This is the homily given by Archbishop Elden Francis Curtiss at the Eucharistic celebration during the Archdiocesan Vocations Fair on April 24, 2002.

When your bodies die and disintegrate, it is not the end of you as human persons. When you were formed in your mothers' wombs, God breathed a living spirit into each of you, a soul, which cannot disintegrate because it is not material. These spirits in you come from God and they yearn to return to God. But they need some help in the process.

This is the reason your parents or guardians had you baptized. When the water was poured over you, Jesus claimed you as his own. He touched your spirits for the first time with his spirit. He called you to share his life and his mission in the world so that your spirits can be prepared to return to his Father, who is all holy.

We have gathered you together today to remind all of you that you have been called by Jesus to discipleship - to share his life and mission - and to be holy as he is holy. This is the reason Jesus has poured out on you the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is the reason he has called you to be part of this great community of the Church, so that he can teach you and heal you and love you through the Scriptures and the sacraments of the Church. You cannot develop a spiritual life by yourselves. You cannot prepare your spirits for union with God by yourselves.

It is Jesus who is at the very heart of our Catholic faith - at the very heart of the Church. It is Jesus who baptizes us into his life and mission. It is Jesus who forgives our sins and heals us in the sacrament of reconciliation. It is Jesus who feeds us with his body and blood in the Eucharist. It is Jesus who shares the gifts of the Holy Spirit with us in the sacrament of confirmation. It is Jesus who brings solace and consolation and healing of spirits to us in the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. It is Jesus who unites a husband and wife together with his love in the sacrament of matrimony. It is Jesus who empowers some of us for sacred ministry in the sacrament of orders. These are the seven sacraments of the Church by which Jesus continues to impact our lives in personal ways.

All of you are called to discipleship and holiness. And from among you who are baptized and gifted with the Holy Spirit, Jesus calls some to ordained ministry as bishops, priests and deacons. If you experience this call to ordained ministry, you need to respond to it if you are going to be happy and fulfilled. And Jesus calls some of you to a consecrated life of service to his people as sisters and brothers and lay people - consecrated people in a lifetime of service to the people of God. If you experience this call, you need to respond to it with generosity.

But none of you who have been baptized into the life and mission of Jesus, none of you who have been given the gifts of the Holy Spirit, none of you who feed on the body and blood of Jesus - none of you can live as if you have not been chosen by Jesus. Your spirits will be restless and you will remain unfulfilled until you answer his call to live as his disciples and to become holy as he is holy.

You can choose to ignore his call to you through the Church - you can go your own way without Jesus, without the Church - but you cannot overcome the hunger and thirsting of your spirits. You cannot overcome your weakness and sins by yourselves. You cannot overcome your self-dissatisfactions by yourselves - your own selfishness, your own emptiness. You must respond to the call of Jesus to be his disciples, to be holy as he is holy.

Your spirits have destined you to be with God for all eternity. Jesus has been given to you as the way back to the Father - as the truth about God and yourselves, as the life of the Father himself for you to share.

We have gathered together in this auditorium today to celebrate our faith in Jesus and our commitment to him and his mission in the world. He calls all of you to discipleship, to share your experience of him with others. He urges all of you to reach out in loving service to others.

The Church is not just institutions and structures and layers of ministry. The Church is the family of the disciples of Jesus who continue to live his life and mission in the world. It is Jesus alive in our midst ministering to us that draws us to the Church. It is us sharing his presence and love with others that makes us his disciples and fulfills the deepest yearnings of our hearts and spirits.

So welcome to all of you who have gathered in this auditorium today. Welcome especially the youth of our archdiocese - you fill me with hope. Welcome all you disciples of Jesus who are answering his call to share his mission and his holiness. You will not be disappointed - you will not regret your decision to answer God's call. This is the vocation all of you have, to answer God's call to you. We pray today that you will answer this call with faith and generosity.