How Will You Answer?

God is calling.  What difference does this make in our lives?  Does it matter that God is reaching out to us, inviting us to become more and more alive, to live closer to God and to share our lives with others?  If God is calling all the time, in every part of our lives, how can we possibly respond fully?  Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am (Mt 16:15)?”  This is the same question each and every person (and baptized Christians, in a special way) encounters in trying to reveal the definition of our lives.  The Church, all the holy women and men who are living in God, echo this question to us as a short statement and a brief question: God is calling. How will you answer?

First of all, it’s important to realize that we might never have one single “AH-HA moment” of knowing what God is calling us to do and to be. While some of us might experience a moment where a lot of clarity comes to us, most of us will probably experience a more gradual realization of how to actualize our life’s calling. Life is a journey, and more likely than not, the small decisions we make along the way will lead to larger decisions, even major life decisions such as whether and who to marry, whether to be ordained or enter a religious order, or which profession to pursue.

Also, it helps to know that Christian spiritual leaders over the centuries have developed some very basic pointers concerning how to figure out what God is trying to tell each of us. This process of listening for God’s voice and gradually realizing where we are called is known as discernment. Here are a few things that might help us discern God’s call and our response:

Prayer

Obviously, if we want to discern our unique calling, we’ve got to be in touch with the One is calling us.  Prayer is, very simply, a conversation with God.  Prayer is talking . . . sharing our thoughts and concerns with God. We can offer thanksgiving, praise, and prayers for other people.  But prayer is also listening . . .  listening both to our hearts and to the people through whom God might choose to speak to us.  When we pray, we shouldn’t worry if we don’t quite know what to say or do.  We should just be ourselves – God knows us through-and-through anyway!  If we each spend some time each day simply sitting in silence with God, we might find that we gradually become more and more attuned to God’s voice speaking in our hearts and our hopes.  God’s desire for us can be found planted deep within us.  Some call this the "Heart’s Desire".  Our callings  are always a call to what is life-giving, to what gives us and others more life.  When we follow God’s call, we become more and more who God created us to be. 

Self-Gift

In his book Doing the Truth in Love, Fr. Michael Himes writes, "To give ourselves away is what we most deeply desire."  We are created in the image and likeness of a God who is all-loving and all-giving.  To be most like God and therefore to be most fully ourselves, we must love and give of ourselves freely.  Every response to God’s call involves some way that we give of ourselves.  So, when we each think about what we want to be, we might ask ourselves, "How does this allow me to reach out, to create, to give?"  We are made to be givers – to be Christ to others -- and we will not be truly happy unless we are reaching beyond ourselves in some way.

Freedom

It sounds so easy, doesn’t it?  Just discover your “Heart’s Desire” and there you will find the will of God for your life’s calling.  But sometimes finding out what we really want is the hardest thing of all.  We have so many influences that it can be hard to feel free to choose.  But freedom is one of the signs of an authentic response to God’s call.  How can we become more free to know what it is we truly desire?  One way is to use our imaginations.  For many people, journaling is a powerful way to get in touch with what’s going on inside.  Some may also find it helpful to develop some close relationships with people who can help us to really focus on God’s call and on what we deeply, truly desire.  We may try to seek out a spiritual director, or ask someone else to talk with us on a regular basis, like a school counselor, youth minister, or even an older friend.

Community

Discernment is never something that we do alone.  Talking to other people is really important!  Often the people around us can see our gifts and see how we might be called to give them in ways that we don’t realize.  Ultimately, we must each decide which path to follow, but another person’s support and insight can be invaluable.  Besides, if we are supposed to be giving ourselves away, we need other people to receive this gift – therefore, it’s best to include others along the way to help us determine how best to give of ourselves.

The Cross

It may sound strange to say that you will find your calling in Jesus’ Cross., but the Cross is the only way to the Resurrection. Very often, some experience of suffering in our lives will open us to an unexpected path of self-gift.  We all have some wounds and some suffering to bear. Whatever our pain is, we trust that God is with us in it, and will lead us through it in ways that can invite us to transform the pain into a life-giving gift. This is the true meaning of sacrifice.

Peace and Joy

One of the clearest indications that we are discovering an authentic calling is the presence of peace and joy on our path. Peace and joy are not necessarily the same thing as happiness, though. Someone cannot feel happy while also feeling sad, uncertain, or in pain. But as suggested above, you can find peace and joy even in the midst of pain and suffering. Peace and joy are not just surface feelings, they make up a deep interior conviction that a particular way of living or working is a good way to devote energy and talent, a way that calls us beyond ourselves in service and love. Happiness will come and go, but peace and joy, living deep within us, are signs of God’s very life.

So . . . How will you answer?

Very few of us may be able to answer that question right now, but we can take comfort in knowing that God does not expect us to have clarity all at once.  It is important that we learn how to work with God in creating the beauty of our own lives.  This takes time, patience, and effort, but above all it takes God’s love, God’s grace, and the God’s own self in the Holy Spirit.  The gifts we each uniquely posses and share with one another are living signs of God’s own creativity.  Learning to identify our gifts, see the opportunities to share them, and use them lovingly and courageously is critical to answering God’s call.

Where does ND Vision come in?

ND Vision helps teenagers to learn about discernment and concretely encourages them to begin to listen to and answer God’s call right now!  The answer comes mostly through ordinary decisions in our ordinary lives, but with our faith and, most important, God’s grace, the ordinary becomes extraordinary – indeed, the ordinary becomes holy.  ND Vision proclaims the holy calling of each and every one of us while creating an experience where young people from all over the country gather at a special place (Notre Dame) with incredible mentors (Notre Dame students as well as national speakers and musicians) to pray together, celebrate our faith, ask our deep questions, share stories, laugh loudly, and sing with full heart and voice.  ND Vision is not a passive experience – it is “transformative, life-changing, a program that makes a difference.”

The forms and tasks of life are many but there is one holiness, which is cultivated by all who are led by God’s Spirit and, obeying the Father’s voice and adoring God the Father in spirit and truth, follow Christ, poor and humble in carrying his cross, that they may deserve to be sharers in his glory.  All, however, according to their own gifts and duties must steadfastly advance along the way of living faith, which arouses hope and works through love.   

                   ~ Lumen Gentium 41