Last week, Pope Francis asked the faithful to pray for vocations, so
that God may send priests and nuns whose hearts are for Him only; free from the
idolatry of vanity, of power and of wealth.
Speaking during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta on March
3rd, Pope Francis took his cue from the Gospel reading of day which tells of a
rich man who ran up to Jesus, knelt down before him, and asked him what he
should do to inherit eternal life. This man – the Pope said – really wanted to
hear what Jesus had to say. “He was a
good man, a man who had observed the commandments from his youth, but this was
not enough for him, he wanted more. The Holy Spirit was pushing him further”.
Jesus looked at him, loved him and said to him: ‘Go, sell what you have, and
give to the poor; then come, follow me’. At that statement, his face fell, and
he went away sad, for he had many possessions:
“His heart was
restless, because the Holy Spirit was pushing him to get closer to Jesus and to
follow him. But his heart was full and he lacked the courage to empty it. He
made his choice: money. His heart was full of money…. But he was not a thief,
or a criminal: no, no, no! He was a good man: he had never stolen! He had never
cheated anyone: his money had been earned honestly. But his heart was
imprisoned, it was attached to money and he lacked the freedom to choose. Money
chose for him”.
How many young people – Pope Francis continued – feel this
call to get close to Jesus within their hearts, and they are enthusiastic about
it. “They are not ashamed to kneel before
Him” and to “publically show their
faith in Jesus Christ” and “they want
to follow Him, but when their hearts are full of something else and they lack
the courage to empty their hearts, they turn back and their joy becomes
sadness”. There are many young people today – Pope Francis said – who have
a vocation, but sometimes there is something that stops them:
“We must pray so that
the hearts of these young people may be emptied, emptied of other interests and
other sentiments, so that they may become free. This is the prayer for
vocations. ‘Lord, send us nuns and send us priests, defend them from idolatry,
the idolatry of vanity, the idolatry of pride, the idolatry of power, the
idolatry of money’. This prayer of ours is to prepare these hearts so that they
are able to follow Jesus closely”.
The man described in the Gospel reading – the Pope said – is
“such a good man and then he is so sad”.
Today there are many young people like him. This is why we must pray intensely
to God:
“Lord, help these
young people so that they may be free, not slaves, so that their hearts be for
You only; so that the call of the Lord can be heard and can bear fruit. This is
the prayer for vocations. We must pray a lot. But we must be careful: there are
vocations. We must help them to grow, so that the Lord can enter into those
hearts and give this indescribable and glorious joy that belongs to every person
who follows Jesus closely”.
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