Today's Gospel seems to talk about vocations, and as soon as we hear that word "vocations" we too often think strictly in terms of a call to the priesthood or to religious life. I believe that what Christ is speaking of here is far more open than that: I think that He is asking each of us to follow Him and His Spirit without any hope of earthly rest or reward and wherever the Holy Three might think it best to lead us in our quest for God, in our desire to know, love, and serve Him. That call is for all of us, not just for some chosen elite or especially gifted group. All of us need to seek and to follow Christ without concern for our reward or comfort, without even a clear idea of what we are getting into. Oswald Chambers, a 19th century British preacher, once said that “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.” We should be ready to live our lives in that kind of a faith, trusting that Jesus will never lead us astray, never ask more of us than we can handle, never call us to simply "stay between the lines" of social conventions or to limit ourselves to obeying the 10 commandments. Christ's Beatitudes are an open-ended call. If we can respond generously and with a holy eager longing, He can take us where He thinks best and show us what we need to know. Then He can reveal to us who we are in our learning who He is and how deeply He yearns to have us with Him. |