They are being ordained to serve. They are not being ordained to give orders or to attract attention, but rather to give themselves to the service of all souls in a divine and continuous silence. When they become priests, they will not allow themselves to yield to the temptation to imitate the occupations of lay people—even though they are well able to do that work because they have been at it until now, and have acquired a lay outlook which they will never lose.

The first task of which I wish to speak today is the "munus docendi," namely, that of teaching. Today, at the height of the educational emergency, the "munus docendi" of the Church, exercised concretely through the ministry of each priest, is particularly important. We live amid great confusion about the fundamental choices of our life and the questions about what the world is, from where it comes, where we are going, what we must do to carry out the good, how we must live, what are the really pertinent values.

So I appeal to you all to reflect on the sacredness of the priestly and religious vocation, and to consider the serious shortage of priests and religious in the world today. On this World Vocations Day I ask you to pledge yourselves to earnest and fervent prayer for more vocations. "You have not chosen me", said our Lord, "but I have chosen you, and have appointed you that you should go and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit shall remain."

O Jesus, eternal Priest, keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart, where none may touch them. Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Your Sacred Body.