When Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee, he immediately calls others to walk with him, join his work, and live his message.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus says to Peter, Andrew, James, and John when he sees them working on their fishing nets along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus invites these four to use their gifts in a new way. He wants them to give up the work of gathering fish in their nets and start gathering people together. Jesus wants them to fish for people.
Jesus still walks into people’s lives and says, “Come, follow me,” just as he did into the lives of the four fishermen. How does a call today take place?
Actually we hear many calls each day. The phone rings. A friend says, “Come help us out tonight at the soup kitchen.” You go where you’d never go alone and make a commitment to go again.
A parent strongly suggests you accompany the family on a visit to Grandma this weekend. “She really wants to see you.” This is a call to keep up and deepen a special relationship.
A coach compliments you for playing a heads-up game and suggests regular weight training. “I think you can make varsity.” This is a call to develop strength and agility.
A friend wants to talk and confides that his or her father is seriously ill. Such confidence is a call to attentive listening and support.
Many people in our lives ask us to do things, to keep up friendships, to recognize and use our talents. These are calls.
Michael Daly has experienced calls to service in his parents’ examples and in Father Rick’s work as priest and doctor. Their examples brought Jesus’ ministry, which the family studied on Monday nights, to life. His mother’s gift of a journal called Michael to reflect in a way that fit his need to internalize and proved prayerful for him. In playing football and hockey, Michael experienced calls to the selfless action that makes teams work together.
With the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta Michael experienced a love of eucharist and adoration and at the same time a call to openness to other cultures and religions. In all these experiences he has discovered in himself a passion for the poor as he discerns his future. Michael was ordained a priest on May 28, 2016.
A call can happen during religion class. A scripture verse in a faith-sharing circle can leap off the page of the bible into our lives. It can open to us who we are and who God calls us to be. For example, we hear the first line of Psalm 84, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts,” and suddenly we realize this line describes not only the ancient temple building but me. God dwells in each of us.
Each of us has special experiences that call us. Perhaps the awesome view from Pike’s Peak makes us aware of God’s vastness. A brush with death leaves a person thanking God for being alive. The birth of a baby makes parents and siblings feel in touch with God’s creative spirit. Getting involved with a youth group can move a person from silent shyness to leadership—a new direction.
Our baptisms bless us with divine love and call us to bless others. Every Eucharist nourishes us to live as Jesus lived—pouring out his life in love for us. Our baptisms not only make us members of Jesus’ church but call us to use our gifts in ministry among all whom God considers kin—that’s everybody, the cosmos and its creatures.
All the faithful of Christ are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity.
Catechism of the Catholic Church #2013; also, 2028, 2930