Feast of the Transfiguration & National Vocations Awareness Week

Today begins National Vocations Awareness Week - a week of prayer for vocations and promotional activities.
It begins today and concludes next Sunday.
Each year, all the Bishops of Australia ask us to do this during this week in August.

One of the questions people ask the most about a vocation to the Priesthood and the Religious Life in particular is this:

"How do I know that God is calling me?"

I remember when I first began to feel called I often said to God in prayer:
"Lord, if you are calling me to the Priesthood, give me a sign.
Then I'll have the conviction to respond."

But then I began to feel something was amiss by asking God for a sign.
I felt Our Lord saying to me:
"If I gave you a sign;
if you knew that I was calling you as clearly as you can see that black is different to white,
you would no longer have to trust in me and my plans for you.
And if you had no reason or incentive to trust in me,
the 'whole bottom would drop out!'
Because where there is no trust there is no faith.
And where there is no faith,
there is no inspiration and motivation to love."

Since we all have a deep desire to love and to be loved,
I didn't want to miss out on what I thought would be a good opportunity to grow in love by becoming a priest.
And I certainly was not deluded.
It is not the only way God can expand the human heart.
But for those who respond to the Priesthood or the Religious Life,
God does not fail to deliver.

I also came more in touch with how asking God for a sign did not so much come from a lack of clarity in my calling but a weakness of will in responding.
That is why I can honestly say that I would never have become a priest were it not that I had recourse to a great deal of prayer to strengthen my resolve to respond.
Through prayer I discovered the delightful truth of St Paul's words:
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
(Phil 4:13)

When it comes to prayer,
it is important that we do not expect God to use extra-ordinary means to make our vocation known to us.
If we are expecting God to speak to us directly, give us visions,
or any other extra-ordinary phenomena,
then such expectations go against our best interests as I said.
But there is another reason - such expectations can offend God:

When Peter the Apostle saw
Our Blessed Lord transfigured on
Mt Tabor he said,
"Rabbi,
it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you,
one for Moses and one for Elijah."
In other words,
Peter was saying,
"This sure beats encountering God in the ordinary events of life!
Let's stay here in the midst of this spectacular and extra-ordinary event where we can learn everything we need to know."

But a voice came from the cloud above:
"This is my Son, the Beloved.  Listen to him."

St John of the Cross said that God was more or less saying:
"If I have already told you all things in my Word, my Son,
and if I have no other word,
what answer or revelation can I now make that would surpass this?
Fasten your eyes on him alone because in him I have spoken and revealed all
and in him you will discover even more than you ask for and desire…
I have already spoken, answered, manifested, and revealed to you by giving him to you as
a brother, companion, master, ransom,
and reward ...

If I spoke before
[through priests and prophets in the Old Testament]
it was to promise Christ ...

[But if people ask Me to speak to them now or ask for visions]
they would offend my
beloved Son deeply because they would be obliging him to become incarnate and undergo his life and
death again.
You will not find anything to ask or desire of me through revelations and visions.
Behold him well,
for in him you will uncover all of these already made and given,
and many more …

My Apostle proclaimed this [in writing to the Colossians]:
"In the Son of God are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God" (Col 2:3)."

St John of the Cross concludes:
"Anyone wanting to get something in a supernatural way would,
as it were,
be accusing God of not having given us in his Son all that is required."
(The Ascent of Mt Carmel, Bk 2, ch. 22)

So if you feel called to a vocation but have not had any spectacular visions you are not missing out on anything!

But wait!  There's more!

There is something insightful about how Moses and Elijah appeared on
Mt Tabor when Jesus became transfigured.
One of the reasons why they were there was this:
God gave the Law through Moses,
and his teaching through the Prophets among whom the greatest was Elijah.

This is quite telling.

Because we too can gain further assistance in discerning our vocation by contemplating the Law and the prophetic teaching Christ provides through His Church.

St John of the Cross was mindful of this too.  He said:
"Until consulting another,
one will usually experience only tepidity and weakness in the truth,
no matter how much may have been heard from God." (Ibid)

When God called Moses to lead his people out of the slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land,
he was afraid, weak, and doubtful about his mission.
He did not possess the courage to give strong credence to the mission until he was
heartened by God through his brother Aaron.
God said to Moses:
"I know that your brother Aaron is an eloquent man: Behold, he will go to meet you and at sight of you sincerely rejoice.
Speak and tell him all my words,
and I will be in your mouth and in his so that each of you will receive certitude through the mouth of the other"
(Ex 4:14-15).

This is just one example from the Scriptures.
There are many others, such as:

• the advice Moses received from his father-in-law Jethro
• the encouragement Gideon received about the seemingly impossible mission God entrusted to him when he heard about a Midianite's dream (cf. Jgs 7:13-15)
• the encouragement and advice King David received from the Prophet Nathan.
• the confirmation Ananias gave to St Paul's vision to become an Apostle of Christ.

As you can see,
the inspirations and promptings of the Holy Spirit that enlighten, convict, and encourage us from within are more likely to achieve their desired effect if they are confirmed from without.

To help people discern their vocation, each diocese has a Director of Vocations.
Since I am the Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Sydney you are welcome to make a time to see me if you would like any assistance in discerning your vocation.
Such assistance can be helpful even if it helps you to learn that you are not called to be a priest or Religious brother or sister.

Fr Michael de Stoop can be contacted at:

Vocation Centre
Level 11, Polding Centre
133 Liverpool Street
SYDNEY   NSW   2000
Tel: 9390-5280
mdestoop@stmaryscathedral.org.au

            or:

St Mary’s Cathedral
St Mary’s Road
SYDNEY   NSW   2000
Tel: 9220-0406