Our hearts are restless
Vocations
As the Church celebrates National Vocations Awareness Week from August 3-10, Fr Dean Marin turns to St Augustine to reveal the transforming power of God’s call.
In the homily at the Mass of his inauguration, Pope Leo IV quoted St Augustine. Maybe this was somewhat to be expected as he is from the Augustinian Religious Order.
St Augustine is noted for his ‘Confessions’ in which he shares his personal journey of passing through and leaving behind a hedonistic and lustful life while sifting through the divisive philosophies of his day, to an acceptance of God as creator and author of life and then faith in Jesus expressed finally in his baptism.
‘Confessions’ is considered as foundational for the whole of our western civilization. Why? Put simply he understood the deep personal longings of the human heart and soul for life, love, beauty and truth. He understood that no man or woman could be their true self, know themselves and be fulfilled in this life without God.
He discovered from his own experience that faith in God, far from alienating him from the fullness of humanity, was its sure guarantee. A message so ancient but so contemporary that grounds us beyond the shallow and superficial culture of today. In his homily, Pope Leo quoted the words of St Augustine from the ‘Confessions’:
‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in you.’
Here’s the truth of every human heart. Here’s the longing and yearning that needs to be focused and centred on God, or it will be frustrated and unfulfilled. We can try to give meaning to our own lives in our own way, but it will be superficial.
Here’s the call for every person to search for God and to be open to his life changing divine grace. Here’s how we become our true selves, come to know ourselves and experience in God the full worth and dignity of our lives.
Because we know deeply that we are loved, we are anchored and grounded and not confused and distracted by the passing winds of modern times. Because we find our hearts desire in God, we can freely give of ourselves to him and others. Here lies the understanding of God’s unique call or vocation to each of us.
Once again this year, we celebrate National Vocations Awareness week from August 2/3 until August 9/10. We celebrate and renew the unique call, vocation and mission in the Church for the world that each of us as has through our baptism.
Each of us shares in the priestly, prophetic and pastoral ministry of Christ. We are all priests, prophets and kings as instruments of Christ’s love in our world.
Herein lies the full flowering of our human dignity, because in following God’s unique call, we are empowered to freely give of ourselves for others.
Here we each share in the cross of Christ, so that giving of ourselves we truly receive.
The first weekend we celebrate all vocations. It’s not for us to claim one is more important than another. It’s for us to follow our own unique and individual call of service from God. Our baptismal grace is then specified in the call to lay ministry in the Church, to marriage and family life or to single life.
It’s on the second weekend that we name the call to the consecrated life of Religious, the diaconate and priesthood. Throughout the week, we renew our response to our own vocation and we pray especially for our young people, that their hearts will be open to hear the call of the Lord echoing in their hearts.
I believe there is an awakening amongst our young people and a renewed openness to God. Our secular society is running on empty and selling them short and their hungry hearts and empty souls are open and searching.
We all need to be fully encouraging and supportive, living witnesses of joyfulness of following Christ. No one is called to walk alone. Let us pray consciously and continually for the children, youth and young adults amongst us. We need to be convinced that they cannot be any happier in life than when they are following God’s call.
New vocation prayer cards are available in parishes. They feature the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the icon of God’s tender love for us all.
Finally, let us pray often and with confidence for all vocations, but in particular for vocations to the consecrated life, diaconate and priesthood.
Fr Dean Marin is Vicar General and Vocations director of the Adelaide Archdiocese.
