Ongoing Discernment

To what have you been called?

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people." (When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love. - Ephes. 4:1-16

If you are given a gift or talent, shouldn't you use it?

You wouldn't ignore it, would you?

In today's reading, we are reminded that we are given gifts from God, and we should find a way to use them. 

We get so caught up at times with what we have to do, that we forget to do what we are called to do.

So, it may take time to determine what you are being called to do in your personal ministry. I know it has for me, and I think that call can change over time.

When I didn't know what God wanted me to do with my life, I went about it on my own, but I knew I had certain talents. I just didn't see a clear connection to God's will or God's work.

So I did my best to design a life. Actually, I saw opportunities and I took them. I guess you could say the Spirit was guiding me even though I was unaware of it.

It wasn't until I lost my job and had trouble finding a new one that I started thinking seriously about becoming a deacon. 

That prepared me to say yes to the opportunity to feed the hungry, which I did for eight years.

Now, I feel I am being called to get creative as a way to reach people with the Gospel message.

All my life, I have been writing in my spare time. Now, I am doing it full-time, and I feel the Holy Spirit guiding me in this ministry just as much as it guided me to feed the hungry.

So, I believe that discerning our calling is something that is continuous. We never stop discovering how we can use the gifts God has given us.

Life is short. We need to take the call and do what we can when we can.

More to come...