Vocations
Every vocation is part of a divine plan. From all eternity, since we began to exist in the plan of the Creator, He also willed us to be "called." He prepared in us the gifts and conditions for the personal, conscious and opportune response to the call of Christ and of the Church. It is God Who loves us, Who is Love, Who calls us. "Vocation is, therefore, a mystery that man accepts and lives in the depths of his being" (Pope John Paul II, "The Meaning of Vocation"). Every man and woman is given a vocation, a unique call from God. It may be a vocation to married life, or to the single, consecrated life. It may be to the priesthood or to a religious vocation.
We do not have to be afraid of what vocation means because it comes from a Father who loves us.
Some Signs of a Call to Religious Life:
- Persistent prodding of the Holy Spirit to choose Christ as first and foremost in one's life.
- Desire to give all to Christ and to grow in love.
- Desire to make the world holy through prayer and the works of mercy.
- Realization that the good one is presently doing is "not enough."
Prayer For Choosing One's Vocation
God of wisdom and of counsel, You see in my heart a sincere desire to please You alone and to conform myself entirely to Your holy Will in the choice of my state in life. Grant me, I humbly implore You, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, my Mother, and my holy Patrons, the grace to know what state in life I should choose and to embrace it when known, in order that I may seek Your glory and increase it, work out my own salvation, and deserve the heavenly reward which You have promised to those who do Your holy Will. Amen.
Treasury of Prayer, Lawrence B. Lovasik, S.V.D., 1954
