Everyday Heroes

"Thank you for your sacrifice."

That is something that every seminarian and religious aspirant will hear at some point, probably from a well-meaning person who spends a lot of time praying for vocations to priesthood and religious life. But it emphasizes vocation as the individual's choice and there is a real danger that if you hear it too often you begin to believe it and think, "Yeah, I'm a really great person for doing this and making a huge sacrifice to become a priest/religious."

True vocation is a gift from God, and the gift is given to people for all states of life. Yes, religious life and priesthood involve sacrifice, but so do marriage and single life. Each state of life places many demands on a person; people are called to growth in holiness in each, and that growth means suffering, trials of faith, learning to serve others before one's self, and seeking God's will in all things. And for every state of life, the grace given to live it outweighs any sacrifice on our part.

To those of us who have a religious community, people who come to church alone every week and do not have a family that supports them in faith are heroes. To people called to celibate chastity, married people who learn to sacrifice their deepest desires for their spouse or give up everything freely for children's needs are heroes. To those of us who can devote our time to pray and study the faith every day, people who give their time to take night courses in theology or become catechists are heroes.

That is why I pray for people to respond to God's call for their vocation to any state in life, for people to follow Jesus as religious, or priests, or married persons seeking to grow in holiness the way God intends for them. That is why when I meet discerners who are seminarians or religious aspirants or people preparing for marriage I want to say,

"Thank you for responding to God's call."


*Reflections from a novitiate conference on prayer and discernment