One sometimes hears the phrase ‘the consolation of hope’. It is soothing in its implication, particularly so in such troubled times as ours. Less frequently encountered is the phrase ‘the consolation of truth’. Equally salubrious, this latter expression is perhaps more forceful. The consolation of hope suggests anticipation of future benefit; the consolation of truth connotes the participation in a present benefit.
That present ‘benefit’ is a ‘oneness’, a ‘unity’. It is the oneness or unity of the will of God.
In his letter to the Ephesians St. Paul hints at this unity: “There is one body, one spirit….one Lord, one faith, …one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all”. He underscores this unity in his letter to the Romans: “So we, though many, are one in Christ and individually parts of one another”. To realize this unity more fully he exhorts his readers to exercise the various gifts given them according to the grace they have received: “…if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity…”.
As Saint Paul states, one reflection of this unity of God’s will – this unity manifesting the consolation of truth – is in generosity.
For the National Catholic Community Foundation such generosity reveals itself in philanthropy where through the medium of financial support two members of ‘the one body”, the giver and the receiver,assist each the other in the exercise of their gifts. Through the mysterious power of grace, in their collaboration in building ‘the one body’ the giver becomes a receiver and the receiver becomes a giver.
This mysterious collaboration is compellingly evidenced in the apostolate of the Mater Ecclesiae Fund For Vocations (www.fundforvocations.org) which is featured in the nearby Voices of the Vineyard column. The decline in religious vocations in this country since Vatican II has been much analyzed and lamented. Readers may be surprised to learn, however, that in recent years the “call” to religious life has not been so silent. And, the response to this call is vibrant. But, a major impediment to its fruition has been student debt. The reason is the majority of religious communities cannot accept vocations unless they are debt free.
Since its creation fourteen years ago the Fund For Vocations has succeeded in linking donors who have the wherewithal and desire to relieve this debt with aspirants whose vocations are thwarted by unpaid student loans. Already over $5 million dollars have been awarded to hundreds young men and women who have been accepted by ninety Catholic religious Orders.
Which one of us can identify ninety religious communities, or even half that number? Isn’t it remarkable that there are so many and that there are so many committed individuals responding to God’s call!
Our nation is beset by much troubling news. That so many religious communities exist should provide us with the consolation of hope and what it portends for the future. Even better, that so many aspirants are being enabled to join debt-free should provide us with the consolation of truth. The unity of God’s will is being realized now, and individual members ‘of the body’ together are bringing it about.