Every person that is baptized has a vocation that comes about as a fruit of their baptism. We experience the fullness of life only when we are able to discern our true vocation, God’s call in our lives, and respond positively to it. Each person that is baptized has a unique and personal vocational call from the Lord. The Lord calls us to vocation by name and only he knows our true heart’s desire and how our gifts can best serve our brothers and sisters. Every vocation is offered to us freely as a gift of love and proposes a way of love in which we can give ourselves fully and freely to the service of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Our awareness of our vocation comes about through a dialogue with Jesus, the one who calls us to a unique life of discipleship in our personal vocation. This dialogue unfolds in prayer and asks of us a certain type of listening in order to discern the voice of the Lord calling us. As in the first Book of Samuel, with Samuel, we are advised to respond to the call of the Lord in our lives with a simple, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” As we listen to him speak to us our hearts respond to his call and teaching. We discover that he knows us better than we know ourselves and he knows what way in which we can best serve God in the Church. As we listen in prayer to the invitation of the Lord to a life of vocation he is able to teach us about ourselves and our gifts. This is not just about “what we are meant to do,” but more importantly puts us in touch with “what we are meant to be.” In this dialogue Jesus helps us to understand whether we are meant to be a priest, religious, contemplative, deacon, married person or some other type of consecrated life.

John gives us an example of a vocational call in the call of the two disciples of John the Baptist who begin to follow Christ. They first are pointed toward Jesus by John who calls him the Lamb of God, the fulfillment of our hopes. As they approach Jesus and he sees that they are following him he asks them a probing question, “What are you looking for?” At various times in our lives we all must grapple with that question. What is it that we are looking for? Is there anything that will truly satisfy us? Do we know what the deepest desires of our heart might be? In a sense we are all looking for the answer to that question. The disciples ask Jesus where he is staying so that they might stay awhile with him and in the light of his love and teaching learn the hidden secrets of their hearts. Jesus responds to them with a simple invitation, “Come and see.” The invitation is full of hope, freedom and promise. In order to discern our true vocation and meaning in life we must walk with the Lord. We must begin a journey of discovery in which we learn to live in faith, hope and love. Jesus will help us to “see” our lives in a new light, in the light of his presence with us. The invitation implies a new way of life as we order our lives to Christ. What we ultimately discover is that Jesus “stays” in our hearts, in our deepest interior being. He enlightens us from within and he gives us strength and grace to meet the demands of our vocation in love.

As we see where Jesus is “staying” and that his staying is within us then we come to know that our body is for the Lord and the Lord is for our body. Our bodies are a holy dwelling place, a temple of the Holy Spirit and meant to be holy. We are meant to glorify God in our bodies as St. Paul tells us in his first Letter to the Corinthians. It is in our bodies and with our bodies that we will carry out our vocation to serve the Lord. They will be instruments of his grace and presence in the world. Our bodies, soul and spirit are not our own to be used in any manner we selfishly choose but rather have been purchased by God, redeemed from sin and death and destined for eternal life and glory.

Whether our vocation is to priesthood, married life, religious life, or contemplative life we have all been consecrated to serve the Lord and be a temple of his presence. We must live purely in our bodies and be one in Spirit with the Lord. Let us all pray for holy vocations in the Church, to the service of God and his holy people. As Eli helped Samuel understand – the Lord is calling you, when he calls answer him, stay with him, remain in him and he will make your life joyful in the service of love.