Throughout the whole Church today is known as the “World Day of Prayer for Vocations” – also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday”. The Gospel, taken from St. John, highlights the nature of Jesus as the Good Shepherd – a model for priesthood. But let’s look at the what vocation means first… the term ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin ‘vocare’ meaning to call… God calls out to His people to follow Him in a close, personal and intimate relationship… to give their lives up in service to His people as He did Himself… But that calling out implies that one is listening, can hear Him… that a person recognizes his voice … his sound…

Notice how that plays out in the gospel… The shepherd calls the sheep by name … they hear his voice and follow him because they recognize him … The Greek terminology used here is interesting … more literally, St. John says: they hear the sound of him… that they do not recognize the sound of a stranger… Often when I’m visiting the Newman Center before I even get to Fr. Dailey’s office he will call out: “I hear the footsteps of Fr Jon” – and I have had other friends tell me the very same thing… “I hear you coming” … they know the sound of my walk … they recognize who it is before they even see me… Because they know me… Do we not see something similar here … The shepherd calls the sheep by name, leads them out and they follow him – why – because they know him … they know his sound … he is familiar to them and so they trust him. Notice too in one of the accounts of the resurrection, Mary Magdalene is sitting at the tomb, Jesus is there but she does not recognize Him … at least not until He says her name – He calls her by name and then she knows – she knows how her name sounds when He says it …

To hear means to perceive with one’s ear the sound of someone or something … to perceive – to become aware or conscious of … or if we translate that from the Latin: to take entirely … to listen, to hear both coming from the Latin ‘audire’ and both have similar meanings drawing from perceive, awareness … The point to which we’re trying to arrive at is simple – to become aware of God’s voice means we must take Him in entirely … not with our spin on how we want things to be … not with our own standards … but with trust in God’s way and where He leads … that is better than our way, that it is more perfect… that it is the right way…

A religious vocation – whether to become a priest or a nun begins by taking Him in entirely … it begins with prayer, adoration, engaging in the life of the Church via one’s parish and the works of mercy … it begins by tapping into the sacramental life of the Church … it begins in these ways with trust – and this is the key – The Good Shepherd calls His sheep by name, they know Him and they follow Him … why – because they trust Him. They trust that by going where He goes and following His way leads to the discovery of who we were born to become … to becoming ourselves … Those whom God calls must cast aside the fear navigating these waters… uncharted as they may be – thinking one does not have the skillset … its not about skills – God gives us the necessary gifts we need to be in His service … no, its about trust. Do we trust Him? Do we trust that He knows best? Do we trust that He will protect us? And then can one respond to His call… and lay down his life – just like the Good Shepherd lays down His life …

Friends, today, in the Diocese of Springfield we have 2 men in priestly formation with 3 more in application. Our numbers are trending up! God has not stopped calling men to be priests – vocations are out there … He has not stopped calling young women to religious life … Though we still have much to do as a Church community to encourage our young people to consider a religious vocation… the point is that they are out there and they are listening… we need to help them, therefore, to listen, to hear, to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd who calls out to them … to follow, to trust, to not be afraid to go where He leads… and to follow Him with the generosity of their lives …