Every vocation is born of
sacrifice, is maintained by sacrifice and is measured in the apostolate
by the sacrifice of those whom God calls to the priesthood or the
religious life. This should not be surprising, once we realize that
it was by His sacrifice that Christ redeemed the world. The servant
is not greater than his Master. In fact, the more intimate is one's
vocation to the service of Christ, the more demanding will be the
sacrifices required.
Barring an extraordinary grace from God, He generally calls those
persons to follow Him as priests or religious, who have been taught
the value of sacrifice from childhood. The experience of self-denial
in the use and enjoyment of material things is the normal predisposition
for a lifetime practice of evangelical poverty. Training in self-control
of the senses, especially in the use of the media, is the ordinary
preparation for a lifelong dedication to consecrated chastity. Careful
and loving nurture in self-denial, almost from infancy, is God's usual
way of conditioning the human will for commitment to the counsel of
obedience.
If sacrifice in childhood and young adulthood is the seedbed of vocations,
continued fidelity in serving the Church is impossible without the
habit of self-surrender. There are many reasons for the tragic loss
of so many once-dedicated persons in affluent countries like America.
But surely one of these reasons is the prior loss of a willingness
to give in to the sometimes hard demands of Christ's love. We may,
therefore, say that vocations are nourished on sacrifice as the body
is sustained on food. Or, as the Savior told His followers -- and
bade them follow His example -- "My meat is to do the will of
Him Who sent Me."
Sacrifice is finally the condition and norm of apostolic work in the
priesthood and religious life. Who have been the great achievers in
the vineyard of the Lord over the centuries? Have they not been the
men and women who never said, "Enough" in their zeal for
souls; who labored, like St. Paul, in season and out of season, selflessly
and exhaustingly; who never counted the cost in time or effort or
personal preference; in a word, who lived lives of heroic sacrifice?
All of this is common knowledge for those who have come to know Christ
Who, "having joy set before Him, chose the Cross." But this
kind of knowledge needs to be taught -- and learned -- if the vocations
which the Church so desperately needs are to be fostered and preserved
in our day.
