The grace of a priestly vocation, and the challenge of shepherding

​​On April 26, the Church celebrated Good Shepherd Sunday, which is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Since 1964, at the initiative of Pope Saint Paul VI, the Fourth Sunday of Easter has been a privileged moment for the whole Church to pray that the Lord may send shepherds formed according to the heart of Christ.
 
For me, this day carries a very personal meaning. Twenty-seven years ago, on this same weekend, I experienced a moment in which the call to the priesthood became clear to me, something that, until then, had never been part of my horizon.

What gave that moment even greater weight was that, the day before, I had dreamed of the Pope calling me to the priesthood, and at Mass that Sunday, I discovered that the Church was celebrating Good Shepherd Sunday and the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, with the whole Church praying for vocations with a prayer written by the Pope. I did not even know that this day existed. That sequence of events marked me deeply and became the turning point of my life. For this reason, Good Shepherd Sunday has become for me, in a real sense, the celebration of my vocation.
 
As the Church celebrates the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the Gospel proclaimed on this Sunday gives particular depth to this moment. In John 10, the liturgy places before us the image of Christ the Good Shepherd: the Shepherd who knows His sheep, calls them by name, leads them, and gives His life for them. This Gospel passage opens before us one of the deepest meanings of the priestly call: to be configured to Christ the Shepherd.
 
The Church’s teaching helps us understand this mystery more deeply. The Second Vatican Council, in Presbyterorum Ordinis, teaches that priests, through sacred ordination and the mission received from the bishops, are placed at the service of Christ the Teacher, Priest, and King-Shepherd. They share in His ministry so that the Church may be built up as the People of God, the Body of Christ, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit. This is not only a description of what the priest does. It reveals what the priest receives sacramentally: a participation in the mission of Christ Himself.
 
Saint John Paul II gives this teaching a deeper theological expression in the Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis. The title itself recalls God’s promise in Jeremiah: “I will give you shepherds after my own heart.” In this document, the priest is presented as sacramentally configured to Jesus Christ. The Directory for the Ministry and Life of Priests, issued by the Congregation for the Clergy, continues in the same direction. It states that the priest’s identity, spirituality, and ongoing formation must deepen his relationship with Christ. For this reason, priestly ministry cannot be reduced to a religious profession, a function, or the administration of parish tasks. It receives its meaning from this sacramental configuration to Christ.
 
From this sacramental configuration flows the priest’s participation in the threefold mission of Christ, traditionally expressed through the three munera: munus docendi, the office of teaching; munus sanctificandi, the office of sanctifying; and munus regendi, the office of governing or shepherding. Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, this mission is entrusted sacramentally. It is not an abstract mission. In the concrete life of a priest, it takes shape in teaching, sanctifying, and governing.​

Among these three dimensions, the mission of governing often becomes the greatest challenge. The service of sanctifying is exercised through the celebration of the sacraments, according to the Church’s liturgical tradition. The task of teaching is rooted in the Word of God, theological formation, and the Magisterium of the Church. But the office of governing is more complex and requires attentive discernment in the concrete matters that affect the life of the parish community.

​This careful pastoral attention to parish life is necessary because a parish is not simply an organization to be managed, but a living portion of the People of God, formed by many individuals, ministries, expectations, concerns, hopes, and different ways of understanding community life. In this light, the office of governing finds its proper form in pastoral leadership: fostering communion, guiding, protecting unity, organizing, correcting when necessary, and sometimes making difficult decisions for the good of the whole parish community. This responsibility must always be exercised as service, the service of the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep.

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Written by Fr. Fabio DeSouza, Pastor of St. Peter's Parish, Calgary