A friars’ order in Switzerland, whose number has dropped by half in the last ten years, has launched an unconventional recruitment drive by advertising in a classifieds section of a Sunday newspaper normally reserved for high-flying executive positions. The advertisement, according to press agencies, specifies that they are looking for unmarried Catholic men aged between 22 and 35, independent, capable of communal living, curious and with initiative. “We offer you no pay, but spirituality and prayer, contemplation, an egalitarian lifestyle, free of personal material riches and the common model of a couple relationship,” the ad promises the applicants.
The ad superbly illustrates how many Church dioceses, religious orders and congregations are desperately exhausting their imagination to attract new members to their dwindling ranks and ensure their survival. In this case, it appears that the call to consecration in religious life doesn’t differ much from the choice of a career. The ad emphasizes the life-long commitment, but all the other requirements are of the professional order. There’s no mention of God’s call to discipleship and to the order’s charism – its specific way of following Jesus. The assumption, perhaps, is that even if the candidates upon entry do not have the right motivations, they will eventually acquire them and will be able to keep the conventual structures and commitments.
It seems a subversion of what a genuine religious vocation is when compared, for instance, to the call of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the integrity of her answer to God, following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Her life, as shown in this issue, is a series of unconditional “yes” to God. At the Annunciation, being a simple adolescent, she was far from imagining what her mission entailed of obscurity and suffering – especially the distressing condemnation and execution of her Son. Throughout life, she had to walk in faith, because of the most probable experience of God’s prolonged silence; she had to overcome doubts, fears, insecurities and trials, praying and reflecting, trying to find meaning in apparent senseless events confident in the angel’s assurance that “nothing will be impossible for God” (Lk 1:37).
Mary and the other biblical figures – from the prophets to the disciples of Jesus – show that vocation is a leap in the darkness of faith, embracing God’s unforeseeable ways. They showed their availability and readiness knowing very little of what their lives would be, what surprises God had reserved for them. They had to let go of their plans and leave their comfort zones to embrace God’s mission and collaborate in His saving work.
We, like Mary, are called to be Christ-bearers and bring forth a Savior to a weary, hurting world. The Lord waits for our decisive and definitive “yes” to a life of faith and commitment to the poorest, following in His footsteps. As Pope Benedict XVI said, “God asks each one of us to welcome Him, to make available to Him our hearts, our bodies, our entire existence, so that He can dwell in the world.”
All of us – even those who might not have been endowed with the gift of faith – are called to strive against personal apathy and indifference and to dedicate to the good of humanity and creation in line with the great values of solidarity and justice. Life is an adventure to be lived to the full. Decisions and risks are unavoidable. We must not be afraid of saying “yes” to life’s challenges whatever they might cost us. We will receive more than what we give, because God is more generous than we can imagine or ever be.
