Deacon Kevin Gingras
Jan 15, 2023
In praying over today’s readings and gospel one word seemed to leap off the pages at me, that word is “called”. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was called to take away the sins of the world. Paul was called to be an apostle. We are called to be holy.
In what way are we called to be holy? We are called to be holy in all facets of our life. I was called to be a holy man, a holy husband, and a holy father. Later, I was called to be a holy deacon, like St. Stephen the first deacon. As you may know, St. Stephen was also called to be a martyr, my hope is God doesn’t call me to the same holy end that St. Stephen met!
I was also called to be an adoptive father like St. Joseph. In the beginning, when God first called me to these tasks I didn’t want them. I didn’t want to adopt, and I didn’t want to go back to school to study to become a deacon. I had time to go fishing and hiking. We were getting some money ahead in the bank. These were earthly things and I was being selfish! God made sure I couldn’t ignore either call and I am forever grateful for that.
How was it I knew those callings were from God and not myself or the influence of others in my life? Prayer, adoration, being open, and paying attention to those calls. In both cases, I spent a lot of time pondering these things in our adoration chapel.
For the diaconate, I knew it was God calling me when I went to confession at an Advent penance service to a priest I had never met before. At the end of my confession, he said ‘that was a good confession and you should consider becoming a deacon’. I can easily ignore that, I didn’t want to become a deacon after all. Again, during lent of the following year I went to another penance service at the same church to another priest I had never met before. At the end of my confession, he said to me - you guessed it - ‘that was a good confession and you should consider becoming a deacon’. I can no longer ignore the call to the diaconate, but the call to adopt our daughter snuck in there, and fight that though I may I could not; God wouldn’t let me. After the adoption was completed the diaconate began.
I knew these calls were from God because when I fought against them I did not have peace. When I finally accepted them I did have peace. The bottom line here, when we are doing what God has called us to do we will have peace in our lives. John the Baptist had peace as he testified the Son of God. Paul did not have peace as he persecuted the Church but he received peace after becoming one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age.
I’m giving you all a task this week. To find out what you are now being called to do for God. Doesn’t matter if God called you to something a week ago, or months ago, or years ago and you answered those calls. What is God calling you to do now - TODAY? Spend some time in quiet prayer, if you can’t get that at home go to the adoration chapel, sit with Jesus, and ask Him what he wants you to accomplish right now. Oh yeah, and this task WILL count towards your final exam when you meet Jesus face to face at your particular judgment!
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton said:
The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.
No comments:
Post a Comment