Day Thirty-Two

Day Thirty–Two // March 25 // Calling

“God did not direct His call to Isaiah. Isaiah overheard God saying, ‘. . . who will go for Us?’ The call of God is not just for a select few but for everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears, and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude.” – Oswald Chambers –

The call of God is not just for a select few, but for everyone. The call of God is not reserved for ordained clergy, but for every follower of Jesus. Each one of us is gifted for a reason. Real joy comes when we discover our purpose; and then, give our lives to that calling. In the early 1950s, a young man in Argentina had a day off from school. He planned to do what most teenagers would do with a day off: meet up with his girlfriend and classmates to have a good time. On his way to meet up with his friends, he passed by his local church and felt compelled to go inside. Later he would say, “I went in; I felt I had to go in – those things you feel inside and you don’t know what they are.”

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As he walked inside the church, it was dark, and he saw a priest whom he’d never seen before. Again, he felt compelled to action: “I felt like someone grabbed me from inside and took me to the confessional.” During his time in confession, the teenage boy had a profound experience with God’s mercy. It was so dramatic that he later described it as being knocked off a horse.

Instead of meeting up with his friends, he spent the rest of his day off from school in the church contemplating God’s mercy. The moment was so defining for him that he was convinced he was called to be a priest. Just a few years later, this young man dreamed of becoming a missionary priest to Japan and joined the Jesuit order. Eventually, he would become a bishop, then a cardinal — and eventually, Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’ experience describes for us a call. It is an inner leading that turns into a compulsion. It is the sense of something bigger in our lives, of Someone bigger in our lives. And ultimately, God speaks in such a profound way that it’s like being knocked off a horse.

Notice how we live into a call. With baby steps. With listening and talking with others. By discerning that sense of God’s leading. And, then, by acting and following dreams. Very rarely do our initial dreams become our destiny. But in following the call, God leads us to a better place than we could ever imagine.

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Through this Lenten journey we have all been discerning God’s call to be the: • Body of Christ • Mind of Christ • Hands of Christ • Side of Christ • Feet of Christ • Heart of Christ

May we listen and hear that call that comes from our Savior. As Jesus began His ministry, Mark recorded this moment: “As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake – for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1: 16-18).

Jesus calls us to follow Him and become fishers of people. Will we leave our nets and follow?