Pope Francis published his annual message for this 58th World Day of Prayer for Vocations on March 19, 2021, the Feast of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. In the message, he noted that Joseph is an extraordinary figure who is also very close to our own lived experience. The Holy Father wrote: "(Joseph) did not do astonishing things, he had no unique gifts, nor did he appear special in the eyes of those who met him. He was not famous . . . the Gospels do not report even a single word of his. Still, through his ordinary life, he accomplished something extraordinary in the eyes of God." He accomplished great things because he was able to give, generate, and protect life in the course of daily routines.
This is the need of the Church today as it tries to be a beacon of light in a deeply troubled and very troubling world. And this is the need of our own country, a country that has lost its way--if not its mind--in being more concerned with preventing new life than protecting it. In hastening the death of the sick elderly than caring for them.
The need for vocations to the consecrated vowed life and the diocesan priesthood, is great. The need has always been great and it always will be. This is the day on which we pray for and, if the opportunity presents, encourage others, to explore the possibility of religious vocation, to take up the task of serving and protecting the most vulnerable, of teaching the unlettered, and bringing hope to the hopeless.
One of the most fascinating aspects of a vocation to religious life is the remarkable similarity a vocation has to a religious conversion of an adult who chooses to enter the Church after careful consideration and instruction.
Entering religious life requires a radical reorientation in three dimensions one's life: A reorientation of convictions or beliefs, a reorientation of ways of behaving or conducting oneself, and a reorientation of community affiliation or belonging. This reorientation is expressed in the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
The Benedictines and Cistercians pronounce a unique vow that describes this reorientation and, ideally, underlies the reorientation demanded by of all forms of religious life. That vow is Conversatio Morum, the meaning of which is only partially captured by the English translations: conversion of life or, more awkwardly, conversion of manners.
If you want to have fun give a group of Benedictines a few drinks and then ask them to explain conversatio morum. Who knew they could be so argumentative? The difficulty in explaining this vow reflects the complexity of living religious life in any order, congregation, or institute. Conversatio morum underlies all of our lives. When you really push it, no religious or priest can fully explain his or her vocation without lapsing into the inarticulate or the incoherent at some point.
Not long before I entered the Society of Jesus almost 24 years ago, a Jesuit friend told me something I did not really understand at the time. Indeed, I didn't come to a full understanding for at least ten years. "If you enter and stay in the Society, your reasons for staying will be different than your reasons for entering." He was correct.
Entering religious life as a novice requires that one be open and willing to make the necessary reorientation of beliefs, behaviors, and belonging. Remaining for life indicates that one has made those reorientations--or adjustments--along with realigning one's expectations for oneself.
A religious vocation is not easy. It doesn't answer all questions or remove all doubts. It is not a life free from stress. It is not a life overflowing with consolations in prayer and contemplation. There are few mystical raptures. But it challenges us on a daily basis.
Indeed, be it the active life of the Jesuit for whom a passport is a necessity upon entering or the strictly cloistered life of the Carthusian praying in cell, the religious seeks to emulate St. Joseph's strong, courageous, and humble presence in the manner described in Francis' message as one of the 'saints next door' whose witness can guide others on their journeys.
What is needed to encourage a man or woman to explore a vocation to religious life?
A religious vocation does not take root in a vacuum. Others are necessary to pray for vocations. Others are necessary to foster vocations. Parents and grandparents are needed to encourage vocations early on through teaching children and grandchildren the basics of their faith and how to pray. A young Chinese diocesan priest-friend attributes his vocation to his grandmother who, though not educated, planted the seeds of his vocation when he was a little boy helping her in the fields. She taught him and his cousins to pray every night. I would have loved to have met her, she sounds formidable.
The lived example of mature religious is crucial as is our willingness to listen to and mentor a young man or woman who is considering the religious life or priesthood. Most importantly a religious vocation requires that someone, a parent, relative, teacher, friend, or another religious ask.
It requires that someone ask, "Have you ever thought of becoming a . . . " a Jesuit, a Carmelite Sister, a Franciscan brother, a Benedictine nun, a priest. It is not always easy.
The first time I asked a young man if he was thinking about becoming a Jesuit the sensations as I prepared to ask brought back memories of asking my date to the junior prom in back in 1966. Sweaty palms. Dry mouth. Rapid heart beat. A vague knot in the gut. And, I asked while driving on the D.C. Beltway, which is a good way to avoid making eye contact unless one is both suicidal and homicidal.
Yes, he had considered. No, no one had ever asked. He asked if I had a few minutes to talk about it. I did. Turned into a two and one-half hour conversation. That first conversation continued for several years. The scene was a reenactment of the Friday morning in 1992 when George Murray, SJ, MD asked me the same question as we had coffee after rounds. Indeed, I used almost identical wording to Murray's.
The young man in question did enter the novitiate. I did not try to hide the tears as he knelt to pronounce his first vows in the Society. God willing, I will attend his ordination when he completes theology studies in three or four years. I may need sedation.
Accepting Jesus' call to religious life means no longer independently choosing one's own path but immersing one's will in God's will. That immersion is accomplished only in the hope and faith that pushes us toward the future and sustains us in the present.
Rooted in the history of the order, congregation, or institute, religious live and act in the present while being pulled and pulling others, toward the future, a future given us by Jesus' saving act.
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The photos were taken this afternoon on the BC campus. The tulips are an annual thing. Weather was spectacular after what had been a truly ugly weather the past few days. I was surprised that they weren't destroyed by some serious downpours during a thunderstorm the other day.
+ Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
