Thursday, May 21, 2015

God's Call to Change Course, to Make a Decision



Oh, the richness of the readings of today’s liturgy and the great love of our God for each one of us.  In the first reading, Acts 22: 30; 23: 6-11,  the Lord says to Paul, who has encountered all kinds of problems in his ministry, “Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.”

Is God saying to you: “Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause” in your work with youth, in your parish involvement, in your volunteer activities for the poor as a single person, I am now calling you to do so as a married man/woman, as a member of a religious community, as a priest?

In the responsorial psalm of today’s Mass, Psalm 16, we say to the Lord: “My Lord are you. O Lord, my allotted portion and cup, you it is who counsels me; …I set the Lord ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.”  Is God counseling you in regard to a specific vocation in life? A specific career? A difficult decision?   If so, which choice do you make?  As you grapple with this question, are you remembering that God is at your right hand and are therefore at peace with the questioning?  Or are you disturbed, trying to figure this out all by yourself in secret?  Maybe it is time to “come out of the closet” and talk to a trusted friend, a vocation counselor, a priest, a deacon about this struggle, a school counselor, a qualified spiritual director.

“Be not afraid! It is I,” Jesus said to the petrified apostles trying to stay afloat on a stormy sea. “Be not afraid! It is I” questioning you, disturbing you enough so as to notice My calling!

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