Vocation

We all know what a "vocation" is, or should I say that we all think we know what a "vocation" is. Oftentimes it is used to describe the impetus to study for the priesthood or to pursue vows as a religious. However, it is important that we stop to realize that each and every one of us has a vocation. God calls each of us through the promptings of the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus in the various walks of life: priestly, religious, lay, married or single.

Another misconception that we might have about a vocation is that it involves God calling us to do something special. Actually, God calls us to BE something special. None of us is called to do; we are all called to be. This might be particularly difficult for many people who look at their lives as a series of tasks to be accomplished: get an education, get a job, raise a family or minister in the church, etc.

Not everyone can do; however, everyone can be. Specifically God calls us to be holy. That word may scare some people. Some may even claim that they don't want to be holy. Some might use that all too familiar word "boring" to describe a holy person. Human limitations make it impossible for some people to be "productive," to do a job. However, those who bear the cross of limitations such as those that come with chronic illness and/or disability know that these limitations do not limit them as persons, people who care, people who matter. They, just as everyone else, are called to BE holy.

The word "holy" is very elementary; it means to be "set apart," "different." Holy people do not follow a crowd; they follow the shepherd. Holy people do not give in to peer pressure; they cherish their individuality. Holy people make mistakes; they also ask to be forgiven. Holy people praise God's name; they do not blow their own horn. Holy people seek the reign of God; they do not create their own realm.

These thoughts about "vocation" were occasioned by two different things. First, one of my Franciscan brothers was ordained a priest yesterday. Ordinations always get me thinking about my own choice to follow Jesus as a Franciscan priest. Secondly, I watched a movie today about a group of people who, after graduation from college, strove to be worthy of the name Christian not so much by virtue of what they did but rather by who they were as men and women who love God. It's been a fruitful Sunday for me.