“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
“There is not a shortage of vocations… there is only a shortage of people willing to answer the call.”
When I was younger I can remember Fr. Ron saying these words at the end of each Mass. The first time I heard it I thought to myself “What did he just say? We always seem to need more priests!” People would give him weird looks when he said there isn’t a shortage of vocations… because there never seems to be enough priests around! But this caught the congregation’s attention for the rest of his message about listening to God’s call, and responding to it; later I realized how true it is. God is always calling, we have to be quiet enough to hear Him, and courageous enough to respond.
The Catholic Church recognizes three main vocations. Now, a vocation is not a career choice or hobby, but a life choice to which God calls us. We are probably familiar with the vocation to marriage when a man and woman are joined in the holy Sacrament of Matrimony and make vows before God and a witness. Another vocation we are probably familiar with is the vocation to priesthood and religious life. The priests we see at Mass on Sunday, Pope Francis, the seminarians who are discerning priesthood and Sr. Margaret Lola at Youth Rally and others have said yes to the vocation of priesthood and religious life and made vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. The final vocation is consecrated single life when a person chooses not to get married or join a religious order, but makes a commitment to serve God as a single person.
The refrain for this Sunday’s responsorial psalm says “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.” God is calling each one of us and has a special plan for our lives. In 1 Kings 19, God told Elijah to go “stand on the mount before the LORD.” And as Elijah stood there, there was a strong wind, and a huge earthquake, and then a blazing fire, but God was not in the strong wind, or the earthquake, or the fire. After all of these things, there was a small whisper, and God was there in the small whisper. Sometimes I think it would be so much easier if God would just send a bolt of lightning and tell me what he wants me to do with my life! But that is not how God normally works; he works in the small whispers, the little tugs of the Holy Spirit on our hearts.
When we hear this whisper in our hearts we shouldn’t start building walls around our heart and trying to block God’s call. As the psalm says, “harden not your hearts” which basically means don’t push God aside and tell him “later when it’s convenient for me” or “I’m too scared, I can’t do this” or any other variation of such. I can tell you from experience, saying no to God doesn’t work! It may be scary and we might not understand at the time, but if we seek God’s will with prayerful discernment, He will not abandon us and will guide us to happiness.
Ultimately God wants us to be happy! Sometimes he allows suffering so we can grow in holiness, but ultimately His will for our lives and our vocation is to happiness. I want to be happy in this life so I can reach ultimate happiness with God in heaven. How about you?
Lord Jesus, please help me be open to the small whispers in my heart. When I hear your call, please help me not to harden my heart, but to be courageous enough to say yes. Mother Mary, guide me that I may follow your example of being open to the will of God the Father. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen!
