Discernment: Does God give a sign?

DISCERNMENT

Does God give signs?  In my work as Vocation Director for the past six years, I am amazed at how often inquirers receive signs that God may be calling them to religious life.  Religious life and its call, of course, is a mystery.  So, too, are God’s will and His way of revealing it.  St. Paul states this fact in Eph 1: 9-10:  “God has given us the wisdom to understand fully the mystery, the plan to be decreed in Christ in the fullness 9of time; to bring all things into one in him, in the heavens and on earth.”  That plan is union with Him.  Many inquirers states that they long for and want to grow in intimacy with the Lord and t5hat something within them is calling them to seek “the more” that only God can give.  Many desire to serve the poor and be involvewd in Church ministries.  These desires come from one’s deepest self, the God-self.  Signs of their God origin are an unshakable peace, a peace the world cannot give, and a conviction that nothing is impossible with God.  That this call is from God is usually first confirmed by an “outsider” who says to you: “Ever thought about a vocation to religious life or the priesthood. Go9d may be calling you.”  Another sign of this call’s authenticity is an unspeakable inner joy, a love that is irresistible.

Trust: God is at work!