More postively

Tomorrow is Good Shepherd Sunday and Pope Benedict's message is well worth a read. He took Vocations, the Gift of the Love of God as his theme for this World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
I always give thanks to the Lord on Good Shepherd Sunday because I am genuinely grateful for the gift of priesthood.  I know I fall short of mark in so many ways, but it is a genuine gift to be a minister of God's presence through priestly ministry.  It's a wonderful thing to welcome a small baby into the Body of Christ through the sacrament of baptism and to comfort the dying with the last sacraments.  It's a delight to prepare young children for Confession and Communion and to share in the wedding celebrations of couples starting out on the journey of married life together.  I also enjoy being part of the life of a Diocese - I'm one of those odd eggs who doesn't mind sitting on a committee or two - and the fellowship of being part of a presbyterate.  Even in these days, the welcome and friendship of parishioners - even those I haven't gotten to know yet personally - is a great privilege.
The great frustration of priesthood today is the sense of having found something - or rather Someone - and realising that so many out there seem unwilling to welcome Him into their lives.  There's seems to be assumption out there that what the Church has to offer, what Christ Himself has to offer is surplus to requirements, something no longer needed, or even something that needs to be left behind in the past.  That's doubly true when it comes to the gift of priesthood itself - there seems precious little interest in faith or in vocation amongst the vast, vast majority of our young people. Having experienced both the joys and challenges of priestly ministry, I would love to see a younger generation of men follow the same path. That'll be the theme of my homily this evening - the challenge to foster a culture of faith and vocation in our parish so that we can hear the voice of the Good Shepherd speaking to us.  As the Holy Father himself puts it:

  It is my hope that the local Churches and all the various groups within them, will become places where vocations are carefully discerned and their authenticity tested, places where young men and women are offered wise and strong spiritual direction. In this way, the Christian community itself becomes a manifestation of the Love of God in which every calling is contained.