When talking about a vocation or God’s will, sometime we have the tendency to think of it as a mytery in the sense of something that cannot be clearly known. Some people claim to be able to intuit or feel the call, but they never know for certain. As our founder would say, however, though we as human beings do not have the capacity to unerstand everything about God, we can understand everything when it comes to salvation. The Lord himself wanted his thoughts to be written down and left us the “map” of the Sacred Scriptures so that we would know which road to follow. Not only is it written, but it is, in fact, alive, since “the word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
“He lavished [his grace] upon us. In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth” (Eph 1:8-10).
According to these words of Saint Paul (as someone once pointed out to me), the mystery of God’s Will has been revealed: to bring everything together in Christ! He is our model!
One of the spiritual exercises I recommend to the young people I accompany in discernment is to read the Gospel, meditate on the life of Christ, and consider the extent to which they would be willing to do what He did and to live as He lived. As Saint Joseph Maria Escrivá said: “Love seeks union, identification with the beloved. United to Christ, we will be drawn to imitate his life of dedication, his unlimited love and his sacrifice unto death” (Friends of God, n. 236).
Think about it: to what extent are you willing to imitate Christ…
to thirty, sixty, or a hundred percent?
(cf. Matt 13:8)
--Sr. CMC