Culture of Vocation

"

As Fr. began his homily, it was obvious that we would hear about the need to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. It was obvious that we would be asked to consider anyone we knew who may be a good candidate for either and we would be asked to say, "Ya know, I think you would be a great priest or sister. Think about it." What wasn't so obvious was the challenge that came to make our home a culture of vocation. What a wonderful challenge we received to think about what our calling truly is, what God wants us to be and to do and to become. And furthermore, as our home becomes a culture of vocation, we could spread the concept and our community could become a culture of vocation and our city and our country and our world. Think about it. Wouldn't it be awesome if we all prayed to discover and to follow what we truly were created to do and to be and to become? So, at breakfast, as my husband and I prepared to leave our 6 children alone and travel to Chicago for the week to put together our church goods catalog for the upcoming season, I challenged my children to think about what Fr. left us with and to consider that they may just be called to be the best sisters and best brothers to one another. They may be called to be good students and good grandchildren. They may be called for so much more but for this week it could be this simple. For the rest of their lives, it would take much more prayer and contemplation. As my oldest goes for another interview after taking the younger ones to grade school and as my next oldest takes her brother to high school, I pray we become a culture of vocation. I pray they think about the words they heard on Sunday.