From the Bishops Vocation awareness week

Jan 6, 2011

We plant seeds when we ask a child what he wants to be when he grows up. The first is that we want and need him to grow up. The second helps him to see himself as a welcome participant in social and civic life.

There is a better question. If someone has taken the trouble to carry a child through baptism, we should ask him or her,  “What does God want you to be when you grow up?” If God wills our happiness in this life, which God does, then the question matters. It sets a tone and direction. And we know that a free response to God will be answered with wisdom, grace and strength.

Back when I was reading Swiss theologian Karl Barth to prepare for some graduate examinations, I was struck by his 1930s observation that Jesus is not the answer. Rather, Barth wrote, Jesus is the question. The Lord was sent to us to remind us that God loves the world. When Christians discern their vocation and life-direction, we ask ourselves how we can cooperate and share that love.

Next week, our Church asks that we pray for vocations to priesthood and consecrated life. At the same time, I ask you to consider how we can positively encourage the possible directions that our young (and not so young) take.

The content of our conversations and the objects of our praise are powerful influences on the young. We trust that God always will call enough of our sons and daughters to serve Christ in the Church. The problem, some say, is that some block their own ears. And sometimes people cannot hear their own vocation because others discourage them.

Over time we gain wisdom about religious vocations, about how we imagine them to be. When I was a deacon, a wonderful priest told me about some unnamed young men who were struggling with the idea of becoming priests. He might have perceived a question in my own heart. He said that it was too scary to imagine “going from zero to priesthood” in a single leap. The first thing that a man needs to decide is whether he wants to be a Christian. “After that, the leap to priesthood is a relatively short hop,” he said. I imagine that something of this same dynamic applies to women who contemplate lives as nuns or sisters.

Of course, one is never alone in discerning God’s will in these matters. There is lots of help from priests and sisters and brothers, vocation directors, parents, spiritual directors and confessors. One remains eminently free, whether one eventually enters a religious vocation or whether it becomes apparent that God has other plans for one’s life.

One thing is for sure: God has too much love for us ever to waste the time we give him. He will not be outdone in generosity. This is why we should not hesitate to encourage someone who wants to investigate whether God is calling him.

Yes, you can say that I have a bias in this matter. But I also speak from long experience of my Lord and Savior.     


Reprinted with permission from The Catholic Moment. Vocation awareness week is January 9-15, 2011.

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