This meditation from Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville is a great reflection on vocational discernment. While it is written specifically to address discerning a priestly vocation, it can be equally useful to those discerning a religious vocation. As we enter the Easter season, I encourage you to consider where God wants to send you so that you can work with Him to redeem the world in whatever small or large way He has planned.
If you are wondering what to do with your life,
if you feel you want to do something really great with it,
if you don’t want to fall into a conventional, self-centered existence,
if you want to help other people in the deepest way possible,
where they most need help,
then think about the service of the Gospel in the priesthood.
If you become a priest,
you will never be rich,
you will have to give up the love of a spouse
for the love of everyone you meet;
you will have to give up your family commitments;
you will often be on the move;
you will never have a mortgage;
you will be under obedience to the leader of the Church
just as Jesus was obedient to the will of the Father.
But if you are faithful to the ideal of the priesthood,
you will have the deep happiness
which Jesus gives to those who are His friends.
One last thing:
you don’t have to be perfect to think of being a priest.
Jesus chooses ordinary people, not moral heroes.
You just have to want to serve Him;
He will give you the rest in due course.
“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe, plans to give you a future full of hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11
