When I was in the third grade, my godmother, my great Aunt Hilda, came to live with us. She had suffered a debilitating stroke and needed a lot of care and attention. My mother was a nurse, so she became Aunt Hilda’s caretaker. Aunt Hilda prayed every day and told great stories. She also in some way had a hand in my becoming a priest.
During the time that Aunt Hilda lived with us, very often she would say to me, “When you’re a priest pray for me” and “When you become a priest, don’t forget to offer Mass for me.” I didn’t think much of it at the time. I just took it for granted that someday I would be a priest and I would offer Mass for her.
Years later I wondered about my aunt and the requests she made of me. She asked me to remember her with certainty and a kind of knowing confidence. Did she see something in me that I didn’t see in myself? Was she simply planting the seeds of a priestly vocation, hoping that they would grow and bear fruit? Was it merely the power of suggestion? Whatever the case, her words stayed with me, and I grew up somehow knowing that one day I would stand at the altar and offer Holy Mass for Aunt Hilda and her eternal rest.
God called me to the priesthood and religious life, and it was Aunt Hilda, my godmother, who delivered the invitation. It seems there is so much involved in vocational discernment. How odd to state it so simply. God called. I answered. Maybe it is just that simple.
The call of the apostles was very simple or at least the Gospels make it seem so. Jesus said to each, “Come, follow me.” They dropped everything and followed. So simple. What’s different and difficult in our times is that God speaks to us in many and varied ways. How can one really know if God is calling? One way to know and recognize the voice of God is to consider the source. My Aunt Hilda was a holy woman, close to God, and devoted to our Blessed Mother. She loved the Church. God uses the good people in our lives to draw us closer to him. Through the holy people in our lives, God can call us to his service.
Pay attention to what people tell you, what they say to you and about you. It could be that someone has told you in one way or another that you would make a good priest or religious. Or maybe they asked outright, “Have you ever considered a vocation?”
This week, November 1 to 7, is National Vocation Awareness Week. Sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), this annual weeklong celebration is dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer, awareness and education. It also serves as a time to support and pray for individuals currently discerning a religious calling.
God is always calling men and women to his service in the Church. You just might be his voice, his invitation. It may be that you know someone in your family, at work, among your friends, or at your parish that has a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. Maybe it’s time you told them—with certainty and with confidence. God calls and you deliver the invitation. It really is that simple.
To learn more about vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of Providence, please visit the Vocations Office website, http://catholicpriest.com/, and the website for the Seminary of Our Lady of Providence, http://olpseminary.com/, or contact Director of Vocations Father Ryan J. Simas at 401-331-1316, or by email at fathersimas@gmail.com.
