Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Next month, so just in a week or so’s time, we begin our deanery vocations

month. It’s quite well timed with today’s readings – in the Gospel, Christ calls

the apostles Simon, Andrew, John and James to follow Him – the adventure of

a lifetime. In this deanery, we have one person actually from this deanery

training for the priesthood in Rome, Luke Theobald, and his reflections have

been put on the back of the bulletin over previous vocations months. We also

have a priest in training, who is now in the top year at Oscott, Deacon Tenny

Anthony, and he will be spending some time this year on placement down at

Sacred Heart, Henley-on-Thames, which isn’t too far from here and is also in

our deanery. But we really do need to continue and re-double our efforts in

praying for vocations to the priesthood. The diocese says that, over the next

five years, twenty priests will be retiring. We currently have nine men in

training, so we are a few short.

As I’ve said before, vocations is not just about the priesthood. We also have to

think about the religious life. In the psalm it says: “There is one things I ask of

the Lord, only this do I seek: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my

life.” For some, that takes on a more literal application, if they are called to

dedicate themselves to an enclosed order, living a more secluded life as a monk

or a nun, singing God’s praises. In another part of this diocese, up in

Staffordshire at Colwich Abbey, sadly the Benedictine nuns have moved to join

with other nuns elsewhere in the country, but their abbey is now being prepared

by an order from America – the Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles.

Their foundress made the news a while ago when her body was found to be

incorrupt. And they have a good number of young nuns and growing numbers.

We are all called to holiness and to a deep relationship with God, and that

includes both those called to marriage, and those called to the single life. In

general, there is a shortage of people getting married in church, missing out on

the graces available in that sacrament. But the good news is that in our parish

we have a bit of an upsurge in weddings this year. Whether we are called to

marriage or the single life, Christ wants to be an important part of our lives, or

perhaps I should say the most important part of our lives. Only in Him can we

be complete and whole – nobody else gets close to what He can offer. But

marriage can be, for those who are called to it, an important way of

experiencing the love of God and growing in holiness, usually through the

annoyances and inconveniences that sometimes come your way – I’m sure

those here who are married know more about that than me! St Josemaría

Escrivá apparently said, “Don’t say ‘This person annoys me!’ but rather, ‘This

person sanctifies me’.”

Lastly, we also mustn’t forget about the diaconate. Deacons have always been

part of the Church, part of the three-fold order of Bishop, Priest and Deacon of

the sacrament of holy orders. But in more recent history, the diaconate was

reduced to a stepping-stone to the priesthood. Since Vatican II it has been

restored as a vocation in its own right, enabling both celibate and married men

to assist at the altar, read the Gospel, preach, and also celebrate baptisms,

wedding and funerals without the celebration of Mass. They also have an

important role in the parish of pastoral and social concern for those in need –

someone once told me that when he first spoke to his Parish Priest about a

vocation to the diaconate, his PP recommended him first testing his vocation by

getting involved with the parish SVP or Saint Vincent de Paul group. He loved

it, and went on to be ordained one of the first deacons for the archdiocese.

So there we have it – a very brief overview of different vocations within the

Church. As our deanery vocations month gets into full swing, please pray that

we may all come to know where the Lord is calling us, and have the courage to

respond.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk