Reflections on vocation

Contact person: Sr. Rose Urbanczyk, e-mail: roseu.msf@gmail.com

1. Lord looked with love
2. To Touch the Mystery
3. Service to God has thousands of shades
4. God's plan

1. Lord looked with love

Before entrusting His spirit into Father's hands, Lord Jesus spoke the quiet and the great: "I thirst." This "I thirst" brought Him down to earth and led him on the cross. Before the passion, He said, "And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself" (J 12, 32). That's what happened. "It is finished." He saved everybody. He opened the certain though difficult and narrow way that leads into the arms of the Father in heaven. However, He needs people who would devote their lives only to Him to prolong His saving work.

Jesus' "I thirst" spoken from the cross shows His desire for the unity of the church. In His death, the Gospel of St. John points to that desire, "He was to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God." (J 11, 51-52). Lord Jesus instilled such great desire for unity into the heart of Blessed Boleslawa. She understood Him, felt His great pain caused by division in the church, and wished to found a religious congregation with the goal of supporting the work toward the unity. God blessed her plans and inspired many hearts to join the congregation founded by her. He also called me to that particular religious family.

Jesus, who in the mystery of salvation gives Himself, calls me to give myself totally for the service of the unity.

The love of Christ came to me with the "price" of salvation. Yes, Lord, you "looked with love" to the innermost recesses of my heart. You gave me the grace to answer and choose You. But, You chose me first calling me with the immensity of saving love. I was chosen by God. He called me to carry in my heart the desire of His Sacred Heart, "May they be one." That desire is a source of faithful prayer and acts of love that have the power to unite.

2. To Touch the Mystery

To understand the vocation means to understand some mystery, discover a little bit of future and meet the Invisible who is and knows everything. But the history of each vocation is different because God doesn't repeat Himself either in creating a person or in communication with Him. Sometimes, we listen to vocation stories as we would listen to beautiful parables. Into His great adventure, God invites people who are weak, frightened, stubborn, and sinful….and performs miracles. He invited Peter and Magdalene despite their merits. One could say that Jesus is not afraid to "invest" into a person. It's us who are afraid to listen to His suggestions. He wants for us to be happy and knows which way offers such happiness. The most simple recipe for happiness is to trust Jesus and never hold anything back. Only he who gives Him a hand will recognize his vocation. After many doubts, Saint Augustin admitted, "The human heart will be unsettled until it rests in God." One has to become His child, show love, and see God's will in the Word of God. Jesus constantly sends us signs, but we need silence to recognize and interpret them. Sometimes, God desires much broader territories of our heart , so He can send us to people who had forgotten about Him. He lets one to fall in love with Him. He also proves that He very much cares for me. When He invites to the exclusive cooperation, He first assures me about His love. My vows and my consecration are the prove that I want to love Him with the purity of my heart, trust Him, give Him everything I have, and become obedient to His voice. Is it easy? Not always, but it leads to happiness. Blessed, or happy, are those of pure heart (Mt 5,8).

Blessed is also Boleslawa Lament whose God sent to scattered brothers, to those who forgot about Jesus' forgiveness and reconciliation. She made the way for us to work toward the unity of Christians. Therefore, each prayer and sacrifice has a great influence if it's done with the unison with Jesus' sacrifice. He leads us through various ways of evangelization. He sends us to children in kindergartens, to the youth, to the elderly and lonely, to the sick, and those we meet everyday. Just as Mary did, we should bring Jesus to all of them. He reconciled us with the Father and wants us to reach out to every person.

Service to God has thousands of shades

Not everybody has the opportunity or the courage to talk to a nun. However, some take great interest in that different way of life. Stories or films don't portray the reality about consecrated people. Our "director" is the Lord and, together with Him, we create the history of friendship. In various situations, He offers us advice, but it's up to us to make the final decision. Only He can straighten the most complicated circumstances. When we look at the consecrated life, the following questions arise: Why there are so many religious congregations and institutions? Why sisters, who serve one Christ, wear different habits, medallions, and crosses? Why do they have different customs?

In God's garden, we can admire thousands of flowers. There are huge and easy to see flowers; others are small and tiny. All of them, however, are very much needed. Everybody has its own place in God's plan; therefore, this garden is extremely beautiful and admirable. The Holy Spirit wanted to preserve variety of colors for the church. Each religious congregation is needed because it carries the unique gift of certain charisma. God called many founders of religious families to bring a new spirit to all Christians and renew the forgotten ones. The Holy Spirit makes certain that the flame ignited by Jesus will not be extinguished. "He will remind you everything"- the Master of Nazareth assured His apostles. The greatness of all the founders could be seen in their sensivity to the voice of the Lord and faithfulness in recognizing the signs of times.

The Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family, founded by Blessed Boleslawa Lament over hundred years ago, is only one of the many shades of thousands of colors in God's garden. Currently, the congregation consists of 347 sisters. It works in Poland (25 convents), BieloRussia, Lithuania, Russia, Italy, and United States. It also does a mission work in Zambia and Kenya. During these 100 years of congregation's existence, the circumstances and ways of acting greatly changed. The Vatican Council II opened new possibilities and called to the dialogue with other religions. The Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family include themselves into actions promoting the works toward the unity of Christians mainly through retreats and ecumenical prayer services.

Our service to God and people, we want to bring closer the time of uniting all Christians, "Father, make them One." We ask the Lord for the unity in ourselves, our families, parishes, and among all His followers.

4. God's plan

In the book of Jeremiah (Jr 1, 5-8), we read: "Before I formed you in the, womb I knew you. Before you were born, I dedicated you, a prophet to the nation, I appointed you. Lord God, I said, I know not how to speak; I am too young. But the Lord answered me, say not, I am too young. To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord."

Vocation is a God's plan for a particular person. It's a plan that existed ahead of coming to the world. Lord god has either a big or a small plan for a person He calls. In God's eyes, however, each person is important. A person called by God shouldn't rely only on himself, on his own talents, or excuse himself with his shortcomings. He should totally trust and rely on God. God assures a called person of His help, "Don't be afraid, I am with you." Vocation, then, requires faith, trust in God, and total reliance on His help. God awaits from a person He calls the total trust and following Him wherever God leads.

Lord Jesus, grant me the grace of great faith in following You. The story of calling of the apostles in the Gospel of St. Matthew (Mt 4, 18-22) contains short yet clear description of immediate work of grace in vocation, "As He was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers… and said to them - come after me and I will make you fishers of men. At once, they left their nets and followed Him. Then, He saw other brothers mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and followed Him."

The voice of the Lord Jesus had to be very strong since the Apostles made the decision to follow Jesus without any doubt. It's a great grace that surpasses human abilities, human understanding, and human weakness. It's a grace that enables to leave everything and follow Him.