Having spent three days this week with our parish teens at Youth Ministry talking about vocations, you can imagine that this topic is still fresh on my mind. The very fact that each one of us is called to a vocation is a powerful thought; but to be able to discern your vocation and live it out is an entirely different story.
This morning, I came across this quote from John Henry Newman:
“God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work for me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. Therefore, I will trust him, whatever, wherever I am. I cannot be thrown away.”
This quote really sums up all of the feelings that I have been experiencing in the past few days. All this talk of vocations gets one thinking. Am I really being the person that God wants me to be? Am I being my true self? Since I am being called to holiness, am I living a holy life? Am I following the call of Christ or am I listening to my own voice and doing what I want to do?
We really need to ask ourselves this question: do I truly and completely trust in God and in his call for my life? This is extremely difficult for us to do because we are always trying to figure out on our own what we should be doing. We so often put more trust in ourselves or others before we even think of checking in with God. To trust that God is calling us to where he needs us to be is to put behind us the notion that it’s all about us. We cannot attempt to trust in our Creator when we are so focused on our own plans and ideas. In order to trust, we need to be able to let go and to accept the fact that we are not in control. If we are to trust someone, we need to be able to know that person and spend some quality time with that person so that a trust can be built up. You cannot trust what you do not know. And it is the same way with God. The more time we spend with him (through prayer, reading the scriptures, etc.), the more our trust will deepen and grow.
As we spend time with our Father in prayer, here are a few questions to reflect upon:
– What are my gifts?
– What gives me joy in my life? What makes me come alive?
– What is God calling me to do?
– Have I asked God’s assistance as I strive to listen for my vocation in life?
– Where am I resisting God’s invitation?
– What are the tasks that I need to be doing today to move toward my vocation?
“If you are what you are meant to be, you will set the whole world on fire.” ~St. Catherine of Siena
