The Catholic Church in the United States celebrates National Vocations Awareness this week, January 9-15, 2011.
When Catholics hear the word “vocations,” we tend to think primarily in terms of the priesthood and religious life. So when we hear about the vocations crisis, we primarily focus on the shortage of priests and religious sisters and brothers.
The vocations crisis, however, is much broader than just the priesthood and religious life. In addition to priests, the Church needs lay people to serve in leadership roles in parishes and other ministries. The World, too, needs people from all walks of life to take an active role in organizations serving people in need around the globe. Thus, it is vital that we pray for and work to instill a sense of vocation in all people of the Church.
All persons, because they are created by and in God, have a vocation, a calling, a natural inclination to live a particular way of life utilizing the abilities and talents with which God created them. We shouldn’t be asking, “Am I called to a life of vocation?” Rather, we should ask, “What vocation was I created to live?”
In his message for World Vocations Day in 2001, Pope John Paul II said, “Every life is a vocation.” The priest, the religious sister, the lay ecclesial minister, the teacher, the doctor, the engineer, the secretary, the construction worker, the delivery person, indeed everyone is gifted with talents, abilities, and interests that incline them toward the jobs in which they work. Vocation goes beyond work. It includes the entire process of living.
It is fitting that National Vocations Awareness Week begins on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, when Jesus began his public ministry. In his ministry, Jesus drew upon his natural abilities and interests to share God’s love with everyone he met. He utilized the talents that were woven into his very being. Jesus enjoyed and required time in prayer, talking to the Father and gathering strength and perspective for his time teaching and working with the people. Jesus genuinely love people, especially the poor, sick, and vulnerable. He had a gift – a wonderful and great gift – for helping people to reconcile with God, with others, and with themselves, healing them of their physical, emotional, and social illnesses.
And who helped Jesus learn his calling and discover his natural abilities? Mary and Joseph, as well as his relatives and neighbors in the community of Nazareth. Jesus learned who he was from Mary’s and Joseph’s gentle challenges and encouragement to discover his gifts and abilities. As he interacted with his relatives and neighbors, he learned what he enjoyed doing and what others appreciated about him.
When parents bring their children to the Church to be baptized, they make a promise to raise them in the ways of Christ Jesus and the teachings of the Church. Within that promise is the responsibility to help their children discover and grow into the persons that God created them to be. As parents watch their children grow, they help them to discover their abilities, usually by providing them a variety of opportunities to try new things. Parents also help their children to realize the things they enjoy doing, encouraging them to participate in the activities that they like to do.
Parents do not work alone. The Church, specifically parish communities, has a responsibility to support them in their role. Within the parish, children, young adults, and people of all ages are invited to engage in activities to help them figure out the purpose for which God created them. They participate in a variety of prayer opportunities to discover the style of prayer that suits them best. They engage in service activities that challenge them to try new things and determine the kinds of activities they really enjoy doing. They are invited to discern their gifts and talents so as to live according to the natural inclinations of the Spirit within them.
While National Vocations Awareness Week primarily focuses on the vocations of the priesthood and religious life, the entire people of God must begin to understand the overall definition of vocations, the natural inclination to live a particular way of life utilizing the abilities and talents with which God created us. We need to create opportunities for people of all ages to explore their personal vocations so that every person created in God’s image may fully discover who God created them to be and to live their lives, utilizing their talents and abilities to the fullest.
If every person is challenged and helped to live fully, according to the Spirit’s calling within them, we will no longer have a vocations crisis in the Church or in our world.
For resources to use to explore vocations in the home, classroom, parish, or school, visit:
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org) - http://foryourvocation.org/