“You wouldn’t be looking for me if you hadn’t already found me “ quoted Pope Francis in the Apostolic Letter on Blaise PASCAL[1]…. And is he not ” found by God” (Jn 10), and “known by God ” (1 Jn 3) who has thus met God? He discovers in himself a nostalgia for this encounter as much as a reminiscence of God’s presence, which prompts him to continue his search ” as if groping[2] “, as St Paul says in the Acts of the Apostles.

” The Father loves me because I lay down my life for my sheep… No one took it from me. I give it myself…. I have the power to give it, and the power to receive it again”. says Jesus Christ (Jn 10) to his Apostles, even if they can’t see what’s at stake… They will remember ater, when the Holy Spirit is given to them.

In this way, Christ expresses his total vital dependence on the Father: he receives everything from the Father, to whom he gives himself without any restriction, surrendered and dependent in everything… In this way, he reveals the same attitude of self-giving by handing himself over to mankind without reservation. His love for them and for them appears concretely, receiving himself unceasingly from the Father, even beyond death from which he will emerge alive through the Father, and shows his total dependence on the Father in ministry. Can we not say, then, that the person who accepts his whole life as a gift from God, and lives it as such in the midst of men, is in fact “winning his soul for God” and ” placing it in his hands “?

We see the dynamic of the Son who consecrates himself entirely to the Father, and goes to “win souls for the Father[3 ]”, ” giving his life for his Sheep ” (Jn 10), He whose soul is “won” for God the Father.

” No one comes to me unless the Father draws him “, Jesus Christ tells his audience twice (Jn 6). If we want Priestly Vocations (in particular), it’s because we in turn want to “win our souls for God”… or else we want these vocations for something other than the accomplishment of the Father’s will… God “already found”… God “yet to be found”… God “to whom to go forward”… God “with whom to go forward”…

To all those who seek God To all those who have approached God, may they give thanks for having been approached by Him. To all those whose presence with their brothers and sisters and in the midst of the world makes them happy, may they discover in this altruism the hidden presence of Christ giving of himself… To all those in search of universal brotherhood, may they welcome the beginnings of it in the parish life of the village church and its influence :

The Holy Father reminded us of this in his ” Message for World Vocation Day 2024″:

“In the present historical moment, the common path leads us towards the Jubilee Year of 2025. Let’s walk like pilgrims of hope towards the Holy Year, so that in rediscovering our vocation and relating the various gifts of the Spirit, we can be in the world bearers and witnesses of Jesus’ dream: to form a single family, united in God’s love and close-knit in the bond of charity, sharing and fraternity”.

[1] 2023 06 19 Sublimitas et miseria hominis Apostolic letter on Blaise PASCAL

[2] Acts 17:27

[3] “Win souls for God” was Jean-Marie Vianney’s response to the priest’s vocation.