Vocations Newsletter

This book, written prior to the pandemic, reflects on the role of “earthquakes”—literal and metaphorical: times like the present when history trembles beneath our feet. Such times may overturn empires, structures of power, and the stability of our personal lives. Yet, as Rabbi Waskow writes in a special preface, “this specific ‘earthquake’ among all the earthquakes in our lives . . . is ever-present, even if invisible and inaudible.”
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If you think of yourself as one of “God’s children” as John tells it, then you can give yourself an important title, too, worthy of your devotion to the Gospel. That title is saint. Today on the feast of All Saints, we celebrate the union of lives well lived in the presence of Our Lord. We honor the giants from history who inspire us—I think of Elizabeth Ann Seton and Archbishop Oscar Romero as just two great saints of recent times. But I also remember the unsung saints who live among us in our families, our parishes, and beyond. Their lives are examples, too, of holiness and dedication to witnessing God’s saving grace. If you need a role model, there are many.What’s important to remember is that sainthood on earth is how we prepare ourselves for sainthood for all time. As with most things, the transformation we long for is in God’s hands. We can’t know exactly how we will be welcomed home by the saints of heaven. But we know that for God the last word is always life, not death. To quote a saint of some renown: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard,and what…
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Jesus has a way of making it simple for us. In today’s Gospel, he provides the only two instructions we will ever need to enter the kingdom of heaven: love God completely; and love one another as much as you love yourself. Easy enough to say. But not always easy to do, especially when we’re confronted with anything but love. Is Jesus asking too much of us? I don’t think so. As faithful Catholics, we know our role is to witness God’s love and saving grace. That is our calling as missioners who have received the promise of salvation in Christ. To reach our reward, Jesus is asking us to literally practice our faith. The more we pray… the more we read scripture… the more we celebrate the sacraments—the closer we come to knowing and loving God. Then, when we have the strength of God’s love in our hearts, witnessing that love becomes second nature even when we are being challenged.Today, Jesus is asking us to be our best in the world of faith—to love God with all our heart—and to do our best in the world of human relationships—by treating others the way we wish to be treated. Fulfilling…
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“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all you lands. Tell his glory among the nations; among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.”(Psalm 96:1-3)You can take center stage today. This is your moment to “sing a new song” by sharing God’s love with the world.World Mission Sunday is an affirmation that we are chosen not necessarily to do great things—although I’m sure you have—but to join God in doing what is already at work. Pope Francis calls this action of the spirit “the universal sacrament of God’s love for the world.” When we witness our faith, he says, God continues to manifest infinite love in ways that “transform hearts, minds, bodies, societies, and cultures in every place and time.” This is what we celebrate today on World Mission Sunday.Our celebration is tempered this year for all the reasons we know—but it’s also an invitation to renewal. Like the apostles caught in a storm and fearful for their lives, we realized that we can only deal with adversity when we care for one another. When we all pull together. In his address today, Our Holy Father Pope Francis acknowledges the immense suffering of people all over the world…
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