Discernment: Call, Vocation, Response

Today, let us reflect upon Isaiah 42: 6, in which God says to us:  "I, Yahweh, have called you in saving justice, I have grasped you by the hand and shaped you; I have made you a covenant of the people and light to the nations..."

God is the Caller, the one who calls us "in saving justice."  We are called in righteousness!  This is not our own doing. It is God's action, God's doing.   God does not call us and then walk away. No! He "grasps us by the hand," like parents take the hand of a little child and walk with that child to the task they want him/her to do, or like a husband/wife who take each other;s hand in love.

 

The Caller also "shape[s] us. We are the clay in the Potter's hand, being shaped to hold that which needs to be held, to take on the shape needed to carry out the purpose for which the Potter created it!

An agreement, a covenant is created by YAHWEH--God agrees to be our God, our Redeemer, our Sanctifier, our Strength so that we carry out God's purposes for which we have been sent, namely, to be YAHWEH'S light in the darkness of the world! We are also called to remain true to God's way of relating to humankind: in love, in mercy, in compassion, in forgiveness!

This vocation is for all of us--no exceptions to this call to be a light in a world of darkness, to carry out God's covenant to create a just world, a world in which God's love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness become a reality for all of God's children.

How will you respond?

The Call, the Vocation and the Response

Discernment: Call, Vocation, Response

We will devote several blogs to what we learn from Old and New Testament passages.

 Let us begin with Baruch: 5: 2-4.  “Wrapped in the cloak of justice from God, bear on your head the mitre that displays the glory of the eternal name. For God will show all the earth your splendor: you will be named by God forever the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship. Up Jerusalem! Stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God.”

The Call, Vocation and Response:

·         To reflect the glory of God’s name

·         To show all the earth your splendor

·         To stand up on the heights (you are “wrapped in the cloak of justice from God”;  “you will be named by God forever the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship”)

·         To look to the east and see your children gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God”

This is everyone’s call—those who are married, those who are in religious life (men or women’s community), those who are single or those who are priests and deacons.

In what ways are you reflecting the glory of God's name? In what ways, by your life, do you show the world God's splendor? Do you stand tall, knowing that you are "wrapped in the cloak of justice from God" and that you will be "named by God forever the peace of justice, the glory of God's worship" for all eternity?  Do you believe and trust that God is gathering all of His children (and yours) from east and west? Are you rejoicing that God remembers all His children (and yours)?

The Origin of Your Vocation in Life

Discernment and One’s Life’s Vocation:  At the last supper, Jesus turned to His disciples/apostles and said: You have not chosen me, I have chosen you.  Jesus has  chosen us for a specific vocation in life: marriage, religious life, priesthood, or the single life.  “I have chosen you.”  He is likewise saying to us: “You are not just a grain of sand on the seashore that blends in like any other grain of sand, unnoticed or unnoticeable. You are not just a number to be counted in a census.  No, you are mine! You are an important person on the face of the earth. I have chosen you to accomplish a  specific mission within a definitive lifestyle.

Being called to religious life, marriage, priesthood or the single life is initiated by God. God does the choosing. God is the one who calls.   Recall a time when choices were being made for a specific task in your grade school, high school, college years. Remember the excitement.  Then, think of God personally calling YOU to your vocation in life, looking directly into your eyes and saying: “Come, follow me. I will make you a fisher of people for an eternal Kingdom. I am choosing you to do that fishing as a woman/man religious, as a married person with this special partner, as a single person, as a priest.”  Feel God’s love as He says to you: “I have chosen you.”

Responding to the Call to Consecrate One's Life to the Lord

DAY OF FINAL PROFESSION

Sisters Gillian and Yvette

On February 1, 2015, Sisters Gillian Marie Jerome and Yvette Fernander made final vows as Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother.   Several years ago, as postulants, they responded to God’s call, as did Abram, to leave their country, their families and friends to give their lives totally to the Lord as consecrated women.  They vowed poverty, chastity and obedience according to the Way of Life of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Third Order Franciscans.  Jesus has captured their hearts, their wills, their minds as they journeyed with the Lord through their postulancy, two-year novitiate and five or six years of temporary vows.  With Mary, Mother of Sorrows, they said “Yes, Lord! Be it done unto me according to your will.”  The years of preparation included studies of Franciscan spirituality, the spirituality of the Foundress of our community, study of the vows, theology of community life and a deepening of their understanding of the faith of the Catholic Church and of the Scriptures while serving the poor, catechizing youth, responding to unmet need,  and sharing faith in  and outside of community.

Is God calling you to take that step of becoming a member of a religious community? If so, be encouraged by these brave, faith-filled women.