Vocations Sunday is an important day for the Church here in Britain. On this Fourth Sunday of Easter, our Bishops want us to reflect on the need we all have in reflecting on vocations to the religious life and priesthood. There is a real danger that we can look at our empty seminaries and noviciates and feel that God has abandoned our nation. I was honoured to attend a recent meeting of Vocation Directors for Northern Europe: while formation centres for sisters, brothers and priests in Southern Asia, Africa and parts of South America are packed, we do not share those numbers in our part of the world. However, as gospel today shows, it is not about numbers—rather it is about being the 'Good Shepherd' that guards and knows the flock. One of my most memorable experiences in the Holy Land was at a motorway service station on the highway linking Galilee to Jerusalem. Amidst all the advertising hoardings, cafes, toilets and shops of our modern age were literally hundreds of sheep and their shepherds. It turned out that this contemporary facility was built on the site of an ancient oasis. For centuries, long before the advent of motor vehicles, shepherds have brought their sheep here for refreshment and needed socialisation for themselves in their lonely profession. What amazed me was that, as each shepherd stood up and said 'goodbye', their flock gathered behind them and followed them off into the desert. The memory of those shepherds, known so well by their sheep remains with me as they wandered off into the dusk. Those sheep, although mixed up in the confusion and busyness of a motorway service station, instinctively knew who they had to follow—the shepherd who cared for them only. I could have got up and tried to imitate my own dad who was a farmer, but those sheep would no more follow me than go the moon!

Don Bosco recognised the great need for a strong system of pastoral care in his communities and places of education. His was a vision shared by Nano Neagle and Elizabeth Prout: children, young people and adults will only learn effectively in an atmosphere where they feel valued and respected. All Salesians are encouraged to wear the 'Good Shepherd Cross' that reminds us of our vocation. One only has to look at that cross to realise that ours is a ministry of deep care and trust—it is the mission of the Good Shepherd.

According to our beloved Salesian charism, the cross is lived in unlimited pastoral self-giving. The Good Shepherd reveals a Salesian way of looking at Christ: pastoral charity must lie at the heart of the Salesian spirit: 'the attitude that wins hearts by gentleness and self-giving' (Salesian Constitutions 10). Our founder, Don Bosco, had a zeal for offering that care, especially to young people, so easily overlooked in our world. He has inspired millions of people across the globe to keep that charism alive today. In his early dream, Don Bosco saw the wild animals turned into lambs not by magic, but by using 'bonta'—this patient 'loving kindness' can transform young lives, as the Salesian mission proves. Walking with young people will not always be easy; teenagers might not always listen to you; they may even slam doors and offer the silent treatment. Don Bosco shows us a way forward: standing with them through the tantrums, difficulties and 'wobbles'. To be a TRUE pastor, a TRUE teacher or a TRUE parent, we have to make sacrifices. This may seem obvious to us, hearing these words on the other side of the cross and resurrection, and on the other side of two thousand years of reflection on the meaning of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. What shepherd would sacrifice his own life for the life of his sheep? Certainly, the response of the hired hand mentioned by Jesus is more logical. What's the value of a few sheep compared to a human life? We can imagine a shepherd trying to protect his flock, but even the most devoted would have to count the cost, to weigh the risks of protecting the sheep at the cost of his own life. Yet that is what is being asked of us: as we have seen, glory can only be achieved through pain and suffering. Easter Day can only be achieved through enduring Holy Week—there are no easy shortcuts.

In your prayers this weekend, please do pray for vocations, even if our numbers are low. I feel the beautiful responsorial psalm of today's mass offers us Easter hope. Psalm 23 invites us to place our trust in the Lord the ultimate Good Shepherd—we need not be despondent, nor need we worry. As we move into the synodal process, encouraged by Pope Francis, we will discover the unique vocation that each of us has. God asks you to be a Christian as only you can—we do well to pray the words of Cardinal Newman and realise that we are all called to Christian leadership:

God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place.

The Good Shepherd, rather than allowing us to focus on our personal, exclusive relationship with Jesus Christ, invites us to extend the loving embrace of Jesus Christ to the whole world, to those outside the fold, as well as those who are closest to us. That is our mission, that is our task as followers of Jesus in the world today. Pope Francis celebrates the gift of a positive and helpful shepherding ministry:

A shepherd after the heart of God has a heart sufficiently free to set aside his own concerns. He does not live by calculating his gains or how long he has worked: he is not an accountant of the Spirit, but a Good Samaritan who seeks out those in need...For the flock he is a shepherd, not an inspector, and he devotes himself to the mission not fifty or sixty percent, but with all he has. In seeking, he finds, and he finds because he takes risks. He does not stop when disappointed and he does not yield to weariness. Indeed, he is stubborn in doing good, anointed with the divine obstinacy that loses sight of no one. Not only does he keep his doors open, but he also goes to seek out those who no longer wish to enter them. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 03/06/2016)

Please pray for sisters and brothers in formation, especially those preparing for final vows. Please remember our seminarians—let us ask that we be blessed with caring and understanding priests in our parishes. Let us pray that they are going to be totally dedicated to our local communities. In a special way could we all remember Deacon Ste Lloyd SDB in these final months before his ordination to Salesian priesthood in his home parish of St James, Bootle—we have every reason to share that optimism and deep pastoral care of Don Bosco.

Let us pray the daily prayer of our special novena for vocations that many prayed these past nine days:

Good Father, you guide your people each day, desiring to bring us to springs of living water. Help me to hear your voice more clearly in my life, so that my heart may be filled with your love. Through the intercession of Saints John Bosco and Mary Mazzarello, call members of your family to become signs and bearers of your love to the young and the poor.

Inspire many people to offer their lives to you, so that your love may be made visible in them. Raise up many good and worthy shepherds to serve you as Brothers, Sisters, and Priests in the Salesian Family of the British Province. Give them the strength and grace they need to respond generously to your call to give their lives in the service of others. We ask this prayer through your Son Jesus Christ, who is Lord for ever and ever. AMEN

Author: Fr Gerry O'Shaughnessy SDB
Image: ©SalesianLink/OSHAUGHNESSY