Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Vocations 101 - What is a vocation?

A vocation is the call of God to know, love, and serve Him. It is a call to be the person He has created us to be. It is saying yes to His grace.

So many see a vocation as if only those who are priests or religious have one. But God calls every person. Whether we believe in God or not, He has a plan for each of us. For those who do not explicitly know Christ, or even God, through responding to the Grace of God as they understand it and living in accordance to the natural law, they may find salvation through the unique action of Christ. No one is left out of God’s plan.

For those who know Christ, we are called to a deeper life (and invited to bring others into the faith). In our baptism, we receive our first Christian vocation – to be Catholics, to live the faith as we have received it and professed it, even if it was our parents who first responded for us. We enter into the Church and the sacramental life (visible signs of invisible grace). The baptism liturgy demonstrates a basic reality in vocations. We are identified by name (“What name to you give your child?”), and claimed for Christ by His cross. We are asked to reject Satan, all his works, and all his empty promises. We adhere to the Creed more fully only because of the full rejection of all that is false. We say no to lower things in order to say yes to the One that matters most! In the name of the Trinity, we are recreated and renewed.

God calls us to be His children, and to live as priests, religious, married, or a generous single life. But He calls us by name! He calls us as individuals with all of our uniqueness. But to follow Him, we need to say no to certain things. Many see a vocation as a set of no’s (no money, no spouse, no freedom, etc.) Like the rich man in the Gospels, they simply walk away, thinking the treasures they have are too great to let go. As a result, fail to seek God’s grace to live out their true vocations. They fail to see that every vocation has its own set of no’s. One who is married says no to all others for the sake of his or her spouse! Yes, priests and religious promise or vow to a life of poverty/simplicity, to celibacy, and to obedience, but they are saying yes to much more! Like the baptismal vows, they are willing to renounce some things in order to more fully adhere to and rely on Christ. God, who is faithful, responds by giving not only His grace, but of providing what is necessary for life and human thriving, of giving true and lasting love, and of finding a freedom in the obedience we give to those in authority.

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