Vocation

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator

As we enter the liturgical season that we call "ordinary," the readings for our celebration of the Eucharist shift us back to the beginning of the "historical" books of the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the beginning of St. Mark's Gospel. In the one we hear the call of Samuel; in the other we hear the call of the first disciples. These readings focus our attention on our own call, our own vocation. Perhaps this is why the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has identified this week as National Vocation Awareness Week.

One of the more common practices of those who are charged with the formation of religious men and women as well as the formation of priests is to ask each candidate to narrate their vocation story. By sharing the details of how they came to be interested in a vocation to church service, they hope to uncover the way that God has worked in the life of that individual so to better appreciate it. There are those who would contend that if the universe was created by an omnipotent God, that Divine Person has long since abandoned the world and its inhabitants and has lost interest in the created world. Vocation stories help to overcome such doubts.

If the technique is worth anything, then it would apply to all people. After all, we have all been called by God to one state of life or another. If men and women have been called to married life, the finger of God was just as active in that call as it was in the case of those called to priesthood or religious life.

As we read about the call of Samuel and the call of the disciples, we could do worse than spending a prayerful moment considering our own vocation. At the same time, we would be spending time well if we also considered that we are all called to holiness – truly God's universal call.