Discernment of your mission and purpose in life

Discernment of your mission and purpose in life:  Today we celebrate the baptism of our Lord. The first reading of today’s liturgy, Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7,  presents the prophesy concerning Jesus’ mission. God says to us through the prophet Isaiah that Jesus is God’s “servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, …A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching….”  Jesus, Isaiah tells us,  is “a covenant of the people, a light for the nations.” He is “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”

As you reflect upon Jesus’ mission, you will discover that your mission, through baptism, is the same, as is the way your creator feels toward you. As with Jesus, God says to you:  You are my “servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am please, upon whom I have put my spirit.”  To properly know your mission—the reason you are sent to earth and within which vocation you are to live out God’s purpose—you need to see yourself as “God’s servant,” as one in whom God is well pleased and upon whom God as put His spirit. Without that perspective, you are likely to lack the confidence to follow God’s direction for your life.  The task God may be calling you to accomplish and the vocation in which He wants you to do this,  may seem too difficult from a perspective that exclude’s God delight in you, God being pleased with you. 

Every day, bask in God’s delight of you, his pleasure in creating you and giving you an unique mission. Hear God say to you every day: You are be beloved daughter/son. In you I am well pleased. Hear God say to you as you consider the work you are about to undertake or the decision you are about to make: “Son/daughter, I am proud of you.”

Accepting One's Vocation in Life

In today’s Gospel, Mark 10: 28-31, Peter complains to the Lord:  “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus responds: “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

In answering the call to leave “houses and brothers and sisters and mothers [and fathers] and children and lands” is certainly a challenging demand. No one escapes this call to leave, though some, both parents and children, put a lot of effort into avoiding this leave-taking.  Parents or grandparents might want to cling to their children, not letting them go or not letting them grow up. Children, also, may refuse to grow up and leave “the nest” so to speak. 

Let us go to Mary and Jesus. Both model accepting God’s call. Mary says “yes” to the angel:  “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord. Be it done to me according to God’s will.”  Every man or woman belongs to the Lord, is God’s son or daughter and has been sent here to carry out a specific mission within marriage, religious life, priesthood or the single life. Each child is temporarily loaned to his/her parents until such time as leaving “houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and…lands” to carry out that mission.  Jesus leaves heaven and comes to earth to take on human nature, submits himself to Mary and Joseph for a time, and then also leaves Mary to take up the mission for which He was sent to earth: to give His life for His flock.  Neither Jesus nor Mary escaped the sufferings involved in carrying out the will of the Father for the sake of the salvation of humankind, so you and I would inherit eternal life.

What do you need to do to be ready to leave “houses and brothers and sisters and mothers [and fathers] and children and lands” to take up your role and responsibilities as an adult?