Part One The present situation
At present in Europe we have a culture without vocation. We need new methods of evangelisation whereby every human being can discover their unique call from God. The lack of specific vocations to the priesthood or religious life is the consequence of a lack of a sense of vocation in the Church. Pastoral work for vocations needs a leap in quality. It must be for all and must have a theologically systematic approach throughout every aspect of the pastoral life of the Church.

Part Two Theology of Vocation
As the Church is the icon of the Trinity every vocation has the traits of all three persons. The Father calls to life; love is the full meaning of life, and so it follows that love is the vocation of every person. The Father educates each person - draws out of the heart of the person what he has already placed there. The celebration of this call to divine life is Baptism.

The Son is sent to call mankind. Everything about the Son expresses this idea of being sent, of having a mission, one which leads to giving his life for all. Jesus is the one who, through his life, forms every vocation, who inspires the sense of being called.

The Spirit calls to witness by being the memory of Jesus with us and in this way, providing us with guidance, consolation and friendship. We need to listen to the Spirit who, primarily, is calling us to interior birth and holiness. The sign of the Spirit is when there is "Communion" between all the variety of vocations because there is one Spirit calling them all.

Every vocation is necessary and relative. "Only all of the gifts together can reveal the whole body of the Lord." There needs to be an ecclesial community where each person can find their own vocation. The ordained ministry is there to bring out all the other vocations in the church and all the other vocations are there to bring out the ordained ministries in reciprocal communion. In encouraging all vocations there is a need to be aware of new gifts of the Spirit such as vocations of special consecration but also to encourage the prophetic aspects of every Christian vocation including the lay vocation.

Part Three Pastoral care of vocations
Pastoral care for vocations needs to be seen as the primary objective of the whole Christian community. The whole mind-set of the Church must be vocation. ‘Ecclesia’ means an assembly of those who are called. Once this is realised, there won’t be a need for "vocation projects" because the church will be a church that expresses calling in all that it does. Every member of the Church, excluding no one, has the grace and the responsibility of caring for vocations. All pastoral work must be vocational, beginning with the explicit intention of placing the believer before the proposal of God. Pastoral care for vocations is a gradual process leading people to gratitude, then responsibility, then a freely given response to God. It begins with general vocation then leads to specific.

There are those who fear that widening the idea of vocation will be harmful to the specific promotion of vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life; the reality is exactly the opposite.

The proposal of vocation is a daily task of the church and needs to be done for all ages with a community and personal dimension. This is done through:

• liturgy and prayer

• real experiences of community

• the service of charity

• witness to the gospel

These are done by:

• parishes, where the priest must realise he is the direct cultivator of all vocations

• special places which illustrate the vocational nature of life - religious communities and secular institutes etc

• groups, movements, associations and schools

• educators - people of the Spirit, priests, religious and laity. There is a strong need for women to be role models

• organisations specifically working for vocations

Part Four The guidance of vocations
The vocational crisis is certainly also a crisis in training and educational programmes. If we look to the gospels we see Jesus as the authentic teacher of vocation. Those involved in pastoral work for vocations in groups, communities, parishes, schools and families need to be sowers, accompaniers, educators, formators and discerners. These are the five dimensions of the mystery of the call of God.

To sow
a) The Parable of the Sower shows the Christian vocation is a dialogue between God and the human person. It is totally the action of God but in a real way it is also the action of individual people. The liberty of God meets the liberty of the person. Whoever is involved in this work meets this mystery of liberty.

b) The parable also shows us that we have to sow everywhere. It is the image of our God who sows in the heart of every living person.

c) We need to know when to sow. A crucial age is the end of childhood/beginning of adolescence, but it can be at other moments in life as well.

d) In today’s non-vocational climate we have to realise that the seeds will be very small, and so the guide needs to have a liberty of heart to cope with refusal and rejection, as people struggle to come to terms with their call.

To accompany
In order to describe accompanying, educating and forming we look to the journey of Emmaus (Lk. 24).

a) First of all we need to be present, to walk with the young person who is seeking.

b) The itinerary of the young person is a journey to maturity in faith, to become an adult living life in freedom and responsibility. The one who accompanies needs to indicate the presence of Another, admitting their own relative role in order to mediate God’s presence.

c) Just as Jesus met the Samaritan women at the well, we need to identify the ‘wells’ of today, those places or moments where young people can draw to fill the emptiness of their experiences. We cannot have a "wait and see" policy but must actively seek and find these wells for our young people.

d) The accompanier needs to share, give witness to their own sense of being chosen by God. Promotion can only be done by direct contact. Hence it is so important to spend time with young people. Accompaniers need to be enthusiastic about their own vocation.

To educate
To draw out from the person their truth (e-ducere.)

a) Young people need to be helped to know themselves so as to free themselves from their fears and defence mechanisms. The educator needs to know the depths of the human heart.

b) The young person needs to discover the mystery of life through understanding that they will not come to know everything. The loss of the sense of mystery is one of the greatest causes of the vocations crisis. The foundation of our existence needs to be discovered outside ourselves in the Fatherhood and Motherhood of God.

c) Like the disciples at Emmaus, the young person needs to interpret the truths of their own life and experience.

d) The young person needs to learn to invoke the presence of God with prayer of trust. In this way, prayer becomes the place for discernment and listening to God.

To form
a) The young person needs to recognise Jesus so as to be stimulated by lofty ideals. Psychological analysis reminds us that asking young people to give less than their potential offends their dignity and impedes their self-realisation.

b) Recognising Jesus also means recognising the meaning of life; that is a gift which only makes sense through the response of self-giving. All pastoral work for vocations is constructed on this elementary catechesis of the meaning of life.

c) The disciples recognise Jesus at the Eucharist. Vocation is born of thankfulness. It is a free response to being chosen, being loved by God.

d) "Did not our hearts burn within us?’ (Lk 24:32). In discovering our vocation we also discover our own identity.

To discern
a) To help young people overcome indecision when confronted with the task of making definite commitments, it seems useful to prepare them progressively for assuming personal responsibilities. It’s also important to point out that vocation is a ‘returning home’, discovering one’s true self and the place where one will find true happiness. The raising of this awareness is helped immeasurably by personal witness to this fact.

b) An essential presupposition for discerning vocations is first and foremost to be aware of the nature and state of life of the particular vocation. This is the surest guide and incentive for development of pastoral activities.

c) There now follow five criteria for discernment;

(i) Openness to the mystery
A sense of openness to mystery is essential for a healthy vocational option. Someone will demonstrate this openness by being prudent about their potential with hope and trust arising out of faith in God. They will welcome and integrate the natural opposites experienced in life, e.g. appreciating their own strengths and weaknesses. They will appreciate the signs of God’s call, not only in extraordinary events but also in their own history with their questions, anxieties and aspirations. Finally they will have a sense of gratitude and generosity of spirit.

(ii) Identity in the vocation
Instead of finding their identity in their physical appearance or their abilities, they need to discover it as a gift from God and realise the need for interior openness to this call from outside themselves. Their choice needs to involve all the psychological functions (mind, heart and will.)

(iii) A rich, believing memory
A person needs to reconciled with their past. Their memory needs to be seen as a grace rather than a lament.

(iv) A docile attitude to vocation
First of all, they need to have the interior freedom to be led by another. They need to be ‘young’ at heart: i.e. express all the virtues and vulnerabilities typical of that time of life.

(v) The act of faith
This makes space for the mystery, holding the tension of certainty of the call with the consciousness of one’s own unsuitability.

The full text of this document can be found on the UK Priest website, under Documents

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