THE
P RTAL
March 2019
Page 23
… seek thou this soul of mine
Fr Michael Halsall
F r Richard
Meux Benson, the founder of the
‘Cowley Fathers’ – the first male religious order
in the Church of England since the Reformation –
and founder of the parish where I served my curacy
once wrote to a priest,
“May God bless your offer of yourself to
Himself. Do not doubt that He will. Do not be
discouraged by many difficulties. In making the
proposal to your father, you were really making
it to Him, and He often grants us our request
under the appearance of denial. He withholds
for a time in order to give the more fully by and
by. He has to train us to receive, and when we are
made capable of the fullness of blessing, then He
pours forth upon us the unspeakable bounty of
His love”.
There is a great promise here, but at times Benson
recognises there will be times of doubt, unclarity, and
uncertainty.
When we are considering or discerning a vocation
in life – a calling from God – then one of the most
difficult and precarious aspects of the process is
knowing. How can we be sure that it is God’s will that
I marry this person? Remain single? Become a deacon
or priest? Enter vows into a community and/or the
‘religious life’? Part of the answer to this dilemma is
that you cannot be 100% certain, or there would be no
place for trust or faith in God’s providence; no respect
for the fact that we place ourselves into the hands of
others who may have to make decisions on our behalf.
Have you ever felt that during mass or in private
reflection, that God has spoken to you in his Word?
Are you regarded by other people as trustworthy and
well-suited to a particular vocation?
Perhaps you have been told so. Do you seek out
God’s plan for our lives in spiritual direction with a
trusted and skilled director? Have you had a particular
‘religious experience’ which points to a particular
vocation?
Discernment takes time and patience; waiting on
the Lord and being accompanied by others. The
Fr Stephen Wang, Senior Chaplain to the Universities Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham now offers a
of London, has written an excellent booklet which variety of opportunities to live out God’s calling in our
helps navigate some of the uncertainties we encounter lives, and we are building up networks to improve this
along this path of discernment. He differentiates accompaniment. If you are hearing God’s call to some
those calls from within, and calls from without. First, particular life or ministry, then your Group Pastor is
from within: are you temperamentally suited to this your first point of contact, but please do not hesitate to
contact me also.
particular vocation?
‘How to Discover your Vocation’ by Fr Stephen Wang
Do you have the appropriate dispositions in life to
share it with others, or deny ourselves for a higher (CTS booklets)
purpose? This will include your life of prayer. Do your
Fr Halsall is the Director of Vocations
values genuinely point to your completing the course
with a firm conviction? Secondly, from without: Are
and Formation for the Ordinariate
you versed in the Sacred Scriptures, such that your
and is a member of the permanent
own story links with that of our Lord, and God’s
staff at Allen Hall Seminary.
actions in history?
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