Vocations, schmocations

"Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus." -Mother Theresa

Vocations seem to be the theme of my life lately, which I guess shouldn't come as a surprise, considering I'm a fresh-out-of-college 22-year-old and facing all the cliche questions that the rest of my peers are, all questions which fall under the heading of "what am I doing with my life?"

When I despair because I'm not Paul evangelizing people by the thousands, or Mother Theresa caring for the unwanted, or even Alycia, married and expecting a child... all calls that seems so clear and so great, I remember that I already am living my vocation. Whether I'm a nun or a mother or a school secretary, it is only a means by which I carry out the vocation we are all called to. Our state in life is not an end, but rather the way God uses us to act as an instrument of love.

Alycia recently relayed to me the advice once given to her by a nun, that often times the call we may feel toward a particular vocation is really just the desire to do something great. We hold up examples of saints and priests and religious who changed their world and when we feel that burning desire to bring people to Christ and set the world on fire, it seems the only (or at least, best) way to do this, is as a priest or religious, or even a single person, without the demands of a family. But of course, you can not have one without the other. A world without priests dedicated to the work of God and monks who give up their life in prayer could not function, yet that same world without families and children and the regeneration of people makes no sense either.

God created us each with a unique purpose and while God's plan for me often seems so unclear, I sometimes think we make it more difficult than it needs to be:

"Whatever it is, the signs are universal: it's what makes you burn, brings you joy, makes life good, gets you up in the morning (sometimes keeps you awake in the night, too) and, even with the knowledge that it'll never be fully perfect nor without its sufferings, burdens and trials, you really can't see yourself doing any other thing with your days and giving it everything you've got. Your call is that one thing above the rest which makes you happy and brings life to you and others. " - from Whispers in the Loggia