Vocations: Future priests, religious are called by God and invited by you

By Father Greg Gerhart | Guest Columnist

God delights in accomplishing his will with our cooperation. Throughout salvation history, God has blessed his people through the faithful obedience of his children, and there is no better example than our Blessed Mother.
Of course, God could have become man and saved the world without Mary’s help, but that is not how he wanted to do so. He wanted to do so with Mary’s “yes.” In the words of St. Anselm, God wanted us to owe as much to Mary as to himself. What an amazing gift! God is all powerful, but he delights in accomplishing his will with our help.
It’s from this appreciation of salvation history that the Diocese of Austin is launching a new initiative: Called by Name Sunday. On the weekend of Jan. 16-17, priests throughout the diocese will preach on the theme of vocations and encourage young men and women to consider the calling to the priesthood and religious life.
God’s desire to bless his people is no less powerful today than it was 2,000 years ago, and he continues to delight in doing so with our help. When a young man responds to the call of the priesthood, he becomes like Mary. Her “yes” enabled God to dwell among us and save us from our sins. A priest’s “yes” also enables God to dwell among us in the Eucharist and to save us from our sins in the sacrament of reconciliation.
When a young woman responds to the call of the religious life, she also becomes like Mary. Mary’s “yes” provided God with a worthy dwelling place and a loving mother to care for his needs. So, too, a religious sister’s “yes” provides God –– who still longs to abide in our hearts (Rv 14:23) –– with a worthy dwelling place through her dedication to prayer and a loving mother to care for his needs in the least of his brothers and sisters (Mt 25:40).
Of course, God could bless his people without our help, but that’s not how he wants to do so. He delights to do so with our “yes.” That “yes” comes from men and women who can still consider the priesthood or religious life (do not think you are too old or young to consider it!), but it also comes from those who are already living out their vocation.
In addition to having our priests preach on the theme of vocations and share their vocation story, we are also asking you to think of the men and women that you know who might have a calling to the priesthood and religious life and to send us their contact information.
God is the one who calls –– just as he called Mary to her vocation –– but he delights in our help. He wants to call men to the priesthood and women to the religious life with the help of our invitation.
After the Called By Name Sunday, we will send a communication with discernment resources to the men and women that you have invited to consider the priesthood and religious life. And who knows –– it is amazing to imagine –– if God, indeed, is calling them to one of these vocations, we will owe as much to you as we do to God for these future priests and religious sisters. You will have become like Mary –– helping God to accomplish his will exactly how he wants to do so.
God delights in accomplishing his will with our cooperation, so let’s say “yes.” Each parish will have envelopes on that weekend that you can use to nominate someone, but you can also do so online at cn.godiscalling.me.
May God continue to bless us through his faithful and obedient children, and may we be a part of that blessing for others!

Father Greg Gerhart, a diocesan priest ordained in 2016, serves as the Vocations director for the Diocese of Austin. He can be reached at (512) 949-2405 or [email protected].