Mission and Vocation

The recent impeachment of our president prompted a Catholic Medical School professor to bring to the attention of the readers of the Catholic Times his thoughts on vocation and mission.

We are persons who are answering a call. This may be an individual call, a societal or one we feel comes  from God. The call confirms our relationship. It's a call to go out into society but each in their own way. When the call is from above we call it a vocation, and when we act we call it a mission. I am always the subject of the call.

In society, vocation is used as occupation, profession, a way of life.  In a religious understanding vocation is a sacred call. Mission in society is seen as our task or duty that we carry out. The individual call, the societal and the call of God may be seen as one.

Traditionally, a person's name contained the expectations of the person. A proper attitude developed from this.Therefore, the old scholars have focused not only on public life but also on personal life as well. The human personality is manifested through work and confirmed in human relationships. We have seen how injustice was revealed recently in our own society, destroying human relationships and harming society. Vocation and mission were missing.

The call to an individual awakens his or her identity of who they are, the call of society shows the importance of social life and the call of God leads to a full life. The call can be seen as a series of calls and the response, one.
   
This may be seen in the Scriptures. God called Adam, Abraham, and Saul. Adam and Eve recognized their sin and worked to take care of the earth and bring new life. Abraham becomes the father of all nations and Saul who persecuted the Christians becomes an apostle proclaiming Jesus as Christ.

If we recall the implications of our calling and mission, we Christians need to consider three things about the work we do. Is the work we are doing one that God has uniquely assigned to each one of us, is  it for the people of the world or giving life to God's truth?  If our lives fit into these three ways, whatever we do is a mission. If you look at work from these three perspectives, everything that a person does is holy. Labor that is engaged in production, work that creates, and activity that enriches life through social participation are all holy.  

This is because it is the fulfillment of the Word of God in direct and indirect ways. We are at the forefront of the task to establish a new way of life. It is a time for each of us to look into our hearts and accept our vocation and mission. God 's call is faint but clear, and our response is weak but sincere.