(LiCAS News): “A Christian vocation is always a mission to share with others our experience of Jesus, the way he has looked at us and invited us, and what we have seen, heard, and touched about Jesus,” Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said on June 22.
Cardinal Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, was the keynote speaker at the global meeting of Catholic vocation animators—the 80th Serra International Convention—in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on June 23.
The cardinal, who is in Rome, addressed more than 450 people from various Catholic dioceses around the world via an online conference platform.
He said that a vocation that “proclaims Jesus through mission generates other vocations,” adding that the vocation promoters should draw inspiration from the rich history of the Church.
“Our saints and martyrs, our ancestors in the faith, many of whom are quiet workers in the Lord’s vineyard belong to the long line of disciple-missionaries who were faithful to their vocations and inspired others to discover Jesus’ unique call for them,” Cardinal Tagle said.
He called upon members of Serra to continue this legacy by actively embracing their own vocations and inviting others to join them on the journey toward encountering Jesus.
“It is up to us to continue the story of vocations through our mission. ‘Come and see’ is Jesus’ invitation to each disciple. ‘Come to Jesus, see Jesus, and stay with Jesus’ is every disciple’s missionary invitation to other people,” the cardinal said.
However, Cardinal Tagle warned of those who are posturing as a “Messiah,” because “there is only one Messiah.” He also said that a vocation that “does not seek other people to lead to Jesus is bound to wither away”.
The cardinal reflected, “Then we will have a vocational crisis. A vocation crisis is often rooted in a missionary crisis. To whom do we take our families and our young people? To a concert? To a movie theater? To a shopping mall?” He urged the public to “include Jesus as an important destination.”
Serra International is the only lay organisation aggregated to a primary pontifical work—the Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations—to encourage and coordinate efforts to promote vocations to the sacred priesthood of the Catholic Church.
Today, Serra’s global lay vocations apostolate counts over 20,000 members.
