Vocations and Easter

by Gunther Simmermacher · April 6, 2026

Dear Reader,

Every year, vocations Sunday is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Easter (this year on April 26) as a time to pray for and reflect on the various calls to serve God — in the priesthood, religious life and in lay ministries.

In this issue, we share several vocation stories. Br Clarence Watts, who features on our cover, tells us about his life as a Salesian Brother. Br George Thomas Kochumalil writes about the joy of being a seminarian, and on page 14 we read about a Portuguese priest whose evangelising vocation within his priestly ministry is to reach young people through the medium of techno music. Fr Johan Strydom also offers a reflection on being called by Christ to “follow me”.

Sometimes the vocation to serve God comes to us unexpectedly and even incognito. That was my own experience when, in 1994, I responded to an ad in The Southern Cross for the position of journalist. I simply needed a job. God, however, had a plan for me. Some 31 years later, I am still here, serving the Lord and his Church.

Perhaps actor Abe Bueno-Jallad stumbled upon a vocation in a similar way. The TV series The Chosen, in which he plays the Apostle James the Greater, is doing important work in bringing the Gospel to life — even for people who have never opened a Bible. It is a different kind of vocation, and in his case it may be short-lived — but God calls us in various ways. How is he calling you?

Light at the end of Passion

Lately, I have spent much time contemplating the life of St Francis of Assisi, as this year marks the 800th anniversary of his transition to eternal life. One aspect of the saint’s life on which I have reflected in particular is his suffering — poor health and eventually the painful stigmata — and the way it was conformed to Christ’s agony on the cross. Francis’ suffering was neither embittered nor heroic. It was joyful, because he knew that Jesus’ suffering on Good Friday culminates in the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

In his excellent Easter reflection, Br Philip Uzoma SAC makes this vital point: the Passion of Our Lord rightly commands our attention and empathy, but even in the darkness of Good Friday there is already a bright light, for we know how the story ends — in the joy of the Resurrection.

We must never lose sight of Easter Sunday. Without it, Jesus of Nazareth would have been just another failed Messiah, executed by the establishment. The empty tomb on Sunday morning changes that — and the history of the world — completely.

It never ceases to amaze me that the places of the Crucifixion and Resurrection are actually known to us. On page 24, we examine the evidence supporting the church of the Holy Sepulchre as the authentic site of the events of Good Friday and Easter. For Christians, there simply is no holier place on earth than that ancient church in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.

To stand in solidarity

The Christians of the Holy Land are calling on pilgrims to return, and to support them. The events of recent years have deterred many from visiting the land where our faith was born.

These events are also the subject of discussion on page 8 between a priest from South Sudan and an Israeli Jesuit who was born and raised Jewish in Johannesburg. They represent very different perspectives, and their conversation should create greater clarity — and perhaps even help us see things in a new light.

In the end, we must decide whether we are in solidarity with our fellow Christians of the Holy Land, the descendants of the very first Christians. Do we stand with them, or with those who make their lives unlivable? It is especially during the Easter season, which leads us to the feast of Pentecost, the birth of our Church, that we should keep our Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land in our prayers.

As we journey with Christ through his Passion and Resurrection, may his love and self-giving renew our faith, strengthen our hope, and grant peace to our hearts. May the joy of the Risen Lord inspire us to carry his light into every part of our lives and reflect it in all we do.

God bless,
Günther Simmermacher
(Editor)