WHAT IS A VOCATION?

​

In my gray habit and explaining "The Ten Commandments" to the youth, it is easy to see that I have a vocation. A religious vocation to be exact. Well, what happens when I am in my t-shirt and gym pants, mowing the lawn on a beautiful Dallas winter day? Did I cease to have a religious vocation? 

​

The habit (the term given to the uniform worn by male and female religious) does not make the priest, brother, or sister. A vocation is God's call. Why does God call certain persons to follow Him? Samuel, Judith, David, Mary, and Peter probably had the same question. (If the names sound familiar, it is because all their vocation stories are found in the Bible.) Why did God call Samuel to be a prophet, Judith to be a judge, David to be a king, Mary to be a mother, and Peter to be a “rock”? Perhaps the key is in God's own words.

​

Jesus says, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” (Jn 10:10)

​

The first time I heard this passage, I almost fell over. I was at Mass, already a sister, and I remembered I felt tired that day because I was studying for my college exams. Jesus came so that some persons could have life, more abundantly ? This was NEW news to me.

​

Well, who was this they ? Looking a few verses earlier, this they are the sheep Jesus calls by name. Aaaaaaaaah, they are those who hear God's call and follow Him. Some God calls to be married. Others He asks to be single. Some God chooses to be priests. And others He desires to become sisters.

​

And to  ALL, he yearns that “they might have life and have it more abundantly .”

​

A vocation is a call from God.

​

A vocation is to be married, single, a priest or a sister.

​

A vocation is an invitation from God to have life and have it more abundantly.

​

Absolutely GOOD news! I hope that you are open to discovering God's call for you. It'll take time, energy, and effort. Your world may turn upside down. Tears may always be waiting around the next corner. More questions may keep coming. And yet, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” (Helen Keller)