Evening of Prayer for Vocations, Tullamore
Parish of Tullamore, 14-05-21
Good evening to those looking in on the Tullamore Parish Webcam or on our Diocese of Meath Vocations Facebook Page. My name is Father Tony Gonoude, Vocations Director for the Diocese of Meath. This evening would not be possible without the welcome of Father Joe Gallagher and of course Father Fergal Cummins, our youngest priest who exposed the Blessed Sacrament for us and will lead us in Benediction a little later and Fr Kevin Heery another of our younger priests who will read the scriptures for us..
Perhaps you are logged in at home or just after college lectures or are in from work. Maybe you are at school? We are delighted to have you with us gathered around Christ on the altar. He has drawn you here this evening and he speaks to your heart. Do not be afraid of the majesty of the call to the Sacred Priesthood. Embrace it! The Lord has chosen you. He will lead you and give you the guidance you need. Remember too, despite all of the media reports and general perception, the Sacred Priesthood is a ministry of joy, of peace and of beauty. Being a priest is not miserable, sad, isolating. It is not my ministry, my priesthood, my calling. It is from the heart of Jesus that speaks to our hearts. Priesthood is of the Lord and is his Ministry to bring us to God. Priesthood is the key that opens the door to heaven at Holy Mass and in the sacraments. Jesus wishes you to become His Priest. Be that, and let him show you the way.
This evening in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament we are going to reflect on a number of people who answered the call of God. St Peter who professes his love for Christ. The Blessed Virgin who gave us Christ through her “yes” and St Joseph who in being a father on earth to Jesus, shows every priest how to be a father to others.
‘Do you Love Me?’ Reflection
The Birth of Jesus Foretold (Luke 1: 26-37).
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
We can see a few things here.
First Mary’s call comes from God. The angel comes to her in her daily life and asks her to follow, to give and to open herself so that heaven can come to us. Is Mary a little afraid? I would say so. But again the angel speaks-“The Lord is with you.” Mary is not alone in this moment of decision. Her yes has the Lord with her in it. Here the Blessed Virgin is the image for all considering a call to Priesthood. In saying yes to the Lord, we must open ourselves too, so that He can come into the lives of people through his priests. Are we alone in this decision? No. God is with us. Jesus is willing us on so that we can be with him in a special way.
The call came to Mary in her daily life and so it is with us. On the football field, in work, college or home, Jesus will call us again and again. He will give us many little signs; a prayer said, seeing a good priest minister, a holy picture or something we have seen on the net. Each of these signs every day is like the voice of the Lord asking us to follow him. Like it was with Mary. So it is with us. God calls. Can we say yes?
I hear you say it is not possible for me to be a priest? I am too young, not strong enough, and not holy enough, not worthy. Again we hear “Nothing is impossible to God.” A young girl gives us the Body of Christ in her saying yes to her call. For many this would seem unthinkable and unachievable. Yet the Son of Mary will say “My Body, My Blood.[…] For you.” Mary takes part in the impossible and the Lord becomes possible to reach. No matter how much you feel this call is a huge mountain, too much; just look at this young girl who says yes and see what has happened. If you answer yes than your words will bring the flesh of Jesus to his people at the bedside of the sick, to the young, to those alone and most of all when you say, The Body of Christ at every Mass.
“Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” “Let it be done,” says Mary. As you know, our culture has us believe that there are no limits to our freedom. Life is ours. How about Mary here? Let it be done. Freedom for the Holy Mother is in allowing God in. True liberation for Mary is to allow the Word of God speak through her saying yes because she will give the Lord a human voice. Mary will go to Elizabeth and sing for joy. At the wedding of Cana, some thirty years later, with Jesus present, she will say, “Do whatever he tells you.” Finally, at the foot of the cross, she will be given into the care of St John, at the Word of her dying Divine Son. Mary is a total yes to the Lord in everything. In this she finds great joy and challenge. My dear young friends considering a call to the Sacred Priesthood, life is a serious of challenges and sufferings coupled with many happy moments. Freedom can destroy us if we see it as the end of all things for us. Imagine driving as fast as we like, eating as much as we want, not getting up for school, college, work, never loving someone or an ideal because it would get in the way of “my priorities”? This freedom ruins and burns us. The freedom of Mary’s yes can be ours too. Imagine, like her, if we freely answer to the will of God? Then our freedom is found in love, in service and in giving Jesus to others. Then our freedom would be in witnessing to a new generation of the awesome power of Christ to change lives and bring light into every darkness. This freedom brings with it the challenge of love, the toils of the priestly life and the bearing of the sufferings of others but all of this brings fantastic consultation to the life of the priest that he is bringing God to every need and situation. Saying yes makes us free to love and to be loved as ambassadors of God’s mercy. Perhaps then it is truly worth saying let it be done.
Finally, Mary describes herself as a “Servant.” She is to give herself to the Lord; her whole person becomes a gateway for God to enter into time. Mary is not alone in her being servant. Jesus bends down to us and raises us up. We see him as servant as he washes his disciple’s feet, as he gives his body on the cross and as he brings us up with him as he ascends to heaven. To be a servant like Mary or her Son is to place others as important. In Jesus case his being a servant is to save us by his love. Service in the case of a call is like this. It saves because it is of God. Priesthood is not slavery or servitude but a way of being a servant who lifts up hearts that are down. You serve the Lord by giving your voice to his, by allowing his image to be reflected in you as his minister. This being a servant is to be a friend of Jesus and a holder of his beautiful message of hope to the world. When Mary serves it is to open the hour of Jesus. When we serve we do the same.
Mary is a wonderful example for us this evening as we consider the call. She shows us in that room so long ago that she could give everything and discover Christ. Let the Lord into the room of your soul and you too will find him and in so doing know true peace and joy.
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 1: 18-24).
This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son
and they will call him Emmanuel,
a name which means ‘God-is-with-us.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home and, though he had not had intercourse with her, she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.
Joseph had answered his call you might say! He had trained as a carpenter. His hands were used to shape timber and to build. Also, he had now become husband to a very special girl. Job done? No! This is the way of God in our lives. You may feel content right now. Priesthood is not for me. I have a job, a girlfriend, a life! Ah yes but the Lord will always call those whom he desires. What do we see? Joseph dreams and hears the angel tell him of what is to be. What does he do? He says yes. He answers the call. An outrages proposal. This child of his young wife is to not be his own but God’s Son and he a ‘father’ to him here on earth. Joseph says yes to protect the child, to showing him the skills of a carpenter, of teaching him to pray and how to relate to people. Can you image the young Jesus helping his ‘father’ as carpenter with customers? In this call we see the everyday life of Joseph being changed. This is for you too. To say yes means that you will protect the mystery of Christ and like wood in the hands of the carpenter, you will mould many to hear the gospels and teachings that give life. Not only that, to answer the call is to step outside what you think is fulfilment in your present calling to embrace so much more. Jesus for Joseph is everything. Despite caring for this “Son of God” being something totally beyond his comprehension, he takes on his duty willingly. To be a priest is to hold God in so many ways; this too is a calling that is way beyond our understanding but simple in its majesty. Joseph will hold the majesty of God in a manger. Every priest is another Joseph dealing with the awesome coming of the Lord every day. If you say yes you will hold the Lord in your consecrated hands and will make your life a manger for him to rest on.
You will name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Joseph will not get to name this child as he pleases. Even that is taken away in this yes to the call for him. But wow there is power in this name! It means God-with-us and to be saved. God’s holy power is in this name. In this name the dead will be raised to life, heaven is opened. In this name God is here. Joseph will give this name to Jesus. Many today do not see the need to be saved, do not know the name of Jesus. To answer the call is to give Jesus a name for those who do not know him and for those who do. Many young people only see Instagram, TickTock, and YouTube. Their vision is only what is given to them. A priest can be another father to the young; like Joseph he can name Jesus for them. He does this in schools, colleges, with altar servers and in so many other ways.
Jesus saves. This is a message worth sharing with young people. To show them that this Jesus is a name that will broaden their horizons. “For he will save his people from their sins.” Do we sin anymore? Is there anything wrong in the world? Jesus is the one who comes to save. The priest will take part in this holy saving power of the Lord in Confession. When you are a priest to step into the confessional with the sinner is like opening a curtain on time to see into eternity where Jesus comes to us. As priest you would be the ears, the voice and the mercy of Christ to save his people from their sins. Saving people for Jesus; you would do this at the alter giving them the Bread of Life, at the pulpit where you would preach the gospels and show people they way, you would do this at the Anointing of the Sick, where you would give the healing of the Lord to the ill. As priest you would utter the name of Jesus and in him save his people. As priest you would like Joseph know that God-is-with-us and give generations of parishioners this knowledge too.
When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him Joseph follows the call. This following will lead him to Bethlehem where Jesus will be seen by the shepherds and adored by the Magi. He will house the infant Lord in a cave where the stars are his roof. Then he will flee with the child to Egypt to protect him from evil. To answer the call is to go to places we do not know. Is this frightening? A little but like Joseph when we give our vocation a chance then all things open up for us. The priest goes from place to place and so often finds great love from the people he cares for. The priest will protect the Blessed Christ at the altar and see the true beauty of the liturgy. The priest will see the shepherds of today (the ordinary people) and the Magi (those searching for God) come to the Lord he shows them and in answering the call, he will be a focus point for people to “Come to see Jesus.” Often too the priest will have to go to the Egypt of safety in prayer because some will want to harm the message he preaches but in this place he will see Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Following the call, doing the will of the Lord is a way of joy, a path with the Lord.
Dear friends looking in do not be afraid. Follow the Lord. Be another Peter. Allow the example and prayer of the Blessed Mother guide you and ask St Joseph to protect you. Remember our website, Instagram and Facebook is being updated all the time.
Please feel free to contact me to be a Priest of Jesus Christ.