Good Teacher, What Must I Do To Inherit Eternal Life?… Come Follow Me
Laurence Gonzaga
“At this moment, however, I wish to speak to you about the particular meaning of the words which Christ said to the young man. And I do this in the conviction that Christ addresses them in the Church to some of his young questioners in every generation. In ours too. His words therefore signify a particular vocation in the community of the People of God. The Church finds Christ’s “Follow me” at the beginning of every call to service in the ministerial priesthood, which simultaneously in the Catholic Church of the Latin Rite is linked to the conscious and free choice of celibacy. The Church finds the same “follow me” of Christ at the beginning of the religious vocation, whereby, through the profession of the evangelical counsels (chastity, poverty and obedience), a man or woman recognizes as his or her own the programme of life which Christ himself lived on earth, for the sake of the Kingdom of God. By professing religious vows, such individuals commit themselves to bearing a particular witness to the love of God above all things, and likewise to that call to union with God in eternity which is directed to everyone. But there is a need for some to bear an exceptional witness to this before other people.”
~ Pope John Paul II (PJPII), Dilecti Amici (DA), Apostolic Letter to the Youth of the World, 1985
Brothers and Friends:
I am writing this article this morning, somewhat on a whim. Numerous topics of doctrine, dogma and liturgy were floating around in my head for this article in the last week or so. This morning, I read in the diocesan paper about the ordination of two men set for May 23. As has been the case for the last few months and indeed years, the question of my own vocation surfaced. It’s a thought that crosses a young persons mind often. I am writing this article in May, which is the month for priests, and we know that next year, our Holy Father has declared 2009 to be the “Year of the Priest”.
A few months ago, I went with a friend and brother knight of mine to a seminary in Nebraska. We were there for a five day visit. We didn’t really get much special treatment, as is appropriate. We attended the classes of our choice, six of them. We ate with them, three meals a day. We joined, in silence, their chanting of the Traditional Latin 1962 Divine Office, for Lauds, Sext, Vespers, and Compline. We assisted at the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. We even observed their practice of Grand Silence after Compline (6 PM-7:30AM). It was an amazing five days there, and I don’t think we wanted to leave. However, if for the sake of argument, I didn’t feel like I would “fit in” there, would that mean I am not called to the priesthood? Some might think so. I think many young people have certain ideals or aspirations about what kind of priest they want to be. They try it out, and if it doesn’t seem to fit, they give up on it. What if I was called to the Jesuits? Who know?
In my stay at the seminary, I spent a lot of time in their basement library, which held thousands of books. I found an article in a magazine there which spoke about “fostering a culture of vocations”. To my surprise, it did not speak about what I thought it would. In summary, it said this: we cannot “foster” a culture of vocations, because it simply does not exist… anymore! The community of the faithful is not supporting it, as it once did. When people speak of vocations, people normally assume it means religious life. No, not so.
Vocation comes from the Latin, vocare, which means to call. Everyone is “called” by God for a particular state in life, whether it is to priesthood, religious life, marriage, consecrated lay single, etc. Whatever that call is, it ought not to be resisted, because answering that call, is what will lead to true joy in this life, in preparation for the joys to come in the next. To borrow an image from the pagan Stoic philosophers: life is like a dog being led around on a chain. If you choose to cooperate, you will get from A to B and you will be comfortable and enjoy certain limited freedom along the way. Resist, and you will still get from A to B, but not only will you not be comfortable, you will not enjoy any freedom at all. It’s not a perfect analogy, so don’t over analyze it.
Before we can speak of vocations to a state in life like priesthood or marriage, we need to be sure that our young people know what it means to be called. They need to understand what it means to be attentive to the simple things that God is calling us to on a daily basis first. If they will not be docile to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost on the daily decisions they make, how can we expect them to be docile to the promptings of the same Holy Ghost in their lifelong vocation to a state in life?
One thing is for sure, according to Benedict XVI we are all called to the Christian vocation, and that is a call to holiness. That is, the universal vocation. The next question is, would you be willing to give up everything that makes you feel comfortable, to follow Christ wherever He is leading you, from the monumental to the mundane? The young man in the Gospel asks, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus says, “Come Follow Me…”
It is for this reason that I wish to say this to all of you young people, in this important phase of the development of your personality as a man or a woman: if such a call comes into your heart, do not silence it! Let it develop into the maturity of a vocation! Respond to it through prayer and fidelity to the commandments! For “the harvest is plentiful” and there is an enormous need for many to be reached by Christ’s call “Follow me”. There is an enormous need for priests according to the heart of God-and the Church and the world of today have an enormous need of the witness of a life given without reserve to God: the witness of that nuptial love of Christ himself which in a particular way will make the Kingdom of God present among people and bring it nearer to the world. (PJPII, DA)
Laurence Gonzaga | 
05 29th, 2009| 
Loading ...