Answering the call

Here is the text of the reflection I shared with the disciples who gathered with me to pray this weekend.  It is important, every now and then, that we are reminded about the fact that we have all been called to be disciples, living examples of God's love for others in our world.

Answer the call

When I was a teenager, there were moments when I struggled within myself to decide what I wanted to do in life.  Technically, every kind of job or career was a possibility, but it was the people I saw in action, and the example they set that were the most influential in my decision.  It was the example of hard working parents that instilled in me the desire to do things well; it was the experience of a loving family that allowed me to learn how to love and support others especially in their time of need; it was their commitment to faith and to regular participation in the sacraments that helped me to hear the whisper of God’s voice calling me to serve.

In some ways, the world has changed drastically in the past few decades, but young people still look to us for guidance, and Jesus still continues to call us to follow in his footsteps.  How we receive that call and how we respond to it: that’s what makes each of us unique.

There are many voices calling and enticing the hearts of young people today.  Even some of us who would no longer consider ourselves young still hear a variety of invitations, each of them trying to lure us in different directions.  Among them, there is a call from God.  The question is how God’s call is different from the others.

A Christian call is usually characterized by two things: it invites us to change directions, and it involves hardship and difficulty.  While many other voices in our world might tempt us to believe that it is better to seek leisure and relaxation as the primary goals in life, these are better understood as rewards, not objectives in and of themselves.

Today, we heard the story of God’s call for Elisha to change directions, to leave his work in the fields behind and to serve in a different way (1 Kings 19:16-21); Saint Paul reminds us that Christians find freedom by living in the spirit (Gal 5:16), and the gospel tells us that Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem (Lk 9:51) – the final journey that would lead to his ultimate sacrifice.  In each case, choosing to follow Jesus means letting go of the world, but this is the only way that we can learn from Jesus, who responded to rejection with love and compassion.  This is what we too must do in order to endure our own experiences of difficulty and trial.

The life to which we are called is not possible without God’s grace.  Without it, it would be impossible for us to remain focused on Him, on his call to experience his mercy and to be instruments of his mercy for our world.  That’s why its important that we gather around this table.  We need to constantly be reminded that our life as disciples is not a result of a choice that we have made, but rather a response to a call that we have heard.  We need to receive the special food that is offered at this table so that we can go out into the world.  Only with the strength of our faith can we make the bold decisions that are necessary so that we can tell others about the gospel we have heard.  Elisha, Jesus, Paul and many others have tried to find another way, but there is no other way to follow God’s call, to be undeterred by those who are the hostile and unwelcoming Samaritans of our times.