Villa La Paz Newsletter September 2022
Vocation: 1a) a call, summons, or impulsion to perform a certain function or enter a certain career
b) the function or career towards which one believes himself to be called I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then said I, “Here am I. Send me.”
Isaiah 6:8
So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our own cities have no home to live in, our own activities look futile. Such considerations, however, can paralyze us and depress us.
This is where the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time.
Henri J.M. Nouwen
When you leave this earth,
you can take with you
nothing that you have
received, but only what
you have given: a full heart
enriched by honest service,
love, sacrifice, and courage.
Saint Francis of Assisi
God and the little boy met at the seashore one Sunday after services and began to walk together. “God,” said the little boy, “a new sister came to our school to teach and she was introduced during a general assembly. She spoke of her vocation to be a nun and a teacher but I did not quite understand what she meant by the word vocation. Can you explain it to me?”
God answered, “A vocation is what I will a person to do in this world and I give that person the gifts and talents to be able to accomplish his or her vocation. Some have the vocation to marry and have children. Some become ministers, priests or nuns to bring me to the people. Some have vocations to heal physical ailments such as doctors, nurses and other health care workers. And some I ask to remain single in the world to be able to devote themselves totally to others without having to be concerned about a family. As you can see a vocation is centered on caring for and helping others during a person’s life, be it as a husband, wife, parents, religious, and so on.”
“Wow,” said the little boy, “how do people know what their vocation is?”
God answered, “They hear my still, small voice.
Some respond positively but, unfortunately, some do not heed my voice.”
“How do people know that they are doing what you have willed them to do?” asked the little boy.
“They will be at peace with themselves,” replied God.
“Peace is the perfect alignment of their lives to my will and if they are in the vocation I have willed for them they will be at peace, not necessarily always happy or content, but more importantly at peace.”
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12
The words of Our Lord seem incongruous. Through His divine nature He is omnipotent and omniscient. How can mere humans do greater things than He? Again, this highlights the humility of God and His dependence on us to continue His work on earth. He has given each of us a vocation, a goal in life, to continue what He began two thousand years ago. We can think of persons who have accepted their vocations, and in doing so, have made the world a better place. One who comes to mind is Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She was an obscure nun, teaching in a convent-school in Calcutta and was very happy in her work. On her way to her yearly retreat in 1947 she heard a call to leave the convent and work in the slums of Calcutta with the poorest of the poor. She was reluctant and resisted at first since she was so happy and fulfilled as a teacher and mentor. She later said that leaving the convent was the hardest thing she had ever had to do, including leaving her family at age 18 to join the convent, but she accepted God’s will for her, left the convent, and through the congregation she founded, the Missionaries of Charity, which has spread all over the world, hundreds of thousands of persons have experienced God’s love. Was she always happy and content in her work with the poor? I think not but she radiated peace and a love of God unmatched by anyone. If we accept the vocation that God has willed for us, even though we may be hesitant to embrace it, our peace will be complete and we will radiate it to others.
Our children are doing well. Their vocation is to teach us patience, forbearance, and unconditional love and our vocation is to encourage and protect them as they continue to progress in life. Children are a sign that God continues to love the universe and has not given up on us despite the turmoil, division and violence that exists in the world.
I offer the following prayer in the hope that we realize that we are all one in God’s love, that the divisions that exist among us, those that we ourselves have erected, will not endure and that the peace of God will reign once again. Our Lord has said many times, “The kingdom of God is among you.” Be it so.
You have called us to be one,
to live in unity and harmony,
and yet we are divided:
race from race, faith from faith,
rich from poor, old from young,
neighbor from neighbor.
O Lord, by whose cross
all enmity is brought to an end,
break down the walls that separate us,
tear down the fences of
indifference and hatred,
forgive us the sins that divide us,
free us from pride and self seeking,
overcome our prejudices and fears,
give us courage to open ourselves to others.
By the power of your Spirit
make us one.
Amen
Opening prayer, World Council of
Churches 1983 assembly
We thank you for supporting our children. We love you and wish you God’s peace.
