Vocation Sunday

This Sunday is Vocation Sunday - the Church calls us to pray in a special way for an increase to the priesthood and religious life. I'm sincerely grateful to the many good priests and religious that I know, especially for their examples of holiness (Father John) and joy (Sister Helena)!

Carole wrote a great reflection on the topic of vocations entitled “Chickens, Eggs, and Vocations” (Feb. 23rd, 2008).

Thus far (I’m 41 now), I haven’t felt called to either religious life or marriage and I think it’s highly likely that I will remain a single lay person my whole life long – I’m not saying I know this for sure, I’m just saying it’s VERY likely. Please pray that I will love God with all my heart, soul, and mind, and that I will love my neighbour as myself. Whatever one’s state in life, whatever one’s profession, it really all comes down to following those two commandments, right?

As the Catechism says, quoting St. John of the Cross, “At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love” (1022).

Here’s a link to Papa JPII’s Christifidelis Laici (“On the Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and the World”). This letter always lifts me up when I need to be reassured that I, as a single lay person, still have a role and purpose in the grand scheme of things.