A few weeks ago I found an old book of bidding prayers, arranged for the pre-1970 Mass. Intending to borrow from it I brought it back to the presbytery to make copies. Inside the book, I found a number of typewritten letters and prayers, including this letter from Canon Sidney Mullarkey - who was "Vicar Capitular" for the diocese of Portsmouth between the death of Archbishop King and the appointment of Bishop Worlock. This Pastoral letter was written for World Vocations Day, 2nd May 1965 - what we now call "Good Shepherd Sunday." The letter is striking for the simple, elegant, and passionate manner in which it states our need for priests and religious, and invites generosity from parents and children alike in considering and supporting vocations.
My dear Priests and People,
This Sunday, which is Good Shepherd Sunday, has been set aside by the Holy Father as a day of special prayer for an increase in vocations to the Priesthood and the Religious Life. This surely is an intention which must be very dear to each one of us. Although we are all called by God to bear witness to Him by the sanctity and example of our lives, there is a special calling for some to serve God directly in the religious state. Indeed, how can the world he saved if there are not priests and religious to lead the Church in this wonderful task of spreading the word of God?
Within the religious state there are different callings. Some are called by God to be brothers or sisters in religion - to spread and live his Word, either by teaching or nursing, or social work, or caring for the sick and abandoned. This is a life of prayer and sacrifice, undertaken because of a deep desire to diffuse the spirit of Christ in the Church and in the world.
Many others are called to be priests. Our Lord said: "I have singled you out from the midst of the world... I am sending you into the world." These words express the unique position of the priest. He is a man chosen by God from his own people, ordained as a minister of Christ, and then sent to bring the world to God by bringing God to the world in Christ. Every priest is ordained for the sake of the people of God. Everything. he does is for others. It is he who offers the perfect sacrifice of the Mass, leading the Christian family in its approach through Christ to its. heavenly Father. It is he who baptizes new children into the family of God and anoints the sick and dying. It is he who forgives the sins of men, bringing to them Christ's compassion and love. In sickness, in heath, in joy, in sorrow, the priest is in the midst of his people, always at their service. Above all, he teaches and preaches the good news of the Gospel, which is the Word of God. A priest walks through life alone - yet not alone, since the whole world is his home and all mankind is his family.
Thus the world has need of the priest and the religious. He cannot be separated from the world. He is like the Good Samaritan holding in his arms the half-dead man whom he will not leave, because he has been sent to help and save him. He no longer belongs to himself because now he belongs to God, and must serve God in the work of salvation.
If God, in his loving wisdom, has arranged things in this way - that the world should need the priest and religious in order to be saved - then, surely, He will hear and answer our prayers. So many priests are needed in the world today. In our own Diocese of Portsmouth the shortage of clergy has become acute ; yet our own situation cannot compare with other parts of the world, where countless thousands cry out for the services of the priest and religious.
So this World Vocation Day applies to all of us. First of all it is directed to parents. The fostering of a vocation is, to a very large extent, in your hands. It is by your rich and living Catholic faith that you direct the thoughts of your children towards the service of God. Realise what an honour it would be if God called one of your boys or girls to the priesthood or religious state, and the blessings that this would bring on you and your family. Let your home be one where the seed of a vocation could be sown and bear fruit.
This appeal is also directed at all the young people. Some of you, boys and girls, will surely be asking yourselves: "Does God want me to be a priest or a religious or a nun?" Whatever the answer may be, it is right and natural that you should ask yourself this question. What the Church is saying to you is this: If you have a real desire to follow Christ in this particular vocation, do not stifle that desire; foster it, enable it to grow by your prayer and example - for it may indeed be the seed of a vocation.
So I appeal to you all to reflect on the sacredness of the priestly and religious vocation, and to consider the serious shortage of priests and religious in the world today. On this World Vocations Day I ask you to pledge yourselves to earnest and fervent prayer for more vocations. "You have not chosen me", said our Lord, "but I have chosen you, and have appointed you that you should go and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit shall remain."
I should also like to bring to your notice the Vocations Exhibition which is being held at Earl's Court in London from June the 27th to July the 4th. This is being advertised in every parish; and as this Diocese is supporting and participating in the Exhibition, I hope that groups of parents and children from each parish will try to spend a day at this Vocations Exhibition, which is called "Challenge '65".
Yours devotedly in Christ,
SIDNEY JOSEPH MULLARKEY,
Vicar Capitular of the Diocese of Portsmouth.
AD CLERUM: I recommend that where possible, a Holy Hour should be made on this day for Vocations. You will find suitable readings, prayers, etc. enclosed. S.J.M.
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