{"id":933,"date":"2015-07-08T05:00:01","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T05:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=933"},"modified":"2015-07-08T05:00:01","modified_gmt":"2015-07-08T05:00:01","slug":"do-i-have-a-vocation-yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/do-i-have-a-vocation-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDo I have a vocation?\u201d Yes!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Church places great emphasis on \u201cpraying for vocations\u201d with good reason. In order to carry out Christ\u2019s mission on earth we need strong families, faithful lay people and, of course, priests, deacons and religious to care for our sacramental and spiritual needs. There is, however, a part of any discussion of vocations that is often left out: what is a vocation<\/em>? This is an important question to answer because knowing what<\/em> a vocation is will tell us who<\/em> has one.<\/p>\n

Before I met my husband people would ask me if I was married, or seeing someone. As the years went by and my twenties turned to thirties and beyond, the question came with a twist: \u201cWell, have you considered a vocation?\u201d That really bothered me, I guess because it felt like a reminder that I was \u201calone.\u201d But it\u2019s actually a question based on a misunderstanding \u2013 namely that as a single person I should only consider the religious life because I didn\u2019t already have a vocation<\/em>. The truth is that each one of us has a vocation<\/em>, and it is activated at our baptism<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/a>The Catechism of the Catholic Church <\/em>(no. 2013) quotes Vatican II, saying: \u201c\u2019All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and the perfection of charity.\u2019 All are called to holiness<\/strong>\u2026.\u201d The word vocation means a call<\/em>, and this call comes from God and requires our response. The call to holiness is our responsibility and task as Christians. What does it mean to be holy<\/em>? Scripture says God is holy<\/em>, and that we are to be like God<\/em>. According to St. John, \u201cGod is love.\u201d (1 Jn 4:8). If being holy is to be like God, and God is love, then our call from God \u2013 our vocation \u2013 is to love<\/em>! The answer to the question I heard repeated as a single person<\/em>\u2013 \u201cHave you considered a vocation?\u201d \u2013 is, \u201cI already have one. And so do you!\u201d<\/p>\n

The specific way<\/em> we carry out our vocation to holiness and love is called our state of life. <\/em>The states of life<\/em> generally refer to marriage, priesthood and the consecrated life (religious sisters and brothers). We can spend many more articles just on the states of life, but the important point is that each one of us is called to holiness, to become like God: to love<\/em>. Love is not a feeling<\/em>, but a decision to do what\u2019s good<\/em> for another. If love were simply a feeling<\/em> we couldn\u2019t count on it, because our emotions change all the time. As persons made in the image and likeness of the God who is Love, it\u2019s possible for us to love even when it\u2019s difficult \u2013 or when we don\u2019t particularly like<\/em> someone. The way<\/em> we love each day is enacted in our words<\/em>, our actions<\/em>, and in our very presence to another<\/em>. We do this within our families, at work and school, at church, and in all of the encounters we have throughout our day.<\/p>\n

Each of us is called to live out our vocation, regardless of our age or ability. For example, we wouldn\u2019t think an infant \u201chas a vocation,\u201d because he can\u2019t enact love in the ways we mentioned, much less make a decision to do so. Yet even the baby of the family is living his vocation by his very presence in the home. <\/em>Next time you\u2019re at church sitting behind a family with a baby, or see a mom or dad with a baby in a shopping cart, note your reaction. It\u2019s only natural to coo, make faces and try to make him laugh. His presence alone<\/em> is enough to draw out our love! God\u2019s love is made present to us through the innocence (and cuteness!) of a child, and that child draws us out of ourselves. The same thing happens when we care for a family member who is ill, or non-responsive. She may not be able to say the words \u201cI love you,\u201d but her presence, her vulnerability and her need for us draw out love. We forget ourselves and we desire only the good of someone else. Our vocation<\/em> to love is enacted in the care for a loved one \u2013 or fussing over the baby. Their vocations<\/em> are enacted when they provoke in us a response of love. This provocation comes directly through the grace and loving presence of God.<\/p>\n

We should \u201cpray for vocations\u201d every day; that each one of us enacts his or her vocation to love as spouses, parents and grandparents, children, priests and religious, and single persons, regardless of our age or capabilities. How is God calling you<\/strong> to carry out your vocation to love?<\/p>\n

Ann Koshute<\/strong> teaches theology for Saint Joseph’s College Online. This article first appeared in Eastern Catholic Life<\/a>, the\u00a0official publication of rhe Byzantine Catholic\u00a0Eparchy of Passaic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Church places great emphasis on \u201cpraying for vocations\u201d with good reason. In order to carry out Christ\u2019s mission on earth we need strong families, faithful lay people and, of course, priests, deacons and religious to care for our sacramental … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,18,21,23,24,1],"tags":[301,304],"class_list":["post-933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-religious-life","category-saints","category-spirituality","category-the-pope","category-uncategorized","tag-universal-call-to-holiness","tag-vocation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}