World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Sunday, May 11, 2014
“A theology of vocation begins with the God who calls. What does God have in mind for me? What does God want for me? What is the dream of God for my life? To speak of vocation as a call from God implies that there is in God some intentionality, some orientation or direction, some purpose or plan that invites me in and moves me forward. To speak of vocation is to see that the most important thing about me is my existence within this wider plan of God.” (Edward P. Hahnenberg, Awakening Vocation, A Theology of Christian Call)
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“I believe everyone has a calling and that it is our individual responsibility to seek it out. That means introspection, self-criticism, objective self-evaluation, and having the courage to follow whatever that direction may be. The lucky ones may end up exactly where we are meant to be. But I think that there is a broader call that exists for us too. It is this: wherever we may find ourselves, we have a call to make a difference, to create a positive impact on others, to make the world (our little corner of it) somehow better. . . . No matter what one’s occupation or circumstances. Where the two ‘callings’ meet, and feed each other, true inspiration and magic can occur.” (Steve Sheppard of Foldcraft)
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Walking Trees
By Sister Jean Hinderer, CSA
In the gospel of Mark (8:22-27), there is a story of how people from a village brought a blind man to Jesus for healing. The story unfolds with Jesus taking the blind man by the hand and leading him beyond the village. “He put spit on the man’s eyes, laid hands on him and asked, ‘Do you see anything?’” The man responded that he saw people, but they looked like trees walking. So Jesus had to lay his hands on the man’s eyes once again and the man recovered his sight with 20/20 vision!
This is a great story of how we come through the process of discernment. The spirit often invites us to leave our comfort zones so that in our discomfort we can be freed from our illusions and our grasping of certainty to notice how we feel within, so that we can learn to trust God’s grace and light. In this “hand-holding experience,” we step aside from the “village of the familiar,” letting go of voices, attitudes, ways of living and knowing, and walk with trust with the God of Mystery.
Much like the man in the story, we are never alone. God is present with us as we encounter new events, circumstances, relationships, and experiences that are part of our search for what God desires of us. Discernment is a process that cannot be forced. There is no “drive-thru” for discernment; there is no app for quick and easy answers; and there are no flashing lights with bells and whistles pointing to the right path! Often we find clarity and peace a little at a time – we get “blurry-clear” insights and begin to notice more and more God’s purpose for us with each step on our journey. We are invited to notice signs in our everyday lives that God seems to put in our path to point to the way that will give us peace and joy. This movement is often slow, so as to allow God to gently take us by the hand and to touch our hearts again and again, so that our seeing becomes a vision of how we are being called to a new way of being and becoming.
From: April 2012 Volume 1, Issue 6 of Stream-Lines
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Prayer for Discernment
Gracious God, You have called me to life and gifted me in many ways. Strengthen me to respond to Your call and help me to become all that You desire of me. Inspire me to choose the way of life that will make a difference in the lives of others and enkindle in my heart the desire to make the world a better place. Let Your light shine in the depths of my being that I may know Your dream for my life. Above all, generous God, I ask for peace of mind and heart as I seek the path to find my life’s meaning and purpose. Amen.
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