Vocation Awareness!

With the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we also began the observance of National Vocation Awareness Week. By virtue of our baptismal call we are to continue the mission of the Church and vocations are a piece of the puzzle. God calls men and women to live a vocation in the Church, either as priests, deacons, brothers, and sisters. We need to do our part to pray for those men and women who are in formation or who are discerning their vocation in life. Our scriptures give us a foundation in which to build upon. For example, Mark 1:14-20, where Jesus passes by the Sea of Galilee and first calls Simon and Andrew. They were fishermen and Jesus' invitation to them was, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." A little while later, our Lord called James and his brother John, who were also fishermen. As we read these passages, it seems that there was no hesitation in their response. They immediately dropped everything and followed after the Lord. For many of us, it takes time, prayer, discernment, to decide what God is calling us to do in life. We need to pray for and encourage those who are discerning a vocation, especially one to the Church. My personal, pastoral advice is: do not give up and follow the will of God in your life, not your will. I learned that over the years, especially as I was discerning my vocation to the priesthood. A phrase that was common for me was: "Never say never!" Usually when we say that we are never going there or I am never going to do that, that is when God gets us because its not about our will, but His will! Listen to the voice of God in your lives and allow Him to guide you as you pray and discern because His call for us is always the best! God Bless You!!!