This Fourth Sunday of Easter is called Good Shepherd Sunday because the Gospel reading comes from the tenth chapter of Saint John where Jesus compares himself to a shepherd who leads his sheep out, cares for them, and is even prepared to lay down his life for them. Very appropriately it is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, when we make a special effort as a community to fulfill the Lord's instruction to "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest" (Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2). The Church concentrates its attention this day on vocations to the ordained ministries (priesthood and diaconate), to the religious life in all its forms (male and female, contemplative and apostolic) and to the missionary life. The theme for this year is: “Led by the Spirit for Mission” and Pope Francis notes that every Christian vocation has a missionary dimension: “All Christians are called to be missionaries of the Gospel! As disciples, we do not receive the gift of God’s love for our personal consolation, nor are we called to promote ourselves…We are simply men and women touched and transformed by the joy of God’s love, who cannot keep this experience just to ourselves”.

Although we may feel inadequate, “By virtue of baptism, every Christian is a “Christopher”, a bearer of Christ, to his brothers and sisters. This is particularly the case with those called to a life of special consecration and with priests, who have generously responded, “Here I am, Lord, send me!” Jesus himself was sent by the Father and our mission is also “to be anointed by the Spirit, and to go out to our brothers and sisters in order to proclaim the word and to be for them a means of salvation”. Pope Francis refers to the Easter appearance of Jesus to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (the Gospel for last weekend) and calls it a ‘liturgy of the road’ which reassures us that Jesus is with us every step of the way: “What does Jesus do? He does not judge them, but walks with them…Gradually he transforms their discouragement. He makes their hearts burn within them, and he opens their eyes by proclaiming the word and breaking the bread. In the same way, a Christian does not bear the burden of mission alone, but realizes, even amid weariness and misunderstanding, that Jesus walks with him, speaks to him, breathes with him, works with him. He senses Jesus alive with him in the midst of the missionary enterprise”.

Pope Francis concludes by saying: “I ask parish communities, associations and the many prayer groups present in the Church, not to yield to discouragement but to continue praying that the Lord will send workers to his harvest. May he give us priests enamored of the Gospel, close to all their brothers and sisters, living signs of God’s merciful love”.

All of us should make a conscious effort to pray for vocations, but there is something especially powerful about prayer for vocations in families with young and adolescent children. First of all, families who pray for vocations are not going to be so surprised if one of their own children hears the call. Secondly, it is only young people who have been formed in the habit of regular prayer who are likely to be able to hear God’s invitation.  May young people here at Nativity hear and respond to God’s call.