Everyone has a vocation, a mission from God - what mission has God given you?

by Fr. Todd Petersen

Every January, we mark Vocations Awareness week. In a special way, we take time to focus on priesthood and consecrated life, though vocations are much more varied.

The word ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin root word vocare which means ‘to call’. Words such as voice, vocal, vociferous come from the same root. When used in the Church, it refers to God’s call to a human being. But more than a calling, it is really a mission or an invitation to be someone important. Because God’s call is freely given, a response to such a vocation is expected to be free. It is not defined by a single act, but rather in a lifetime of discipleship marked with holiness.

This connection between holiness and vocation is so strong that despite sin, trial, and pain, all who are striving for holiness are striving to live their vocation, and all who are attempting to live as God has called them find holiness. With this in mind, it is easy to understand that everyone has a vocation, a mission, from God.

While every person’s vocation is different, and transcends classifications of vocations such as Married, Single, Ordained, and Consecrated, there are elements that make up every authentically Christian Vocation, though in varying degrees. While there are many other elements that may be named, there are seven elements that are essential: life, love, integrity, communion, creed service, and sacrifice.

Life: The first and foundational element of vocation is to life. This we share with every single human being. For the faithful, we realize that life is God’s gift to us and that we in turn are asked to return to Him. The vocation to life is a call to live in the image and likeness of God.

Every true vocation not only respects life, but cherishes it and seeks to make it better, while allowing God to be its master. Whether it be a mother and father nurturing the life of their children, children providing care for an elderly parent, or a Religious sister bringing a zeal for creativity and liveliness to those around, we are all to be ‘plugged-in’ to life.

Love: The saints stumbled across the next element of vocation, and lived it perfectly. In fact, in his Apostolic Exhortation on the Laity, Christifideles Laici, Pope John Paul II defines holiness as the ‘perfection of charity’ (CL¶16).

St. Therese of Lisieux, in a moment of profound insight, states emphatically, "Love, in fact, is the vocation which includes all others; it’s a universe of its own, comprising all time and space - it’s eternal" (Story of a Soul). She saw that everything she was called to be, as well as everything everyone else is to be, is love. Each person, in his or her own way according to one’s state in life, demonstrates God’s love in the world. We are created for love, because we are called to be an image of God, who is love.

Integrity: The call to holiness is a call to wholeness. As sin seeks to divide a human from God, others, and even self, the grace of God calls the believer to seek a life of integrity.

Communion: The Christian is called to union with the Holy Trinity and with each other, especially in the Church. This Communion is a call beyond the love we share with non-Christians.

Creed: The Church’s creedal system is not a set of principles that have been passed down, but a living, active invitation to the very core of who the Christian is to be. In reciting the creed together, we bind ourselves to living the faith in our daily lives and finding that faith is, in the end, what unites us to each other in the Church."

Service: The call to holiness calls us to serve one another. In the Last Supper according to John, Jesus leaves us an example, and calls his followers to the same. In responding to the call of service, we heighten the call to love and take the communion we share to those in need.

Sacrifice: The final element of every Christian vocation is sacrifice. Sacrifice is to place one’s needs last for the good of another. It is seen in a surrender of self, united to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, made present in the Eucharist.

Everyone is called to life, love, integrity, communion, creed, service and sacrifice. During this month of Vocation awareness, we should take some time to reflect on these elements, seeing how we have accepted them as our call to holiness.