Given for the evening Vespers Service:
“There is a cause for rejoicing
here”, although “you may for a time have to suffer the distress of many
trials” (1 Pet 1:6). These words of the Apostle remind us of something
essential. Our vocation is to be lived in joy.
This
beautiful Cathedral of Saint Patrick, built up over many years through
the sacrifices of many men and women, can serve as a symbol of the work
of generations of American priests and religious, and lay faithful who
helped build up the Church in the United States. In the field of
education alone, how many priests and religious in this country played a
central role, assisting parents in handing on to their children the
food that nourishes them for life! Many did so at the cost of
extraordinary sacrifice and with heroic charity. I think for example of
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, who founded the first free Catholic school
for girls in America, or Saint John Neumann, the founder of the first
system of Catholic education in the United States.
This
evening, my brothers and sisters, I have come to join you in prayer
that our vocations will continue to build up the great edifice of God’s
Kingdom in this country. I know that, as a presbyterate in the midst of
God’s people, you suffered greatly in the not distant past by having to
bear the shame of some of your brothers who harmed and scandalized the
Church in the most vulnerable of her members... In the words of the Book
of Revelation, I know well that you “have come forth from the great
tribulation” (Rev 7:14). I accompany you at this time of pain and
difficulty, and I thank God for your faithful service to his people. In
the hope of helping you to persevere on the path of fidelity to Jesus
Christ, I would like to offer two brief reflections.
The
first concerns the spirit of gratitude. The joy of men and women who
love God attracts others to him; priests and religious are called to
find and radiate lasting satisfaction in their vocation. Joy springs
from a grateful heart. Truly, we have received much, so many graces, so
many blessings, and we rejoice in this. It will do us good to think back
on our lives with the grace of remembrance. Remembrance of when we were
first called, remembrance of the road travelled, remembrance of graces
received... and, above all, remembrance of our encounter with Jesus
Christ so often along the way. Remembrance of the amazement which our
encounter with Jesus Christ awakens in our hearts. To seek the grace of
remembrance so as to grow in the spirit of gratitude. Perhaps we need to
ask ourselves: are we good at counting our blessings?
A
second area is the spirit of hard work. A grateful heart is
spontaneously impelled to serve the Lord and to find expression in a
life of commitment to our work. Once we come to realize how much God has
given us, a life of self-sacrifice, of working for him and for others,
becomes a privileged way of responding to his great love.
Yet,
if we are honest, we know how easily this spirit of generous
self-sacrifice can be dampened. There are a couple of ways that this can
happen; both are examples of that “spiritual worldliness” which weakens
our commitment to serve and diminishes the wonder of our first
encounter with Christ.
We
can get caught up measuring the value of our apostolic works by the
standards of efficiency, good management and outward success which
govern the business world. Not that these things are unimportant! We have been entrusted with a great responsibility, and
God’s people rightly expect accountability from us. But the true worth
of our apostolate is measured by the value it has in God’s eyes. To see
and evaluate things from God’s perspective calls for constant conversion
in the first days and years of our vocation and, need I say, great
humility. The cross shows us a different way of measuring success. Ours
is to plant the seeds: God sees to the fruits of our labors. And if at
times our efforts and works seem to fail and produce no fruit, we need
to remember that we are followers of Jesus... and his life, humanly
speaking, ended in failure, the failure of the cross.
Another
danger comes when we become jealous of our free time, when we think
that surrounding ourselves with worldly comforts will help us serve
better. The problem with this reasoning is that it can blunt the power
of God’s daily call to conversion, to encounter with him. Slowly but
surely, it diminishes our spirit of sacrifice, renunciation and hard
work. It also alienates people who suffer material poverty and are
forced to make greater sacrifices than ourselves. Rest is needed, as are
moments of leisure and self-enrichment, but we need to learn how to
rest in a way that deepens our desire to serve with generosity.
Closeness to the poor, the refugee, the immigrant, the sick, the
exploited, the elderly living alone, prisoners and all God’s other poor,
will teach us a different way of resting, one which is more Christian
and generous.
Gratitude
and hard work: these are two pillars of the spiritual life which I have
wanted to share with you this evening. I thank you for prayers and
work, and the daily sacrifices you make in the various areas of your
apostolate. Many of these are known only to God, but they bear rich
fruit for the life of the Church. In a special way I would like to
express my esteem and gratitude to the religious women of the United
States. What would the Church be without you? Women of strength,
fighters, with that spirit of courage which puts you in the front lines
in the proclamation of the Gospel. To you, religious women, sisters and
mothers of this people, I wish to say “thank you”, a big thank you...
and to tell you that I love you very much.
I
know that many of you are in the front lines in meeting the challenges
of adapting to an evolving pastoral landscape. Whatever difficulties and
trials you face, I ask you, like Saint Peter, to be at peace and to
respond to them as Christ did: he thanked the Father, took up his cross
and looked forward!
Dear
brothers and sisters, in a few moments we will sing the Magnificat. Let
us commend to Our Lady the work we have been entrusted to do; let us
join her in thanking God for the great things he has done, and for the
great things he will continue to do in us and in those whom we have the
privilege to serve.
