When I was in my first few years of university, the last thing that I ever imagined that I would become was a priest. I hoped that I might become a lawyer or perhaps teach political science at a university. Happily, I loved studying, so none of these were impossible goals. I was even so blessed in my studies that I was able to get good grades while at the same time doing a lot of the partying that young people away from home for the first time can get lost in. I think it was all of the “good times” that I was experiencing that made me sense that something was missing. Even though I was going out a great deal, and often waking-up hung-over, I found that something was missing in my life. I sensed a deep lack of meaning and began to question what my own life might be about.

In the midst of that questioning, I found myself thinking about times and people who had given me a sense of meaning and purpose in life. One of the experiences which I recalled was a trip that I had taken in high school to the Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of Genesee in New York State. I recalled the peace that I had experienced there and thought of going there to discern what my life might be about. When I called that monastery to arrange to spend the summer, they pointed me to a closer monastery that was trying to get a start in Orangeville, Ontario. I spent that summer in the Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of Hawkley Heights. Although it has now closed, it was a place where with Fr. Canisius Stemler, I was able to begin to discern a vocation.

A person who influenced me at this time was a parish priest that I had come to know when my family lived for a few years in Montreal, Quebec. Fr. Thomas McKentee was the parish priest at St. Edmund’s of Canterbury when my family lived there. Through some family issues, I had come to know him as an extremely caring and wise person. He was always helping someone and seemed to have a real sense of peace about him. As I thought about my own life, and what seemed important to me, he stood out as an example of a person who seemed happy and to be living what he believed. As I spoke to him after my visit to the monastery in Orangeville, he also helped me to discern that I might be called to think about the priesthood.

I never expected or wanted to be called to the priesthood. As I read today’s first reading from the Book of Samuel, I am reminded that God’s call is often unexpected and can come from a source, or at a time, that we do not expect. As Samuel lies on the floor sleeping, he thinks that the call that he is receiving from God is coming from Eli and does not imagine that it is coming from God. It is only with a little help from Eli that Samuel begins to discern that it might be the Lord who is calling him and he begins to consider how to respond. Like many who do answer the call of the Lord, Samuel finds that his purpose and meaning in life will be found in answering the call of the Lord. Eli gives Samuel the very good advice of what each one of us should say to the Lord when He calls us: “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

In the past, there was a perception that God only called a few people. These were believed to be those who were called to the religious life or the priesthood. Since the 1960’s and the Church’s Second Vatican Council, the Church has taught that all of the baptized are called and that each person has a vocation to follow Christ in one way of another. Put simply, when we are baptized, Jesus promises us that He will be with us always and love us always. As a result of His promise to us, we are called to respond to His love for us.

The word “vocation” comes from the Latin word “vocare.” It refers to the responsibility that each Christian has to respond to God’s love for each of us. Now, there are many ways that we can respond to God’s call. For most people today, I think the response is the same response that I used to give when I was playing video games and I was called for dinner—I would ignore the call.

Bishop Matthew Ustrycki, the retired auxiliary bishop of Hamilton, used to say it well when he would say: “Today, the problem is not that God is not calling people. The problem is people are not listening.”

The challenge of the readings this Sunday is that we are called to listen to God and respond to His call. So often we are used to talking to God and telling God what we need and want. The call of the readings this Sunday, is that we might listen to God. This listening to God can be in regard to His call to us in relation to a specific situation in our lives or as it is concerned with the general direction of our lives. In a specific situation, where we are not able to find any peace or joy, the Lord might be asking us to accept a certain path of action. It is also possible that the Lord has something to say to us about the general direction of our lives and the path that He might be calling us to find fulfillment and purpose.

When it comes to a specific situation, we might find that our own approach to a situation may only be leading us to frustration, anger and a lack of peace. Perhaps the Lord is inviting us to change our behavior or to trust a matter to him. An example of this might be a resentment that we are harbouring. We might be constantly returning to a pain or hurt and trying to resolve it on our own and according to our own plan. The Lord, on the other hand, might be inviting us to let go and forgive so that we might know His peace. We might repeatedly refuse to heed His call and wonder why we are not at peace. Sometimes the Lord can be calling us to hear His word by the fact that each time we try our own will, we end up unhappy, frustrated and anxious. This could be the call to try His way and give it over to His will.

There is also the reality that the Lord does call us to follow Him in our lives. Each one of us, by our baptism is called to holiness and to follow the Lord. We should be praying about how we will do this in any major life decision. We should also be praying to follow Christ in the path that we choose in life. Serious decisions about who we marry and the path that we take our family on, should always be done in prayer and with an effort to listen to the will of God. Every person considering marriage ought to take into serious consideration how the marriage will impact their relationship with God.

The question of vocation, then, is something that every Christian ought to take seriously. The traditional vocations that we have in the Catholic Church are the vocations to the single life, to marriage, to the religious life for men and women and to the priesthood. There is also the vocation to the permanent diaconate and some can be called to the life of consecrated virginity. There used to be the order of widows in the early Church and I think today it is important to recognize the holy life that is lived by many widowed men and women after their spouse has died. The Church also seeks to support those who are separated and divorced as they continue to strive for holiness in their lives. All of these are vocations that call each individual in her or his circumstances to respond to God ‘s will and attempt to follow Him faithfully.

As we hear the Gospel story today of the call of the first disciples, it does seem to me today that we are living at a time when few people believe that the Lord is still calling people to follow Him in a specific vocation. And, yet, as Bishop Ustrzycki used to say, the problem is not that God is not calling; the problem is that people are not listening.

This year, we have had a great group of people come forward to join the RCIA in order to become Catholic. They are responding to God calling them to draw closer. Some who work in vocations have reported an increase in inquiries to vocations to the religious life for men and women and the priesthood. The challenges of the pandemic and difficulties of these times might be causing more people to think about the meaning of life.

I would ask all Catholic parents and grandparents to speak of the different vocations within the Church to their children and grandchildren. Anyone considering marriage, or thinking of their life plan, ought to do so by considering how they will live their lives in response to their baptismal call. I would also hope that each young person might at least consider if he or she might be called by God to consider a vocation to the religious life or the priesthood. The problem is not so much that God is not calling, rather that we are often too busy or distracted to listen.

With the recent order to remain at home in Ontario, many of us have more time and fewer distractions. If there are areas of our lives that are causing us anxiety, or taking away our peace, perhaps we need to take the time to ask if God is calling us to do His will in order to find the peace that we are seeking. For others who may be wondering what life is all about at this time, perhaps God is calling them to a deeper relationship with Him or to a different path. All of us are used to talking to God. We are not so good at listening to God. Samuel and the first disciples only found peace by listening to God and daring to do His will. The readings this Sunday are intended to remind all of us that the peace which Christ desires us to know is to be found in that response which transformed the lives of Samuel and the first disciples when they said: “Here I am Lord; I come to do your will.”

Please pray for vocations!

Fr. Michael McGourty
Pastor—St. Peter’s Parish—Toronto, Ontario.

This reflection based upon the readings for the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time—Year B: 1 Samuel 3: 3-10, 19; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 6: 13-20; and John 1:35-42.

For more information about vocations please visit: www.vocations.ca