19th Sunday Ordinary Time (B) 11 August 2024 Vocations
Every person in the world is called to be a disciple of Christ.
Come, follow Me… imagine how compelling that could be if addressed to us.
Our Lord does say this to us, in whatever place or time. It may not be as dramatic as the beach scene with the apostles, but it will be just as real.
For life-time Catholics it might be just a progression from one step to the next, at certain times new insights coming and a deeper commitment requested.
Everyone receives the general call from God, or at least it is there in potential.
When we are called there are then other more specific callings to do certain things as the Lord directs.
Some are called to harder things than others. For example, being Pope, or a missionary martyr. These are big callings, and we can be assured that those so called will receive extra grace for the task.
Everyone is called to holiness of life, whether we are high or low in the workings of things.
Each of us has certain gifts, and not others. This forces us to see our mutual dependence on God’s grace. We are formed into a team, or a body, and that is good for us spiritually.
Of course, in the rough and tumble of life we face many different situations and we can be more than one thing at a time. One time a prophet, another time a helper, another time a leader etc.
If we are basically holy God can work through us.
God know the spiritual status of each person. He draws us to Himself, by the force of His goodness. He helps us to realize that to be with Him is the best place to be.
We see with greater clarity how we can serve Him.
Under His guidance we can change things about our lives as required.
When we make wrong turnings and act against the plans of Our Lord, then He is ready to show mercy and repair any damage done. The basic call remains in place.
If we are doing well then God will ‘prune’ us like branches on a tree (Jn 15,2), and He will get the best out of us, probably involving suffering, but we will not mind by that stage!
We can learn to relish the challenge. As in the parable of the talents, the more we do the more we get to do! Give the wasted talents to one who will use them well (cf Mt 25,28).
It would be a lot easier for Jesus if everyone just signed on with no questions or arguments etc.
But humans are not good at keeping quiet as a rule, so we have to work our way to a humble understanding of God's ways.
Today we are referring especially to the call to discipleship which leads to priestly and religious vocations. Harder tasks requires more prayer. We pray for conversion, growth, response.
We do our best to prepare the soil to make acceptance of the call more likely. We move to help wherever in the body the need is felt.
For example, we pray for the Pope and Bishop everyday because their job is harder.
We pray for vocations because they are less likely to happen. So we make it more likely.
We pray for the response to the general call and then for the next stage of greater responsibility.
It is not necessarily the more outstandingly talented who are called to religious life. God knows what each can do, or what He can do with them. There must be no pride or jealousy between disciples of Christ. We are glad to serve in whatever way He decides. Our main desire is to help advance His plans for the world and all within it.
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