Florida Catholic | Sunday Word

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Are we being ‘called out’ of ourselves?

January 20, 2008 :: Is 49:3, 5-6; Ps 40:2, 4, 7-8, 8-9, 10; 1 Cor 1:1-3; Jn 1:29-34

FATHER DAVID SCOTCHIE

Father Ed Steiner told the story of two children at the amusement park. Given tickets by their parents to ride whatever they wished, the two children wandered until they spotted the merry-go-round and sprinted for it. They rode the merry-go-round again and again. When the tickets were used up, they found their parents and asked for more. “How can you already have no more tickets?” exclaimed their mother. “Where have you been?” One of the children sheepishly replied, “Just around.”

Like the two children on the merry-go-round, our life may lack purpose. When asked where we’ve been in life, we might only respond, “Just around.”

The Presbyterian minister William Barclay, especially noted for his “Daily Study Bible Series,” once wrote that of all the days in a person’s life, two were the most special: “the day we are born and the day we discover why.”

“The day we discover why” is the day we discover our vocation. From Latin root vocare, meaning “to call,” vocation is our call from the Lord. We can speak about a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. A person may have a call to married or single life.

The amazing thing is that everyone has a vocation. No one is meant to wander “just around” without purpose in life. God calls his people to live their life in Christ.

St. Paul began his letter to the people of Corinth by identifying himself, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1 Cor 1:1). His fundamental identity was his call to be an apostle. This is the same Paul who had once believed his purpose was to persecute the church. When his eyes were opened by Christ, he realized that his call was to preach Jesus Christ, not to persecute him.

Our call is not just individual. It is within a community. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that you are “called to be holy” (1 Cor 1:2). They, too, had a call.

Centuries earlier, the Lord had said to his people, “You are my servant.” Though the Israelites had wandered for 40 years in the desert, their purpose was not to wander through life. The fundamental identity of God’s people was to be a light to the nations and make the Lord known.

The Greek word for “church” is ekklesia. Its literal meaning is “those who are called out.” The church is those who are called out of themselves. Our purpose is to be for others as Christ is for us.

The meaning in life that we seek is realized in how well we respond to the “call out.” It may be as a caregiver, teacher, or administrator. It may be in illness or health, in poverty or in wealth. At different times of life, it may be as a daughter, a sister or a mother. It is as part of a people “called to be holy.”

To take to prayer: Picture yourself on your deathbed. Looking back on your life, when were you “just around” and when were you “called out of yourself”? Spend some time with the Lord.

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