Do I have a Vocation?
Today’s Gospel and the first reading are both about the call to serve God. In Christian discourse we have come to describe this call from God as a Vocation. However, the term ‘vocation’ is often used in so many different ways, that the word itself dies the death of a multiplicity of meanings - so that each of the persons in a group discussing Vocations, may have a different meaning from the others in that same conversation. Perhaps, then, we could choose from among these several meanings of the term, Vocation, in order to speak clearly about it.
What then can we say about Vocations? Today’s first reading and the Gospel reading seem to be telling us that vocation almost always calls for a walking a new path, as it were. In the first reading, we have Samuel, who has been working since childhood under the priest Eli, (who was in charge of the Jewish tabernacle, where the ARK of the Covenant, the most sacred object of the Jews was kept), being ‘called’ by God. But Samuel has lived all his life thinking that that it is Eli whom he has to listen to. Eventually, on Eli’s own advice, Samuel listens to God’s call, and the boy is told that Eli and his family are going to be punished, and that it would be he, Samuel, who would be God’s chosen one from now on. As you can imagine, for a young boy, brought up in the temple under the tutelage of Eli, Samuel could not have been more shocked and disturbed. In the Gospel reading, we have two disciples of John the Baptist, and it is John who points out Jesus to them, after which the two disciples leave John and follow Jesus. This involved a breaking away from their current mentor, a mentor who was known all over Israel as a very holy person and a new prophet,and so this could not have been easy for them at all. And of course, it remains to the eternal credit of both Eli and John that they themselves encouraged their disciples to walk away.
However, this walking a new path is not to be confused with or equated with giving up one’s present profession necessarily - though at times that too may be called for. Peter continued to fish and continued to own a boat (Luke 5:3) long after he joined Jesus as the Gospels testify in many places. Paul continued to be a tent-maker and supported himself financially even as he preached the Gospel (1Cor 4:12 and 9:15).
So then what does Peter mean when, speaking on behalf of all the Apostles, he says to Jesus: “We have left everything to follow you”? This is a question that we might well ask ourselves when we read in Luke’s Gospel (9:57-62) that Jesus harshly rejects some of those who wanted to follow him, because they wanted to delay their commitment till they had settled other pressing family matters, - one because he wanted to wait till his father died, and another because he needed time to say goodbye to his family. In another instance in Mathew’s Gospel (19:16-26), we are told that Jesus looked with sadness at the rich young man whom he had invited to follow him, because the young man sadly turns away, as he had much wealth, and he was not willing to give that up.
So what does vocation mean, what does walking a new path mean, what does giving up all to follow one’s vocation mean ?
Perhaps three terms used in the New Testament could help us understand this call to vocation in simpler ways. These three terms are CHARISM, SERVICE and MINISTRY, and an understanding of these three terms could perhaps throw further light on the different kinds of meanings we give to the term VOCATION.
Paul uses all three terms in his first letter to the Corinthian Christian community. He writes: There are different kinds of charisms, but the same Spirit distributes them There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of ministry, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
I would suggest that each of these three terms speaks of a different ‘level’ of vocation. Let me explain it further. It is a fact that each of us has certain gifts/ talents, but there is probably one (or perhaps two) among these various gifts that we have, that makes our hearts sing. Something that fills us with deep satisfaction, more than anything else. For instance, like everybody, I may have various talents, and they help me do various things reasonably well, and may even give me a livelihood and an important position in society. But I need to ask myself: What really gets the best out of me, what makes me feel deeply fulfilled? THAT is what I would call a charism.
This is probably what we mean when we say that a vocation is very different from a job or a career. This difference is found in even common parlance, for we are all aware of the difference, when we say, for instance, that teaching is truly a person’s vocation, as opposed to teaching is a person’s job. And this charism or talent can be in any field - in finance, in acting, in politics, in teaching, in making movies, in being an ‘influencer’, in researching, in dance, in writing, in anything at all, - because all these are needed to make the kingdom of God come alive in our world. Sometimes we struggle to pursue our own vocation because another kind of job or career (for which we may also have talent) may give us more money, or a greater standing in society, or there is pressure from family, or there is some other benefit, and we don’t have time or energy to foster our charism. So at this first level of following one’s charism, one is called to walk a new path different from the one that perhaps gives us other more tangible benefits.
Does everyone need to take up a job or way of living that keeps this charism of theirs as the only thing they do? I am not sure the answer to that is yes - but I do believe that unless one spends some time at least responding to this call from within, one can never ever feel really fulfilled. After all, the premise itself is that ‘fulfilling a charism’ is what makes one feel alive. So that’s the first level, as it were, of vocations - to make sure we identify and work out of our charism, at least for a significant portion of our lives.
The founders of the religious orders and congregations in the Catholic Church all started out with a particular charism. Don Bosco had a charism to work with those whom we would today term as ‘boys at risk’. The Dominicans or Order of Preachers, had the charism to preach the word of God and oppose heresy. St. Francis started an order as he felt inspired to lead a Jesus-like life of poverty as a beggar (“the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” - Mathew 8:20) and itinerant preacher. Mother Theresa, as many would know, felt she had a different charism from the Sisters of Loreto (the congregation she had initially joined) and so finally left that congregation to set up the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, because she felt a charism to serve the absolutely poor ones. Unfortunately, it is also true, that there are many who join these congregations today who do NOT have a charism to do what their own congregation was set up to do, but basically join the congregation because they want to become ‘priests’ or religious - which itself is a completely different charism. So I have seen young people who join to become priests in a congregation dedicated to working for youth at risk, who do not find fulfilment in such work, whereas they are always ready to offer Mass whenever called upon to do so. Or others who choose to become priests in a congregation that originally chose to exemplify the life of poverty that Francis of Assisi felt was an essential part of his charism, but who clearly do not witness to such a ‘poor’ life, - but again are always ready to do their priestly duties. Perhaps many of these who have joined these congregations need to identify for themselves what their own charism is.
Similarly, outside the ‘Christian’ world we have people who follow their charism because they believed that that is what they were called to do. We are told that the ones who published the best-selling book, Chicken Soup for the Soul were rejected by 144 publishers, before finally seeing the light of day. Edison faced failure 2774 times before he finally succeeded in making the electric light bulb. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail without giving up and finally was able to establish a South Africa which rejected apartheid. Of course these are extraordinary stories - but the fact is many ordinary people have such similar stories, though not with such dramatic outcomes, but stories that told the story of an undying commitment to one’s own calling or charism. Such people experience what Goethe once said: “At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you”.
The second level, as it were, of vocation is related to the fact that most of us use our charisms/talents for ourselves or for our extended selves (our selves, our families and our friends). But the Christian belief, as Paul reminds us, is that “to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good”. In other words, the second level of a vocation is the call to offer this Charism of ours as a service to the human community, and not to use it only for our own extended selves. And the service is to be offered in such a manner that it consciously works towards bringing about the kingdom of heaven in our world. And this is the second ‘walking a new path’ that is demanded of us when we speak of vocation at this second level. For the apostles had to get out of their comfort zone, of fishing for their own living, and had to learn to become fishers of men. This meant changing their whole outlook on life, (not necessarily to give up their jobs), but to ensure that their lives focused on serving the Community, not just their own extended selves. So when Peter says they have left everything, it did not mean that they left their spouses or their jobs (as we know they did not, from the Gospels themselves) but that they have completely left their earlier self-focused way of living, and they had begun to live in order to bring the kingdom of heaven to fruition in the entire community. They had given up keeping their own extended selves first in their lives.
Similarly, we all know that there are millions of people who use their own charisms in science, in medicine, in the ability to do research, in explorations of unknown places, in finance, in the study of history and anthropology, in teaching, in sports, in politics, in the arts, and in every other field. However, many (most?) do it as something that primarily brings some advantage to their own extended selves. But there are also those who do such work because through such work they believe they contribute to a better world - and in fact, irrespective of whether it gives their extended selves some advantage or not. This is the new path that they walk, - and very often it is a path that leads through many difficulties and detours and faces many many obstacles. This is the second level of vocation.
Then there is the third level of vocation that could be called MINISTRY. In the New Testament the Greek word ‘diakanos’ is the word that is translated as ‘minister or servant’ (when used as a noun) and ‘to serve’ (when used as a verb). The FABC (Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference, 1977) has a helpful definition of the term MINISTERS when it describes them as those “who exercise their charisms on a more stable basis and in response to the community’s call”. In other words, oftentimes these services that we offer (as mentioned above) are offered when we have the time. For example, the service I think I offer to the human community, in reflecting on, sharing and teaching theological views and on other issues and practices related to social justice issues, is a service I offer on a sporadic basis.
But sometimes, a community which we serve, may itself feel that a particular service is so useful and even necessary for the larger community, that the community itself ‘calls’ the person who is exercising a particular service, to offer that service on a stable/regular basis to the human community. This then is the third level of Vocation. So, a couple I know, started working with the adivasi (indigenous) community in Gudalur in India with the result that gradually that extremely diffident community stood up and took responsibility for their own advancement (for example by running their own hospital in a place where medical services were unavailable to them, standing up for their labour rights, etc ), even as they asked the couple to continue to guide and support them. That couple, then became Ministers to that community - for that adivasi community called them to do it on a stable and continuous basis. On the other hand, in my own case, while I believe that I do offer a service in offering theological reflections from a different perspective, I still do not have a Ministry, because I have not been ‘called’ by any Community to offer this on a stable basis.
In fact, the importance of the Minister being called by the community was so important, that with regard to the priestly ministry, all ‘absolute ordinations’ were declared invalid based on the decree of the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD) which stated: ‘No one, neither priest nor deacon, may be ordained in an absolute manner… if he has not clearly been assigned to a local community.” Explaining the meaning of ‘absolute ordination’ and the phrase ‘been assigned to a local community’, the eminent theologian Schillebeeckx clarified that this decree meant that a person could not be ordained a priest minister, unless that person was called by a definite community, for ordination itself “was primarily the accreditation of a believer as office bearer to a definite community that had itself called this particular fellow-Christian, and designated him as its leader or president.” This was the teaching in the early Church, right up till Pope Innocent III (in 1198).
So, once the community calls, then we have the third level of vocation, of ‘walking a new path’. Thus, I would suggest that there are three levels of Vocations, and not all of us may be called to the third level, but I believe that all of us are called to the first two levels. Finding our own charism is, of course, the first step, for as C.G. Jung, the contemporary of Freud, once wrote: “Do not compare, do not measure. No other way is like yours. All other ways deceive and tempt you. You must fulfill the way that is in you.”
First Reading: First Samuel 3: 3b-10, 19
Samuel answered, “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.
Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
And the Lord said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family—from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, ‘The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’”
Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
Samuel answered, “Here I am.”
“What was it he said to you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.” So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”
The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
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