But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine."
Isaiah 43:1
One year ago today, on the chilly afternoon of the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle on December 21st, 2019, I was ordained a priest in Christ’s holy Church. In the presence of gracious friends, old and new, I lay my heart, my work, the breadth of my life before God to be his and his alone forever. I found myself repeating a single, passionate prayer: thank you for letting me love you like this.
At its center, discernment of God’s call for us is about this love. It is the slow and patient work of peeling away the detritus of our own expectations and encountering the invitation of God. Discernment is simply asking God how he hopes for us to love Him... and then saying “yes” to embracing this love.
Of course, the work of discernment can feel far from simple when we’re in the midst of it. Our human capacities for imagination are limited, and our vision often so obscured. We ask questions like, “what does God want me to do with my life?” “Does God even care at all?” Discernment itself begins to feel like work, perhaps even another occasion for us to fail or succeed. What if - after all of our prayer and pondering, our research, our preparation - what if we get it wrong?
The Bible is ripe with stories about calling. Our ancestors knew the agony that can underlie the discerning of a vocation. Moses feared he was not eloquent! Jeremiah feared that he was just a boy. Ruth feared that she was a foreigner. Paul feared that he was unworthy. Mary feared that she was unprepared. And yet the stories of each of these holy summons show us that saying “yes” to a call from God is not about being right or wrong. Saying yes to God is not about worthiness or skill. It is about God inviting us to love him. It is about God welcoming us into that love in such a way that the marvelous gifts he has given us are returned to him in the fullness of their glory.
God has called us by name, and we are his - each one of us. In this season of Advent, may we be inspired by the words of Our Lady who received the words of the angel Gabriel and - with mighty love - offered her “yes” to cherishing the Savior of the World: “be it unto me according to thy word.”
With every Advent blessing,
Mtr. Brit+
