The Christian vocation is to go forward always, better to limp than to stand still

Francis met participants to the 75th Convention of Serra International, stressing the importance of going out and rejoicing in “our relationship with the Lord” and the “journey along the ways that he opens up before us.” For him, “To be friends to priests, sustaining their vocation and accompanying them in their ministry: with this great gift you enrich the Church!”

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis spoke about the mission today in his address to the participants at the 75th Convention of Serra International centred on the theme of Siempre adelante, the courage of vocation’, now underway in Rome from 22 to 25 June.

For the pontiff, ‘going forward’ means the same as the Christian vocation, it is the response to the call to undertake the “holy journey”, the vocation of going beyond oneself, of not falling into the temptation of holding oneself back, but focusing instead on rejoicing in “our relationship with the Lord” and the “journey along the ways that he opens up before us.”

Francis praised Serra International for being “friends of priests”, of going being themselves along the path indicated by God. “It is better to go forward limping, and even at times to fall, while always trusting in the mercy of God, than to be ‘museum Christians’ who are afraid of change. Even though they received a charism or vocation, instead of serving the eternal newness of the Gospel, they are caught up in defending themselves and their own roles.” Such a risk also hangs over Church institutions.

“To be friends to priests, sustaining their vocation and accompanying them in their ministry: with this great gift you enrich the Church! This is, above all else, what a Serran is – a ‘special friend’ whom the Lord has brought into the lives of seminarians and priests.

“When Jesus speaks of his ‘friends’, he points to a hard truth: true friendship involves an encounter that draws me so near to the other person that I give something of my very self. Jesus says to his disciples: ‘No longer do I call you servants . . . but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you’ (Jn 15:15). He thus establishes a new relationship between man and God, one that transcends the law and is grounded in trust and love. At the same time, Jesus frees friendship from sentimentalism and presents it to us as a responsibility that embraces our entire life: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).

“We become friends, then, only if our encounter is more than something outward or formal, and becomes instead a way of sharing in the life of another person, an experience of compassion, a relationship that involves giving ourselves for others.”

Speaking about the theme chosen for the convention the pope said, “Siempre adelante! Keep moving forward! Like you, I believe that this is a synonym for the Christian vocation. For the life of every missionary disciple bears the impress of his or her vocation. The voice of the Lord invites his disciples to leave the safety of their homeland and to begin the ‘holy journey’ towards the promised land of encounter with him and with our brothers and sisters. Vocation is an invitation to go forth from ourselves, to rejoice in our relationship with the Lord, and to journey along the ways that he opens up before us.

“Of course, we cannot make progress unless we take a risk. We do not advance toward the goal if, as the Gospel says, we are afraid to lose our lives (cf. Mt 16:25-26). No ship would ever set out into the deep if it feared leaving the safety of the harbour. So too, Christians cannot enter into the transforming experience of God’s love unless they are open to new possibilities, and not tied to their own plans and cherished ways of doing things. Pastoral structures can fall into this same temptation, being concerned more with self-preservation than with adapting themselves to the service of the Gospel.

“On the other hand, when Christians go about their daily lives without fear, they can discover God’s constant surprises. They need but have the courage to dare, not to let fear stifle their creativity, not to be suspicious of new things, but instead to embrace the challenges which the Spirit sets before them, even when this means changing plans and charting a different course.”

• vatican
• pope francis
• serra international
• mission
• friendship
• inertia
• self-control