Vocation

This is the last in our summer 2009 series on Christian vocation.

“We plan and God Laughs!” It seems to be a recurring theme in our lives...Just when we seem to get comfortable, the Holy Spirit unsettles us and gets our attention in the most peculiar ways. Psalm 139:7 says, “Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I hide?” So many times we ran and got caught up in our dreams. But “even there your hand will guide me and your right hand hold me fast” (Psalm 139:10) In the end, God speaks to us and reveals to us a dream so much more than our self-serving earthly ways but a life of meaning that always leads us back to serving each other and His people. We were born children of God...Christopher Fintan and Melani Dawn.

God came to the local one room game arcade named “Beanies” in 1982. You see we went to the same small Catholic High School but while we had admired each other from afar, we had never met. At 16 and 17, it took a proverbial collision to fulfill God's dream for us.

This is the next in our series on Christian vocation.

One’s Personal Vocation
Mary Gowern, csj

You will find in the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) that each of us has been given by God a “personal vocation” long before we were born. Read and reflect on the passages in Psalm 139: 13-18: ...your eyes beheld my unformed substance... A vocation is the unique God given meaning in life. One’s personal vocation is the spirit that animates our life be it as a religious, single or married.

I grew up in a very “nuclear” family. My mother’s strong faith in God was visible everywhere... participation in the life of the church... Catholic education for the children... praying as a family daily, etc. My parish was extremely active with a recreational center for the young long before the town itself built a boys/girls club. Sisters of St. Joseph were our teachers in school. I loved school and grew to believe that becoming a teacher in my adult life was what I wanted for a career.

This is the seventh in our series on Christian vocation.

“I will love and honor you all the days of my life, until death.” We said these words to each other 25 years ago with minimal comprehension of their true meaning. Each day of our marriage journey brings a little more clarity to these vows. They are the glue that holds our marriage commitment together. In the hustle and bustle of our daily life together it is easy to take each other for granted, to give minimal effort to our relationship. We try to show our love for each other by openly communicating, respecting feelings and being patient and understanding.

In the scheme of all of life’s possibilities, we have traveled through these years with joys outweighing challenges. We try to be aware that the joys and blessings we have been given are not there randomly but are intentionally placed in our path by the awesome love of God in our marriage. We have two healthy, wonderful children, a roof over our heads, and jobs that fulfill and support us. When difficulties arise we look to our heavenly Father for guidance and comfort. We know we are not alone.

This is the fifth article in our series on Christian vocation.

To me, a vocation is a calling, not a job or even a career. When I think of marriage, the word “vocation” doesn’t come to mind. The word “commitment” is what I think about. But taking that one step further, isn’t a vocation a commitment? A vocation is a commitment to God!

When I think about my marriage as a vocation, I truly feel that it is a commitment. Bob and I have been married for over 40 years, which sounds like a long time, although it doesn’t feel like a long time. I feel that our marriage is a commitment we made before God, family, friends, and that God has always been here throughout our marriage.

This is the third part of our series on vocations. Joe and Linda Niehaus are celebrating their 45th anniversary this year.

So, they asked us to write an article on living marriage as a vocation. I guess we are supposed to know something about this subject after 45 years and counting. We realize we are still a work in progress because when we take the time to reflect on the past 45 years, it is very evident we are not the same couple we were back then.

At the beginning, our marriage was made up of the every day stuff of life; getting ahead in our jobs, paying bills, owning a house, children which came too many too fast. So being “called” would elicit the response; “I don’t have time for that”. But as we reflect on our past history, we become aware of several significant events that helped us see our marriage as a special “calling”. Maybe we are not comfortable with the word “vocation” because it took so many years for us to see our life together as Sacred.