Vocation

A SENSE of vocation should rule our lives. This is the challenge that we should tackle seriously today. Unfortunately, what happens many times is that we govern ourselves solely by our own estimation of things.

This, to me, is the source of many of our problems. We build our own world without our Father and Creator. We end up building our own tower of Babel, where confusion reigns supreme.

We may be bright, talented and with tremendous resources, but without a sense of vocation, we will not have a sure guide to lead us through the twists and turns of life. We won't know what hit us.

Without this sense of vocation, we end up no better than an ant grappling with an elephant. We will be like an orphan completely lost in the world, or at least a handicapped person, missing certain essential elements in our life. We will have limited knowledge, and our range of concerns will be very agonizingly short. We will fail to relish the fullness of the reality that governs us. It's crazy to think we can go on with our life without a sense of vocation.

Vocation is a call from God for each one of us. A big part of our problem is that many think vocation is only for some special people, like priests and religious. It's not for all. This has to be corrected.

Sadly, many still have the primitive idea one can have a vocation only when he feels the calling for the priesthood or the religious life. If one simply likes to be a layperson, married or single, then the question of vocation does not enter.
Vocation is God's invitation for all of us in different capacities to participate in His life and activity. It connects us to God from whom we all come and to whom we all belong. We are nothing without God.

It's our ultimate joy and perfection, it's what completes life. It links our earthly affairs to our heavenly destination. It brings us to the spiritual and supernatural dimension of the reality that governs us, releasing us from a purely earthly outlook in life.

Vocation is a truth of faith that can be known and accepted through faith. Its discovery and development require God's grace and our generous correspondence.

Vocation is what gives consistency, direction and meaning to our whole life. It covers and involves our whole being. It has to be with all the time, even in our sleep. It determines the priorities we have to follow.

Vocation also determines our lifestyles, our tastes, the kind of relationships we cultivate and maintain.

While every Christian vocation opens us to all people and all things, specific vocation spells the specific way we ought to live and work.

Many people think it's hard to discern their vocation. This, I believe, is because they have not learned the habit of praying yet.

But if one is simple, sincere and humble, if one is earnest in his belief in God, generous and even heroic in his love for God, I don't see why God's will for him should be difficult to discover.

After all, God is first to come to us, is all eager to love us and let his will be known to us. There are just many gospel passages that corroborate this truth.

The problem is with us, when we complicate things, when we start with our own ideas and theories, when we are motivated first of all by our own selfish interests.

We even dare to play tricks with God. Do we wonder why we get lost in this world, drowned in an ocean of problems, mistakes, difficulties?