limits. The Cross, -- for the world a folly, for many believers a scandal --, is in fact the "wisdom of God" for those who allow themselves to be touched right to the innermost depths of their being, "for God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength" (1 Cor 1:25). Moreover, the Crucifix, which after the Resurrection would carry forever the marks of his passion, exposes the "distortions" and lies about God that underlie violence, vengeance and exclusion. Christ is the Lamb of God who takes upon himself the sins of the world and eradicates hatred from the heart of humankind. This is the true "revolution" that He brings about: love.
Loving our neighbor as Christ loves us
Now we have arrived at the third stage of our reflection. Christ cried out from the Cross: "I am thirsty" (Jn 19:28). This shows us his burning thirst to love and to be loved by each one of us. It is only by coming to perceive the depth and intensity of such a mystery that we can realize the need and urgency to love him as He has loved us. This also entails the commitment to even give our lives, if necessary, for our brothers and sisters sustained by love for Him. God had already said in the Old Testament: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18), but the innovation introduced by Christ is the fact that to love as he loves us means loving everyone without distinction, even our enemies, "to the end" (cf Jn 13:1).Witnesses to the love of ChristI would like to linger for a moment on three areas of daily life where you, my dear young friends, are particularly called to demonstrate the love of God.
The first area is the Church, our spiritual family, made up of all the disciples of Christ. Mindful of his words: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn 13:35), you should stimulate, with your enthusiasm and charity, the activities of the parishes, the communities, the ecclesial movements and the youth groups to which you belong. Be attentive in your concern for the welfare of others, faithful to the commitments you have made. Do not hesitate to joyfully abstain from some of your entertainments; cheerfully accept the necessary sacrifices; testify to your faithful love for Jesus by proclaiming his Gospel, especially among young people of your age.
Preparing for the future
The second area, where you are called to express your love and grow in it, is your preparation for the future that awaits you. If you are engaged to be married, God has a project of love for your future as a couple and as a family. Therefore, it is essential that you discover it with the help of the Church, free from the common prejudice that says that Christianity with its commandments and prohibitions places obstacles to the joy of love and impedes you from fully enjoying the happiness that a man and woman seek in their reciprocal love. The love of a man and woman is at the origin of the human family and the couple formed by a man and a woman has its foundation in God's original plan (cf Gen 2:18-25). Learning to love each other as a couple is a wonderful journey, yet it requires a demanding "apprenticeship". The period of engagement, very necessary in order to form a couple, is a time of expectation and preparation that needs to be lived in purity of gesture and words. It allows you to mature in love, in concern and in attention for each other; it helps you to practice self-control and to develop your respect for each other. These are the characteristics of true love that does not place emphasis on seeking its own satisfaction or its own welfare. In your prayer together, ask the Lord to watch over and increase your love and to purify it of all selfishness. Do not hesitate to respond generously to the Lord's call, for Christian matrimony is truly and wholly a vocation in the Church. Likewise, dear young men and women, be ready to say "yes" if God should call you to follow the path of ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life. Your example will be one of encouragement for many of your peers who are seeking true happiness.Growing in love each day
The third area of commitment that comes with love is that of daily life with its multiple relationships. I am particularly referring to family, studies, work and free time. Dear young friends, cultivate your talents, not only to obtain a social position, but also to help others to "grow". Develop your capacities, not only in order to become more "competitive" and "productive", but to be "witnesses of charity". In addition to your professional training, also make an effort to acquire religious knowledge that will help you to carry out your mission in a responsible way. In particular, I invite you to carefully study the social doctrine of the Church so that its principles may inspire and guide your action in the world. May the Holy Spirit make you creative in charity, persevering in your commitments, and brave in your initiatives, so that you will be able to offer your contribution to the building up of the "civilization of love". The horizon of love is truly boundless: it is the whole world!"Dare to love" by following the example of the saintsMy dear young friends, I want to invite you to "dare to love".
Do not desire anything less for your life than a love that is strong and beautiful and that is capable of making the whole of your existence a joyful undertaking of giving yourselves as a gift to God and your brothers and sisters, in imitation of the One who vanquished hatred and death forever through love (cf Rev 5:13). Love is the only force capable of changing the heart of the human person and of all humanity, by making fruitful the relations between men and women, between rich and poor, between cultures and civilizations. This is shown to us in the lives of the saints. They are true friends of God who channel and reflect this very first love. Try to know them better, entrust yourselves to their intercession, and strive to live as they did.
I shall just mention Mother Teresa. In order to respond instantly to the cry of Jesus, "I thirst", a cry that had touched her deeply, she began to take in the people who were dying on the streets of Calcutta in India. From that time onward, the only desire of her life was to quench the thirst of love felt by Jesus, not with words, but with concrete action by recognizing his disfigured countenance thirsting for love in the faces of the poorest of the poor. Blessed Teresa put the teachings of the Lord into practice: "Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (Mt 25:40). The message of this humble witness of divine love has spread around the whole world.
The secret of love
Each one of us, my dear friends, has been given the possibility of reaching this same level of love, but only by having recourse to the indispensable support of divine Grace. Only the Lord's help will allow us to keep away from resignation when faced with the enormity of the task to be undertaken. It instills in us the courage to accomplish that which is humanly inconceivable. Contact with the Lord in prayer grounds us in humility and reminds us that we are "unworthy servants" (cf Lk 17:10). Above all, the Eucharist is the great school of love. When we participate regularly and with devotion in Holy Mass, when we spend a sustained time of adoration in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, it is easier to understand the length, breadth, height and depth of his love that goes beyond all knowledge (cf Eph 3:17-18). By sharing the Eucharistic Bread with our brothers and sisters of the Church community, we feel compelled, like Our Lady with Elizabeth, to render "in haste" the love of Christ into generous service towards our brothers and sisters.
Towards the encounter in Sydney
On this subject, the recommendation of the apostle John is illuminating: "Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth" (1 Jn 3:18-19). Dear young people, it is in this spirit that I invite you to experience the next World Youth Day together with your bishops in your respective dioceses. This will be an important stage on the way to the meeting in Sydney where the theme will be: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8). May Mary, the Mother of Christ and of the Church, help you to let that cry ring out everywhere, the cry that has changed the world: "God is love!" I am together with you all in prayer and extend to you my heartfelt blessing.
From the Vatican, 27 January 2007
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