Cardinal Rigali on vocations:
‘Let us follow Jesus’

Homily of
Cardinal Justin Rigali
Holy Hour for Vocations
Saint Joseph Church,
Aston
January 15, 2008

Praised be Jesus Christ! It is good to be here this evening; here in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, here with each one of you as together we come to be with the Lord and to pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood. I thank Father Vogan, the priests and people of the parish here for hosting this evening of prayer which is so very important for us as members of the Church.

This week, throughout the United States, the Church in America is celebrating Vocation Awareness Week. A week set aside for us as members of the Church to be especially aware of our call to be disciples — followers—of Jesus Christ. Here in the Archdiocese, we are celebrating this week with a particular awareness of our heightened need for more priests so that the saving work of Jesus may continue as He desires. Throughout this day, Churches throughout the Archdiocese have been open for adoration and now in this very hour, we are here tonight united with priests and faithful throughout the Archdiocese in celebrating this Holy Hour, asking Jesus to send us more priests, to bless the Church in Philadelphia in this Bicentennial Year. It is indeed, then, good to be here.

This evening, we have just heard proclaimed for us the Gospel of “The Rich Young Man.” In this Gospel, we are presented with an encounter with the living Jesus. We meet a disciple of Jesus and from his encounter with Jesus we can learn some important truths regarding our own relationship with our Lord and His call in our lives.

From the start of the Gospel, it is clear that this man is rich indeed. Rich not only in possessions but in reverence, faithfulness and zeal. We are told that just as Jesus was setting out on a journey, this man ran up and knelt down before Jesus. Two verbs that reveal great love, a great desire for the Lord. Then we learn he had a question for Jesus. “Good Teacher,” he asks, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” A very good question indeed, from which this man’s goodness is further revealed. This man desires life, he is seeking eternal life. We see that Jesus then takes him on a review of the commandments. And with sincerity in his heart, the man replies, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Wow! A faithful disciple indeed! With that, we then get to the heart of the Gospel encounter and are told that Jesus “looks at the young man and loves him.” Then with profound esteem, Jesus invites him with the following words, “You are lacking one thing, go sell what you have, give to the poor and then come, follow me.”

Dear friends, we see here in this encounter both the call and the crux of all discipleship. We see here what Jesus truly desires from us and His gentle approach with each one of us. Quite simply, Jesus desires our all, He desires us. The rich young man had given much to God, years of faithfulness and love. But then, after all of this, there was one thing missing, the gift of himself. That was the invitation which Jesus proposed to the young man in saying, “Go sell what you have and come, follow me.” And this was the only way for the young man to know the fullness of life.

How is it that one can give to Jesus his or her very self? How is it that this exchange happens? Through love! To know the love of Christ Jesus and to allow ourselves to be loved by Him! This, dear friends, is the meaning of the call of Jesus, “Come, Follow Me.” The meaning of Christian discipleship is to love and to be loved by Jesus. In knowing His love, we can be faithful to His call, to follow Him wherever He goes.

We find this in the lives of all the saints: Saint Joseph, Saint John Vianney, Saint Charles Borromeo, our own patron saints. And this is what is required in our lives as well. We, like the rich young man, have need to encounter Jesus, to be faithful to his commandments, to give him our questions, and most of all to be loved by Him so as to heed his call in our lives. We are told that upon hearing Jesus’ desire, the young man’s face fell and he went away sad for he had many possessions. He was faced with a decision, to follow or not to follow Jesus’ call. In all honesty, we do not know what the outcome was for this rich young man. Perhaps, he did follow Jesus. Certainly, he had need of Jesus’ love. And so too do we. Love in our families, love in our homes, love in the Church, love in our hearts.

Dear friends, that is what we are doing here tonight, seeking the love of Jesus. And tonight’s Gospel challenges us to renew our own commitment to follow Jesus, who has first loved us. Tonight, let us pray, that we may once again accept his invitation: to love and to be loved by the God who calls each of us by name. Let us follow Jesus.

If we ask Jesus, He will tell us exactly how we are to follow Him: into marriage, into the consecrated life, into a single life of dedicated service, or into the priesthood. Tonight we pray in particular for those whom He is calling to serve the whole Church through priestly ministry. We pray that all those invited will say yes to Jesus, and to the prayers of His Mother Mary, to receive grace and strength. Amen.

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