“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
A question that I have invariably been asked hundreds of times over the course of my 45 years as a priest is, “When did you decide to become a priest?” And, invariably, to the utter astonishment of my questioners, I have responded, “When I was in the second grade!” I go on to explain that I was so taken by the example of my second-grade teacher, Sr. Dorothy Anne, who daily radiated an inexpressible joy in serving the Lord and her students, that I wanted what she had. In time, that seed of a priestly vocation was nurtured in varied ways until the moment of decision came in my Junior year of High School, on a class retreat when the still voice of the Lord echoed in my heart to ‘respond to the call’ and try my vocation in the seminary. Over the intervening eight years, the Lord confirmed that response on my part with the invariable feeling of joy that affirmed his call in my life. To varying degrees, that feeling has never left me.
To be called by one to be part of a great adventure in life is, indeed, a precious reality. For the vast majority of folks, that call comes to shares one’s life in the intimacy and partnership of marriage. In this unique form of friendship, two people are now called to face the world with its opportunities as well as challenges, not alone but together in helping to make family the center of our communities.
Together with the intimate partnership of marriage, a call to serve others in the midst of one’s vocation in life is often realized in the rich and varied callings in life: as a teacher, lawyer, physician, nurse or whatever unique way of life one lives out the beauty of helping to build up the human community. I would like to believe that these ‘vocations’ in life are not accidental but rather the way the good Lord discerns how the gifts and talents each one of us possesses may be used for the common good.
As a new President and Vice-President together with their new administration begins in our country, how appropriate it is for us to remember in prayer all those who have responded to the noble vocation of service in politics. While it is fashionable in these latter days to disparage those, who seek and serve in public office, such a jaundiced attitude is a far cry from the ideal of serving our sisters and brothers in helping to forge the common good and create a more perfect union among us.
As we bask in this new springtime in our nation, let us rejoice and give thanks for all those who serve us in maintaining the common good of our land. May they never forget that at the root of this noble calling of selfless service is always the other and not oneself.