VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 070   
   DATE 14-04-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Exodus, a fundamental experience of vocation: Pope's Message for the 52nd   
   World Day of Prayer for Vocations   
   - Holy Father's calendar for April to June 2015   
   - Programme of the Pope's visit to Sarajevo   
   - Presentation of the Holy See Pavilion at EXPO 2015   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Exodus, a fundamental experience of vocation: Pope's Message for the 52nd   
   World   
   Day of Prayer for Vocations   
    Vatican City, 14 April 2015 (VIS) "Exodus, a fundamental experience of   
   vocation" is the title of the Holy Father's Message for the 52nd World Day of   
   Prayer for Vocations, to be held on 26 April, the fourth Sunday of Easter.   
    In the text, the Pope explains that at the root of every Christian vocation   
   there is an exodus that starts from the renouncement of the comfort and   
   inflexibility of the self in in order to go forth trustfully, like Abraham,   
   towards the "new land" that God indicates to us. This dynamic is relevant not   
   only to a personal calling, but also to the missionary and evangelical action   
   of   
   all the Church, truly faithful to her Master, "to the extent that she is a   
   Church which 'goes forth', a Church which is less concerned about herself, her   
   structures and successes, and more about her ability to go out and meet God's   
   children wherever they are, to feel compassion (com-passio) for their hurt and   
   pain". It is a dynamic towards God and towards man that fills life with joy and   
   meaning, as Francis says to the young, urging them not to let uncertainties   
   obstruct their dreams, and not to be afraid to go forth.   
    The following is the full text of the Message:   
    "Dear brothers and sisters,   
    The Fourth Sunday of Easter offers us the figure of the Good Shepherd who   
   knows   
   his sheep: he calls them, he feeds them and he guides them. For over fifty   
   years   
   the universal Church has celebrated this Sunday as the World Day of Prayer for   
   Vocations. In this way she reminds us of our need to pray, as Jesus himself   
   told   
   his disciples, so that 'the Lord of the harvest may send out labourers into his   
   harvest'. Jesus' command came in the context of his sending out missionaries.   
   He   
   called not only the twelve Apostles, but another seventy-two disciples whom he   
   then sent out, two by two, for the mission. Since the Church 'is by her very   
   nature missionary', the Christian vocation is necessarily born of the   
   experience   
   of mission. Hearing and following the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd, means   
   letting ourselves be attracted and guided by him, in consecration to him; it   
   means allowing the Holy Spirit to draw us into this missionary dynamism,   
   awakening within us the desire, the joy and the courage to offer our own lives   
   in the service of the Kingdom of God.   
    To offer one's life in mission is possible only if we are able to leave   
   ourselves behind. On this 52nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations, I would like   
   reflect on that particular 'exodus' which is the heart of vocation, or better   
   yet, of our response to the vocation God gives us. When we hear the word   
   'exodus', we immediately think of the origins of the amazing love story between   
   God and his people, a history which passes through the dramatic period of   
   slavery in Egypt, the calling of Moses, the experience of liberation and the   
   journey toward the Promised Land. The Book of Exodus, the second book of the   
   Bible, which recounts these events is a parable of the entire history of   
   salvation, but also of the inner workings of Christian faith. Passing from the   
   slavery of the old Adam to new life in Christ is a event of redemption which   
   takes place through faith. This passover is a genuine 'exodus'; it is the   
   journey of each Christian soul and the entire Church, the decisive turning of   
   our lives towards the Father.   
    At the root of every Christian vocation we find this basic movement, which is   
   part of the experience of faith. Belief means transcending ourselves, leaving   
   behind our comfort and the inflexibility of our ego in order to centre our life   
   in Jesus Christ. It means leaving, like Abraham, our native place and going   
   forward with trust, knowing that God will show us the way to a new land. This   
   'going forward' is not to be viewed as a sign of contempt for one's life, one's   
   feelings, one's own humanity. On the contrary, those who set out to follow   
   Christ find life in abundance by putting themselves completely at the service   
   of   
   God and his kingdom. Jesus says: 'Everyone who has left home or brothers or   
   sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will   
   receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life'. All of this is profoundly   
   rooted in love. The Christian vocation is first and foremost a call to love, a   
   love which attracts us and draws us out of ourselves, 'decentring' us and   
   triggering "an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its   
   liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and   
   indeed the discovery of God'.   
    The exodus experience is paradigmatic of the Christian life, particularly in   
   the case of those who have embraced a vocation of special dedication to the   
   Gospel. This calls for a constantly renewed attitude of conversion and   
   transformation, an incessant moving forward, a passage from death to life like   
   that celebrated in every liturgy, an experience of passover. From the call of   
   Abraham to that of Moses, from Israel's pilgrim journey through the desert to   
   the conversion preached by the prophets, up to the missionary journey of Jesus   
   which culminates in his death and resurrection, vocation is always a work of   
   God. He leads us beyond our initial situation, frees us from every enslavement,   
   breaks down our habits and our indifference, and brings us to the joy of   
   communion with him and with our brothers and sisters. Responding to God's call,   
   then, means allowing him to help us leave ourselves and our false security   
   behind, and to strike out on the path which leads to Jesus Christ, the origin   
   and destiny of our life and our happiness.   
    This exodus process does not regard individuals alone, but the missionary and   
   evangelising activity of the whole Church. The Church is faithful to her Master   
   to the extent that she is a Church which 'goes forth', a Church which is less   
   concerned about herself, her structures and successes, and more about her   
   ability to go out and meet God's children wherever they are, to feel compassion   
   (com-passio) for their hurt and pain. God goes forth from himself in a   
   Trinitarian dynamic of love: he hears the cry of his people and he intervenes   
   to   
   set them free. The Church is called to follow this way of being and acting. She   
   is meant to be a Church which evangelises, goes out to encounter humanity,   
   proclaims the liberating word of the Gospel, heals people's spiritual and   
   physical wounds with the grace of God, and offers relief to the poor and the   
   suffering.   
    Dear brothers and sisters, this liberating exodus towards Christ and our   
   brothers and sisters also represents the way for us to fully understand our   
   common humanity and to foster the historical development of individuals and   
   societies. To hear and answer the Lord's call is not a private and completely   
   personal matter fraught with momentary emotion. Rather, it is a specific, real   
   and total commitment which embraces the whole of our existence and sets it at   
   the service of the growth of God's Kingdom on earth. The Christian vocation,   
   rooted in the contemplation of the Father's heart, thus inspires us to   
   solidarity in bringing liberation to our brothers and sisters, especially the   
   poorest. A disciple of Jesus has a heart open to his unlimited horizons, and   
   friendship with the Lord never means flight from this life or from the world.   
   On   
   the contrary, it involves a profound interplay between communion and mission.   
    This exodus towards God and others fills our lives with joy and meaning. I   
   wish   
   to state this clearly to the young, whose youth and openness to the future   
   makes   
   them open-hearted and generous. At times uncertainty, worries about the future   
   and the problems they daily encounter can risk paralysing their youthful   
   enthusiasm and shattering their dreams, to the point where they can think that   
   it is not worth the effort to get involved, that the God of the Christian faith   
   is somehow a limit on their freedom. Dear young friends, never be afraid to go   
   out from yourselves and begin the journey! The Gospel is the message which   
   brings freedom to our lives; it transforms them and makes them all the more   
   beautiful. How wonderful it is to be surprised by God's call, to embrace his   
   word, and to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, in adoration of the divine mystery   
   and in generous service to our neighbours! Your life will become richer and   
   more   
   joyful each day!   
    The Virgin Mary, model of every vocation, did not fear to utter her 'fiat' in   
   response to the Lord's call. She is at our side and she guides us. With the   
   generous courage born of faith, Mary sang of the joy of leaving herself behind   
   and entrusting to God the plans she had for her life. Let us turn to her, so   
   that we may be completely open to what God has planned for each one of us, so   
   that we can grow in the desire to go out with tender concern towards others.   
   May   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)