CALLED AND SENT

NATIONAL VOCATION AWARENESS WEEK: The vocation to which we are called may be unique to each of us, but the call is one to mission.

Newly ordained priest Thomas Fallati, center, is welcomed into the priesthood during the Ordination of Priests on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, N.Y. Cindy Schultz for The Evangelist (Courtesy photo of Cindy Schultz)

In his introduction to the Diocese, Bishop Mark told his new flock, “I’m giving you my heart.” Those words speak something important about what we call a vocation, a calling from God. Any vocation should flow from an encounter with the heart of our Lord, an encounter that fills our hearts with his love and sends us on mission in service of the Gospel.

This call to mission became clear for me several years ago, as I began the long road of discerning whether the Lord was calling me to the priesthood after years being active in parish ministry. In prayer, I found myself drawn to accounts in the Scriptures of being called and sent, be it the calling of the various prophets or Jesus’ calling of the disciples.

That dynamic of being called by the Lord to a mission and then sent, so prominent in the Scriptures, expresses in a sense our fundamental relationship with God. I may choose a career, but I respond to a call. I can make a decision whether to take a job or not, but I need to discern if God calls me to some path in life.

Called and sent

We all have a vocation, in that the Lord continuously calls us to live out our lives in service of the Gospel. On one level, we can think of vocation as a state of life. Priesthood, diaconate and religious life entail ministry within the Church and a particular way of living. Marriage or the single life are likewise vocations through which we may live out our mission. Of course, within these states of life, we may be called to a more particular way of living out our Christian lives.

The vocation to which we are called may be unique to each of us, but the call is one to mission. As Pope Francis reminded us, any vocation ultimately flows from the heart of Christ who fills us with his love, but also prompts us to share that love. “His call is one of service, a summons to do good, perhaps as a physician, a mother, a teacher or a priest.” This means that “as we contemplate the Sacred Heart, mission becomes a matter of love” and “requires missionaries who are themselves in love and who, enthralled by Christ, feel bound to share this love that has changed their lives.”

It is that sharing of Christ’s love that grounds our mission. And so as we recently heard at Mass, St. Paul saw his ministry as a “pouring out” of the merciful love that he received from the Lord (2 Tim. 4:6).

Responding to the call

Once we hear the call, it is up to us to respond. Pope Francis says that to grow in Christ’s friendship, “it is up to you to let him send you forth on a mission in this world, and to carry it out confidently, generously, freely and fearlessly.”

Having discerned a call to the priesthood in recent years, I am now privileged to serve as a member of our diocesan Vocations team and to work with those who are considering how the Lord is calling them. In this National Vocation Awareness Week, we are asked to pray for those who are discerning their vocations and to open our hearts to how the Lord may be calling us. He is ready to fill our hearts with his love and a mission to share it.

Father Tom Fallati is parochial vicar at St. Kateri Tekakwitha parish in Schenectady and an Assistant Vocation Director of the Diocese.