Our stories are all stories of SEARCHING. We search for a good self to be
and for good work to do.
We search to become human in a world that tempts us always to be less than human or looks to us to be more.
We search to love and to be LOVED.
And in a world where it is often hard to believe in much of anything, we search to believe in something holy and beautiful
and life-transcending that will give MEANING and PURPOSE to the lives we live.
– Frederick Buechner
God has a dream for each one of us. We are uniquely loved and called by God. God only wishes good for us as a human race and as individuals. God’s dream is that we in our own unique wway will join Christ in building a better world and so experience ourselves fully. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
Some persons experience being called by God as an invitation into the desires (dreams) of God for the human race, for the church, and for ourselves as we live out our lives. Vocation comes from the latin word or call for calling. It implies that there is an action from God who is beyond ourselves that is beckoning and calling to us. In as sense, we cannot deny this activity. We respond to it by answering yes or no. To ignore it is to answer no. Our belief that God calls each one of us to do some good in the world. We are called to be concerned for other human beings, to be instruments of his love, peace and justice.
Discernment is a seeking of God’s will in my life through the inner movements of the Spirit of Love. We are called to discernment because a Christian life (vocation) is precisely a response to God’s will and call to discipleship. “Be it done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)
This response to God’s call is the only source of my real happiness in this life and hereafter. It is an act of deep gratitude on my part for all that God has done for me –how God has loved me.
Read more about discernment with Sr. Li XiaoWei and Sr. Kriz Lam on “What to do when God calls you?”
