August 2014
Vocation and Free-Will
Whose Choice Is It?

Did you realize that you do not get to choose your vocation? That does not mean you have no free will regarding your vocation. On the contrary, a vocation cannot be lived without free will.

Think about what a vocation is: it is a call from God to live your life in the way He has planned for you. Long before you existed, even before God created the universe, He knew you and planned you for your specific purpose. So your vocation is God’s choice, not your own.

Consider also that a vocation is a gift. God is offering you a chance to participate in His plan of Salvation in a specific way through this call. When you are offered a gift, you don’t get to choose what the gift is; that’s the decision of the giver. However, you are free in your decision whether to accept the gift.

Similarly, although God calls you to a particular vocation, you are free to choose whether you accept it. In fact, free will is essential to living a vocation. Obviously, if you reject God’s call, you are not going to be living your vocation.

But consider this scenario: you have determined that God is calling you to become a consecrated religious. You go through formation for several years and make your perpetual profession consecrating yourself to God for the rest of your life. Is your free-will assent to your vocation finished? Have you “completed” your vocation?

The choice to live your vocation
is a continual commitment.

Of course not! The free-will assent to your vocation is not just a one-time act; it is a continual act of the will. Once you know your vocation, it requires a daily, even moment-to-moment, commitment and recommitment of your life to follow God’s call. 

Is this not what love really is, dying to yourself to do what you know you are called to do? A married man, who freely chooses to overcome the daily obstacles to selflessly love his wife and family, is living his vocation. The same is true for every vocation. To choose not to love selflessly those whom God has called one to serve is essentially a rejection of the vocation itself.

Even though you cannot choose what your vocation is, you must choose whether to accept it. The choice to accept it is not merely a one-time act, but must include both the initial acceptance of the vocation and the daily renewal of that choice.

Don’t be afraid to follow your vocational call! It is by doing so that you show your love to God and to others. 


Thank you for taking the time to consider your vocation. Be open with God, and He will bless you greatly!

If you would like to talk about your vocation, give me a call or send me an email.

Rev. J.D. Jaffe
Vocation Director
Catholic Diocese of Arlington
Office of Vocations
(703) 841-2514
vocations@arlingtondiocese.org
www.ArlingtonVocations.org