Dear Parishioners,
Two weeks ago, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord we began a week of celebrating vocations in our Church. On that Sunday our focus was on the vocation of the baptized with an emphasis on vocations to priesthood and religious life. This past Sunday, with the Gospel about the Wedding Feast at Cana the focus centered on the vocation of marriage.
As our children grow into adulthood they are faced with a choice. Specifically, they must decide whether the special call God has placed in their heart at Baptism compels them to offer their gifts and talents for the good of the whole church, or, by contrast, if God is calling them to use their gifts a little closer to home in the “domestic church” – that is, the family.
If a person decides that God is calling him or her to use their gifts to benefit the Church-at-large, they will most likely choose some form of religious life, since that is the life that is conducive to spending long hours in the service of others. If, on the other hand, they feel God is calling them to a more individualized ministry – specifically, changing the world “one diaper at a time” – then they will choose marriage as the best way to live out their baptismal calling.
Incidentally, this is the difference between a “vocation: and a “career.” A “vocation” is the way a person chooses to live out their baptismal call. It is the way each of us works out our salvation, day after day, through the unique relationships we form with others and with God. Alternatively, our “careers” are the work we do, to exercise the gifts God has given to us as well as to pay the bills. To keep things in proper spiritual balance, our careers must always be secondary and suppor-tive to our vocations. The priest who is a liturgist, or an admin-istrator, or a teacher, or has some other specialized gift, must never let this comparatively minor work conflict with his voca-tion to be a shepherd to the parish he serves. In the same way, the husband who is a stockbroker, or the wife who is a physician, or PTO president, must never let this minor work conflict with their vocation to shepherd the family flock and teach each person in the family (themselves included) how to have intimate, loving, generous, peaceful and joyful relation-ships with one another. That is what the late Pope John Paul II meant when he encouraged families to practice “solidarity” and reminds us all “the command [to Adam and Eve] to love preceded the obligation to toil.”
Pray for vocations, pray for our children that they follow the path God truly calls them to…
Sincerely,
Fr. Jan
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