The Disciples' Call: Theologies of vocation from
scripture to the present day
Christopher Jamison, editor
Bloomsbury £18.99
(978-0-567310-99-6)
Church Times Bookshop £17.10 (Use code
CT654 )
THIS is a collection of papers delivered to a seminar convened
by the National Office for Vocation of the Catholic Bishops'
Conference of England and Wales, et al., edited by the director of
that office, Fr Christopher Jamison OSB.
The collection is divided into three parts: Foundations of a
Theology of Vocation, Conversing with the Tradition, and Discerning
Vocation Today.
The first part includes chapters on biblical examples of the
call of individuals and their responses, on the monastic tradition
and its silence on the matter of discernment, and on the Church's
findingits identity and purpose in mission.
Part 2 begins with a chapter on Aquinas which is repetitious and
dull. But Sister Gemma Simmons, of the Company of Jesus,
contributes a short but profound examination of aspects of St
Ignatius's Exercises which contribute to a theology of
vocation. Equally profound (though longer) is the essay by another
member of the same community, Sister Gill Goulding, which reveals
more of the Jesuit tradition given to us through the mind of Hans
Urs von Balthasar. There is wonderful stuff here on love, freedom,
and self-worth.
Separating these two gems is another: an examination of how the
Reformation set out to get rid of the distinctiveness and privilege
of the clergy, but ended up educating them to be a class apart
after all. This essay is scholarly, and beautifully written with a
lightness of touch - by the (Anglican) Dean of Bristol, David
Hoyle.
In part 3, there are chapters about the variety of forms of
religious life today, and about how the vocation of a diocesan
priest is to be foundin the tension between the claimsof interior
consecration and apostolic mission. There is also an essay that
looks at marriage as a vocation and its relationship to the
clerical state.
The best wine was kept until last. The second last chapter is a
psychologist's imaginative examination of the 12th-century
Romance of the Grail. Dr Peter Tyler draws out the
metaphor of the young man in the springtime of life, without father
or role-model, looking for his name, his authentic self, needinga
guide to help him through hisfirst encounter with the
transcendent.
The last chapter, by the editor himself, is on the need for a
new culture of vocation. The old embracing cultures (including the
Catholic one) have all gone, leaving a culture of indecision and
lack of commitment. We need to work on the midi-narrative that
members of generation Y value, the community of their friends and
family - and their strong desire to be free to make their own
decisions. Vocation has to be about discernment, not
recruitment.
Some of the book will be of interest mainly to our Roman
Catholic friends, but the chapters on the Jesuit tradition and the
last two chapters are full of insight and inspiration for us all,
however old we are, as we face the question "What kind of person
would you really like to be?"
Fr Jonathan Ewer is a member of the Society of the Sacred
Mission and a resident member of the Well Community.