Discernment based on Isaiah 45: 4

The prophet Isaiah says to us in chapter 45:4: It is for the sake of my servant Jacob and of Israel my chosen one, that I have called you by your name, have given you a title though you do not know me.

You are called, not for your own sake, but for the sake of God's servants, patriarchal leaders--in this day and age we would include matriarchal leaders, as well--persons very precious and loyal to the Lord their God.  Who, in your past, are models of faithfulness to the Lord God and for whose sake you, too, aim to be true to what God is asking of you?

Isaiah says to you that God has called you by name. Think of a time, when among many others, the teacher or your parents or your employer called you by name to be the one to accomplish an important task.  The mission was given to you, not to a brother or sister, not to another student or another employer. The "title" was yours, so to speak. This is God doing the choosing, not a parent, not a teacher, not an employer.

Isaiah says that God is the one choosing you, calling you by name, bestowing a title upon you "though you do not [even] know" God.  Is that title "Christian," "Sister," "Brother," "Father," "Mother," "Aunt," "Uncle," "Grandmother," "Grandfather"?

I invite you to ponder these thoughts. Take time to reflect upon Isaiah 45:4!

Discerning your Mission on Earth

Today we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Each one of us also has a nativity. To each one of us, as to John the Baptist, God says to us through the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you ” ( Jeremiah 1: 4-10, the first reading of the Vigil Mass for John the Baptist). John the Baptist, as we know, was filled with the Holy Spirit within his mother’s womb, when Mary came to visit his mother, Elizabeth.  Mary and Elizabeth ministered to one another and in turn to John. Each one’s vocation, mission in life, came to be in ways that were mysterious and challenging. Elizabeth was barren, advanced in years, felt humiliated by not bearing Zachary any children and was now beyond child-bearing years. Mary was called to be the mother of God and she was dumbfounded: how could this be; she had had no relations with a man. And John the Baptist, who is to prepare the way for the Messiah, is yet unborn!

Every one is known to God before God forms us in the womb. Every one of us is dedicated to the Lord in the womb, appointed for a special mission that bring others to the Lord, that opens their lives to the Spirit, that empowers them to recognize God’s gift of eternal salvation, that prepares them to carry out the mission Jesus entrusted to us from the cross: “Woman, behold your son; son behold your mother.” We are all called to be brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers to one another, to build a kingdom of justice in this world, to make the world a better place with God at its center.

In what ways has/is God preparing you for your mission? In what ways are you leading others to Christ, to the Messiah? In what ways are you building His Kingdom of love, justice, and mercy on this earth?