APRIL 22, 2018
4:30 PM (SAT), 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM, 5:30 PM ORDINARY FORM (ENGLISH) MASSES
It’s no secret that I’ve spent the last couple of weeks in Italy – starting first in Rome, then Norcia, Assisi, and ending in Florence.
Part of my spirituality is looking and recognizing those events that I would call “signal graces.”
Signal graces are the little miracles that God tosses at us every day. These are somewhat off-the-wall and unexpected things – hence they are not dependent on us. But in their own ways, they show us how God, like a good Father, showers us with blessings when we do our best to abide in His will.
And there were signal graces that “popped up” during my trip to Italy. Such as … a brief visit with His Eminence Cardinal Burke … getting tickets (out of the blue the night before) to concelebrate Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday with the Pope … and finding out that I knew the Father Prior – sort of the second in command – at the Benedictine Monastery from twelve years back at graduate school in Ohio.
While those three things might be seen as coincidences, I would call them God-incidences – signs of God’s immense love for me, and signs to strengthen me in my call within the priesthood.
Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter, sometimes called “Good Shepherd Sunday.”
It is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
Pope Francis, in his message for this event, points out that each vocation is as diverse and unique as the individuals that make up the Church. And having a vocation is not limited to priests or religious.
Each of us has a vocation – a call from God – which we have received from before we were born, strengthened in Baptism, and clarified in Confirmation, and nourished in the Holy Eucharist.
In his message, the Holy Father points out three aspects that he says are needed to properly accept God’s call – that is to properly accept and experience your own vocation.
The first aspect is listening.
We listen first through prayer which is the key to our relationship with God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We listen, too, to the Word of God in Sacred Scripture. And we listen to our hearts, and sometimes to each other. But in a noisy world, we need to recognize that God very often speaks to us in silence – in a still, small voice. And it is in that silence that we are best able to listen and hear God’s voice.
The second aspect is discerning.
Discernment is sort of a “Church-y” word that too often is over-used as a way to blow-off or a way to cop-out of doing anything. True discernment is done in relationship – our relationship with God, our relationship with the Church, and our relationship with one another. Discernment made outside of these relationships is fruitless, and is an exercise in futility.
The third and final aspect is living.
The Holy Father tells us that “the Lord continues to call [us] to follow him. We should not wait to be perfect in order to respond … nor [should we] be fearful of … limitations and sins, but [rather] open our hearts to the voice of the Lord.”
The Greek philosopher Socrates said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In terms of vocation, the vocation that is not lived out in the fullness of God’s grace is not a worthy vocation.
God doesn’t call us to be perfect, but He does call us to live our lives according to His call, and within His plan … His will for us. And it is in living out our vocations that we can best discern where God is calling us to follow Him.
As we approach this altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, let us pray for God’s grace “[to] listen to [God’s] voice, to discern our personal mission in the Church and the world, and at last to live [our our vocation] in the today that God gives us.”
Let us listen, discern, and live out fully our own vocation in response to the voice of the Good Shepherd, Who knows us, Who lays down His life for us, Who leads us, and Who loves us.
