LIVING IN THE LIGHT
Spirituality for the Lay Person
A Call
Within a Call
Dr. Patricia Cooney Hathaway
M
any of us grew up with two misconceptions about
the meaning of vocation within the Catholic
Church. First, “having a vocation” applied only to priests
and religious. Second, God had a hidden, secret plan for
each of us that we somehow had to discover.
Both are false. Vatican II corrected the
first by explaining that all of us by our baptism have a vocation to holiness and mission. Let’s explore the second misconception through the following story.
At a conference on spiritual direction,
a priest shared the following experience
about a young man discerning his vocation
through a directed retreat. He is drawn to
the priesthood, yet also desires to marry
and raise a family. After several days of
prayer, the young man becomes increasingly frustrated. God is silent.
Finally, he comes to the director, surprised yet relieved, and says, “It’s up to me.
God said whatever way I want to return the
gift of my life is fine with God.”
The point of this story is that God does
not have a preconceived plan regarding
our lives. Rather, God invites, God plants a
desire within us and we are free to respond
or choose another path. Here God asked
the young man, what do you desire? How
do you want to return the gift of your life
to me? Instead of trying to discover God’s
plan for his life, the young man was free to
explore his true desires, aided by the Holy
Spirit’s inspiration, regarding his vocation.
I suggest the same was true for Mother
Teresa of Calcutta. At the age of twelve,
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu “was moved by a
desire” to become a missionary. At the age
of eighteen, she left home in 1928 to join
A widower who finds himself desiring to
the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland. At her reliserve God as a priest; a married man with
gious profession, she received the name
Sr. Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux. a family who discerns a growing desire to
In 1931, she departed for India where she apply for the diaconate; a single woman
was assigned to teach at St. Mary’s School with a thriving professional life and a happily married wife and mother—both of
for Girls in Calcutta.
whom experience a longing to serve God
She describes these years as ones of profound happiness, fidelity, and joy—a sign and the Church as lay ecclesial ministers.
These people are all examples of how God
of God’s confirmation of her vocation.
On September 10, 1946, during a train is working through our deepest desires.
A vocation is not a static, once-in-a-liferide from Calcutta to Darjelling for her annual retreat, she received what she calls time call that never changes. It dynamically
“an inspiration, a call within a call.” On unfolds throughout the course of our lives.
In his book Theology of Ministry, Dr.
that day, Jesus’ thirst for souls took hold of
her in a profound way. Over the course of Edward Hahenberg brings clarity to the
experience of these men and women by
the next few months, Jesus revealed to her
describing three levels
his desire for her to “raof the vocation process.
diate his love in souls.”
“Come be my light,”
Each found expression
“Come be my light,”
in Mother Teresa’s life,
he begged her. “I canhe begge