Vocations and the Charisms

A Scripture passage occurred to me while praying yesterday, in a charismatic prayer meeting, as it happened. I was praying especially for strength and guidance in my vocational discernment to the priesthood (and possibly to the Carmelites). It is the words of our Lord to Peter on the sea shore, after His resurrection:

Amen, amen I say to you, when you were younger you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go... Follow me. (John 21:18)

Just the night before, in another prayer meeting, of which priestly discernment was the purpose, I asked the question, "To what extent will the charismatic dimension of our faith influence vocations in the future?" To which a wise priest-friend responded (and I paraphrase), "Well, baptism in the Holy Spirit is, first, a total surrender to the will of God, so to that extent, it is essential to being open and responsive to a call from the Lord."

Yes, surrender is essential; and this is the heart of what those in the charismatic renewal (like the Fathers of the Church) call "baptism in the Holy Spirit". We give ourselves totally to God. And I mean totally--none of this "Oh God, make me good, but not yet" stuff. This constant reserve, this unwillingness to let God lead us in all our ways, of which I myself am often guilty.

A personal testimony: Until quite recently, I had never seriously considered a potential call to the religious life. It was always, "Oh, it's possible, but I don't think so." Always, "I'm all about doing the will of God, but I want the relative freedoms (or what I perceived as the relative freedoms) of a diocesan priest." But my faith, and thus my vocation, have grown tremendously in the past year (especially in the past month) and as I devour Carmelite literature, I find myself attracted to Carmelite spirituality. And as I throw myself headlong into the charismatic renewal, I find myself more open and more responsive to God's call... wherever He may lead me.

So I beg you, my brothers and sisters, open your hearts and your minds to the will of God, wherever He may lead you, trusting that He wants more for you than you could possibly want for yourselves, such is His inestimable love for you. Surrender yourselves totally to the movements of the Spirit. Always sing, in the words of John Michael Talbot, "I will go Lord, if You lead me/ I will hold Your people in my heart" ("Here I am, Lord").

This video features a prayer by one of my favorite Carmelite saints, Teresa of Avila. It is translated (roughly), "Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you/ He who has God lacks nothing,/All things pass, God does not change, patience achieves everything/God alone suffices."



In His peace.