Homily from the Summer Retreat for Diocesan Seminarians & Enquirers
by Very Rev. Tony Gonoude, PP
19th August 2022 - Lismullen Retreat Centre
To all of you considering a call, and to Anthony and Mark our students for the Diocese too, it is wonderful for us to be here in the sacred hour of the Mass with Jesus the Lord. It is He who has called you and us here and it is in Him that you will move forward.
A few points for reflection this morning. Your vocation is the “Master’s“ invitation to you. In the gospel the Lord answers with the command to love. If you love Him above all and others in Him, then each day you will grow to be more like Him. Seeing the Lord Jesus with the eyes of faith, wishing to be more like Him, wanting to be near Him in prayer and reflection - This is all saying yes to God. To desire Christ is the essence of your call.
Without Him there is no vocation. To love Him is to say yes to His will. To love Jesus is to love others too as each priest in their ministry strive do, in a sense to see others with the love that God has for them. If you think of it, the Sacred Host we hold up here is the same person that knelt down and washed the disciple’s feet, that raised people from the dead, that looked on others with love as He died on the cross. Love others in your vocation and you will see Jesus.
Then there is the dried up valley of bones we hear of in the reading from the Prophet Ezekiel. The prophet speaks the word and these dry bones become flesh and are given life. The breath of God’s life had entered into them. Priesthood looks to be in the valley of dried bones, dry of life. You hear so much in our media and from those around you in that regard. This is not true. The life of Christ is forever. He lives as the Eternal Priest who calls men to Him in every age to speak His Word in every dark valley of history. To be a priest is to speak His Word of life and to give flesh to the faith of so many who can rise from the dryness of a world of little hope.
We gather here with Jesus the High Priest who has called us. Let us pray that the Master will guide and be with us as we go from here. May he teach us love and give life to our call. Amen.
Ordained in 2007, Fr Tony Gonoude is Parish Priest of Ballynacarrigy, Co. Westmeath and serves as Vocations Director for the Diocese of Meath.