"Your Call"

By Reverend J. Ronald Knott

I am going to tell you a story that I have told many times, something that might sound far-fetched, arrogant, old-fashioned, a little too pious and maybe even a bit corny. When I was seven years old, I received a call from God to be a priest. No, an angel did not appear to me. No, I did not hear God's voice directly. It was much simpler than that, but no less clear. Sister Mary Ancilla, my second grade teacher, asked those of us in her class what we wanted to be when we grew up. I remember very clearly the question, my answer and how I felt about my answer.

When my turn came, I hesitated a bit, but not because I was unsure. I hesitated because I feared the teasing of my classmates. No one in my family had ever suggested that idea to me. I had never heard a pitch for the seminary from my pastor. I wasn't even sure of all that was required, but it seemed very clear to me, even at that age, that someday I would become a priest! Even though I first heard this call when I was seven, answering it has not been easy by a long shot. Without much support from my family, my pastor or my teachers, I entered the seminary at age 13 and struggled through it for 12 long years. For almost 50 years now, I am still saying "yes" to this call! It is my prayer to be able to say "yes" to this call until I die. I still hope to have the word "priest" on my tombstone!

Today we read the story of Mary's call to be the mother of Jesus when she was probably around 13 years old. Her call or vocation seems to follow a universal pattern in the scripture: (a) The call is given to an unlikely choice, (b) the call is followed by a time of hesitancy, (c) the call is repeated and help is offered, and finally (d) the call is accepted. We see all this in Mary's vocation story. (1) When the angel appears to Mary, it is a surprise, even a shock. Typical of God, she does not appear in the wisdom of the world to be the best choice for such an important job. She is poor. She is unmarried. She is very, very young. He does not ask Mary what she wants to be when she grows up. He simply informs her of what God wants her to be! (2) Mary's response was one of hesitancy. It says she was deeply troubled and wondered what it all meant. Most people called by God to certain tasks in scripture are deeply troubled by their unworthiness and feelings of inadequacy. Some even try to run. (3) The angel repeats the call, tells her not to fear and reminds her that nothing is impossible with God's help. (4) Being a woman of faith, Mary surrenders to God, and gives her now famously short acceptance speech, "I am God's servant. Let it be done to me as you say!"

All calls come from God and are gifts of God. Before Jesus left this earth, he commissioned his followers to carry on his work. All baptized followers of Jesus are entrusted with the building up of God's people and the carrying on of some part of that work. There are different gifts, but the same Spirit. To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given to the common good. There are, then, a variety of calls within the general call to carry on Christ's work. The possibilities are endless. Some are called to marriage and parenthood. Some are called to be teachers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, politicians, artists, counselors and administrators. Still others are called to ordained or lay ministry. Whatever the call, it is God who calls. To reject God's call is to reject who we are, who we were uniquely created to be. Our happiness, our sanity, is connected to answering our own unique calls.

You have a "vocation" too. Maybe you've never thought about it much. Maybe you have never used that word, but you have a "vocation" too. A "vocation" is God's call to move in a certain direction with your life. Most of us do not receive our "calls" in visions or great dramatic events, but in a certain "quiet knowing." This call is heard in the heart, not necessarily in the ear. The phrase "follow your heart" may express it best. We are our happiest when we "follow our hearts." We are most unhappy when we don't. Being on the right path does not mean that life is a bed of roses, but it does mean that we know in our heart of hearts that it is right and that we receive the help we need at the time we need it. By trusting, we learn that we can trust.

You have a vocation, an inner dream that will unfold and reveal itself if you have the courage to listen to your heart of hearts. A job and a vocation are not necessarily the same. A job is about making a living. A vocation is about knowing whom and what to live for! The happiest people I know are those whose career and vocation are the same: people who do what they love, for the one they love. The saddest people I know are those who slave their whole lives at something they have no passion for. The saddest young people I run in to are those who graduate from college with a major that bores them, those who end up entering professions they have no heart for or those who have to live with decisions that others pressured them into making. They are more common than you can imagine. They remind me of some words that the famous mythologist, Joseph Campbell, once wrote. "The world is full of people who have stopped listening to themselves or have listened only to their neighbors to learn what they ought to do, how they ought to behave, and what the values are they should be living for."

The question is not "What do my friends and family want me to be” or “What is everybody else doing” or “What will bring me the most income?" The question is not even "What do I want to do?" The real question, the only question that leads to happiness, is this one: "What does God want me to be?" And what does God want us to be? God wants us to be ourselves, our true selves, our best selves, all that we can be! Our truest dream for ourselves is always God's dream for us as well. God wants us to live life to the full! God wants us to be happy, but he warns us that service, not pleasure seeking, is the path to real happiness.

The famous Dr. Albert Schweitzer put it this way, "I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." Or as Mary put it in today's gospel, "I am God's servant! Let it happen as you say!"