Saturday, June 12, 2010

Our vocation as a religious

We know that at the time of our baptism every Christian has a vocation which is given to us by God. A call from God to holiness and service. This call is lived out by being single, married, ordained as a priest or deacon, or consecrated as a religious brother or sister. The Holy Spirit invites all of us to share our gifts, talents and lives in service to others and to the church. God calls us from a silent voice deep within to “come and follow me”. Discovering the vocation that God has given to us is a process that takes time. Our abilities and talents, the things that we enjoy doing and the things that we dislike. These things can give us some important identifications of what God is asking of us. Once chosen we should know that our vocation is more than our career choice or occupation. It is God’s invitation to live out our commitment to holiness and service in a specific lifestyle that we choose. Therefore we have to place our religious life in the church. Because all of us are called to be religious to become holy in the presence of God thinking about our identity our vocation as religious. Hence we should remember always the new commandment of Jesus and live the values of the Gospel one at a presence in a radical ways. We should give ourselves totally to God and to Him alone. This should be followed by seeking God, community spirit, will to love, say good things about each other and specially forgiveness, because without forgiveness our lives will be useless. Hence it should be a love, affirmation and forgiveness like the Trinity. As religious we have to sanctify our work as religious. Once late pope John Paul II said that “God had to leave the world because people have sent or chased out Him from the world. We religious have to bring him back and made him present in the lives of the people.

One may think that the religious life appears to be a difficult one. But if we look to our own unaided strength, certainly it is. One needs confidence in the goodness and the power of God, whose grace is always sufficient to accomplish what he asks. This trust will be gained by fervent prayer. We must pray in order to know God and do His will and we must also ask for the grace to carry it out promptly. To delay once vocation without a good reason is to risk losing God’s special invitation. Once our founder Saint Alphonsus De Ligouri said that “if they who give a cup of cold water in his name shall not be left without abundant remuneration, how great and incomprehensible must be the reward which a religious who aspires to perfection shall receive for the numberless works of piety which he/she performs everyday; for so many meditations, offices and spiritual readings; for so many acts of mortification and of divine love which he/she daily refers to God’s honor? Do you not know that these good works which are performed through obedience and in compliance with the religious vows; merit a far greater reward than the good works of seculars?”

Therefore religious life must be about seeing what others do not see or saying what others may not say, for whatever reason at whatever price. To live a religious life today takes all the life we have. To live a religious life takes the heart of a hermit, the soul of a mountain climber, the eyes of a lover, the hands of a healer and the mind of a (Guru) teacher. It requires total immersion in the life of Christ and complete consecration on the meaning of the gospel of life today. In the contemporary world religious life is just now emerging from a period that has been both blessed and burdensome. Those of us who are its members continue to face difficult and complex challenges. Therefore the works that lies ahead will require of us open minds, a willingness to surrender and a great deal of sacrifice.

(Suresh)

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