Who Can Be Called?

[Thomist-in-Training]

[b][size=3]"Who Can Be Called by Jesus?"[/b][/size]

[i]"Pastor, I want to become a sister...."[/i]
"That's just fine!... You, Maria Bertilla who are good for nothing?"
[i]"But I'll learn to do something..."[/i]
"Go on with you, little blockhead, what do you think the sisters will make out of you?"

Thus went the first meeting between the pastor and the young girl Maria Bertilla Boscardin, when she manifested her vocation to become a sister.

Some days after, however, the pastor, seized by scruples, had Maria Bertilla called back and asked her:

"Tell me sincerely: You are really committed to become a sister?"
[i]"Yes, Father."[/i]
"You really feel that Jesus calls you to become His bride forever?"
[i]"Yes, Father."[/i]
"But... you at least know how to peel potatoes?"
[i]"Yes, Father."[/i]
"Well, let's say that you will enter the convent to peel potatoes."

Thus Maria Bertilla was able to enter the Dorothean Sisters' convent, and the poor "blockhead," who had entered to peel potatoes, became a splendid saint, all purity and sacrifice.

[img]http://www.cademeusanto.com.br/SMariaBertilla.jpg[/img]

According to this example, if we ask ourselves, "Who can be called by Jesus?" we must answer: all can be called, because there is no category of person who cannot receive the grace of a vocation. The Lord knows everyone and can call anyone. "He counts the number of the stars and calls each one by its name" (Ps. 146:4).

The Gospel, in fact, tells us that Jesus called to follow Him young people and adults, fishers and laborers, employed and unemployed.

St. John the Evangelist was a youth. St. Peter was a mature adult. Both were fishermen. St. Matthew, on the other hand, was employed in the office of tax collector. St. Paul made tents. One should also remember the unemployed laborers, those called at the last hour of whom Jesus speaks in a parable (Mt. 20:1-16).

Through the ages of Christian history, Jesus has called to follow Him both children and the elderly, men and women, innocents and sinners, among all the categories of every social class.

All these were children: St. Benedict, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Pius X, St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, St. Agnes, St. Bernadette, St. Therese.

These were adolescents: St. Anthony of Padua, St. Gerard Maiella, St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Giovanni Berchmans, St. John Bosco, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Veronica Giuliani and St. Maria Bertilla...

These were youths: St. Anthony the Abbot, St. Bernard, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Francis Xavier, St. Alphonsus de' Liguori, St. Scholastica, St. Clare, St. Margaret Alacoque....

These were adults: the Apostles, except St. John the Evangelist; St. Augustine, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Camillus of Lellis, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Margaret of Cortonoa, the Blessed Angela of Foligno...

Jesus does not make exceptions for anyone. He calls with sovereign love and liberty; He call whom He wishes, when He wishes and as He wishes.

It is only He who "has established some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers..." (Eph 4:11).

It is He who has called some to become celebrated Pontiffs, as St. Gregory the Great and St. Leo the Great, or famous Doctors of the Church like St. Thomas and St. Bonaventura; He has called others to be humble and miracle-working friars like St. Felix [of Cantalice] and St. Crispin [of Viterbo]; he has called some girls to become cheerful foundresses like St. Teresa of Avila and St. Giovanna Antida or to become sweet and angelic sisters like St. Bernadette and St. Maria Bertilla.

If we really wished to discover one sure preference, we'd have to say that Jesus prefers the humble*, the weak, according to the thought of St. Paul: "The are not very wise according to the flesh, nor very powerful, nor very noble" (1 Cor 1:26).

But it is especially in the hearts of children and youth that ordinarily God plants the seed of vocation, because "from the age of twelve," affirms Alfonso Gratry, "one can understand the sublime and generous things that, at forty, one won't understand anymore."

Also Pope John Paul II, in a speech on vocations, affirms that "God calls all to a mission, from every age; He calls in a special way youth;" and with a vigorous tone continues "Young people, now is your hour! It is up to you to respond. Life is a gift from God. If Christ calls you to be His collaborators, do not hesitate a bit to give your generous Yes. If I speak to you of total consecration to God in the priesthood, in religious life, in the missions, it is because Christ calls to this extraordinary adventure many among you!"

Some shining examples from our time confirm still more this truth of the call of young people to a life consecrated to God.

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, splendid example of a Franciscan and Marian saint, was hardly more than ten when he first hastened privately to go forward in his studies. One day, listening to a sermon, he heard the announcement of the opening of a Franciscan seminary for boys aspiring to follow St. Francis of Assisi. Lit up inside, he asked right away to be allowed to enter in that seminary. He was accepted. He entered the seminary, he went forward, and he became a son of St. Francis, a knight mad with love for the Immaculate, a martyr of charity in the death-camp of Auschwitz, where he offered his life in exchange for that of a father of a family in 1941.

The Venerable Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, another giant exemplar of Franciscan sanctity, he too hardly above 10 years, during a sermon felt the push to consecrate himself to God, and made himself do all his studies with private lessons, to be able to enter at fifteen the Novitiate of the Capuchins, becoming so similar to the Seraphic Father** that he too was signed with the sacred stigmata of Jesus, which he bore for 50 years, ending at his death, which came in 1968.

Santina Campana, that delightful little joy of a girl, we can say that from her Baptism grew so much "all for Jesus" that she well deserves to stand with St. Therese and St. Gemma Galgani.***
[img]http://www.donbosco-torino.it/image/02-03/10-Santina_Campana.jpg[/img]
Her vocation was like the natural blooming of a rose and of a lily, of a most intense perfume. At eighteen she was a novice, a true angel of love and purity. But she will finish her novitiate only in Paradise; after three years of excruciating suffering, she died like a small, ardent Sentinel of the Cross, in the holy year 1950.

Considering youth, then, and Christ's particular fondness for them, we must also say that there is in them a generosity and an ardor which can't be recovered in the other ages of life. They know how to be generous by loving with totality, they know how to be ardent in wishing even to perform acts of heroism. Certainly, when they are sincere and committed, they do not like or accept half-measures or compromises in their faithfulness to the demands of love. They understand clearly that love great and strong is bound up with sacrifice great and strong. Jesus has loved us with His total, bloody immolation. And us?

[img]http://www.muralsbyjericho.com/projects/images/small/8.jpg[/img]

We read in a priests' magazine that once "a Carmelite superioress described to a group of young Japanese converts the life of Carmel: long prayers, rigid fasts, a hard life..."

The eyes of these young women shone with joy.

Afterwards the Superioress said, to a certain extent, that the rigorous Carmelite rule could be a little lessened for them, who were not use to such penances.

The light went out in the eyes of these young women, who looked one to another, much disappointed.

Then one of them took courage and, in the name of all of them, spoke: "Mother, we should be very happy to follow the Rule without lessening because we wish to love the Lord very much."

On this point Pope Paul VI in a speech to youth turned these strong, rigorous words to them: "Young people, do you know that Christ needs you? Do you know that His call is for the strong, is for rebels against mediocrity and against the cowardice of an easy and insignificant life?"

[i]My young reader, reflect and meditate. You too, yes, you, can be called by Jesus. Will you prefer to His call the luxuries of a creature or of earthly goods? Don't be foolish. Who can love you more, the Creator or the creature? If Jesus calls you, you will have infinite wealth in your heart for your property and your possession[/i].



NOTES.
This is a chapter from a book called "Vieni e Seguimi." There is an English translation available, [url="http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy/index.php?l=product_detail&p=32"]"Come and Follow Me"[/url] but I typed up my own translation of this chapter since I don't have that. (The book is five dollars and I would say well worth it for those interested in vocations, as posters here are.)

*I omitted a word "indotti" here. It may mean "those who have to be persuaded."
**St. Francis.
***Santina Campana seems really amazing: "Where there is a vocation, there must not lack a victim soul." I'm not sure if there's a lot about her in English, but there's a bit in Italian online.

There is another chapter that I would like to put up also, "When should one respond to the call of Jesus?"

[Maria Faustina]

Wow. I have not read something that has made me think like that in a long time.


And right now I thought about something. Please forgive me for the metaphor.

Every young person has a battle to fight. After "training" to become a knight of Christ in school, at home, or in prayer, there is always "something" that causes a young person to want to fight for Christ. For me, it was my vocation. So naturally, after finally discerning it was what God wanted of me, I began to find myself being too anxious to set off on a crusade for God. I left my soul behind and took only my will and what [b]I[/b] thought I should do with me. I didn't listen to anyone who I thought would get in my way. I wanted to become a saint, but I wanted to do it [b]my[/b] way.

Only in doing so, I ended up focusing completely on myself and what others thought of me. I was so boastful and self-righteous about my call, I completely forgot [b]WHO[/b] was calling.

So what did I learn from this? I finally realized that if you try to rebel against the world using the world's tactics, you will get yourself and your soul in to trouble. Do not just settle for what the others think of you, let God tell you He is in love with you.

And so what I had and still have to do is be a rebel for God. Do not waste your time being lazy, rude, or self-important like I did. Instead of thinking [b]you[/b] have all the answers and relying on [b]yourself[/b], rely solely upon God. Let Him feed your desire to fight the good fight.

And I'll end with my personal philosophy..."To fight [b]for[/b] Christ is to throw away your will for His, rebel by being obedient, and die a thousand deaths for one eternal life. But to fight [b]with[/b] Christ is to do all these things and multitudes more with great [b]joy[/b]."

Thank you for posting that Thomist-in-Training. It definetly made me think.

[EricTheRed]

Thank You for sharing that Thomist

[Caramelonion]

Thanks for sharing!

[the lords sheep]

To Thomist-in-training and Maria Faustina:
Bless you for your words and your work. They struck a deep chord in my heart. Thank you!!!!
In the heart of Jesus,
Lauren

Edited June 30, 2008 by the lords sheep

[Saint Therese]

Edited June 30, 2008 by Saint Therese

[Thomist-in-Training]

Why sad, Saint Therese? Is it the age thing? the article mentions that Saints have been called at all ages. Don't be sad!

To the others, I am very glad this helped a bit. Here is the other chapter which I promised: [url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=82128"]When to answer the call?[/url]

[johnnydigit]

Ave Maria! i'm going to repeat what i posted in the other similar thread because it's so important, imo.

St. John Bosco held that, "[b]A third of our young people carry the seed of a priestly and religious vocation[/b]."

[the_rev]

thanks for posting, i'm going to buy several of these to give to people.

[DominicanPhilosophy]

AWESOME..and I actually got that "Come and Follow Me" in the mail, so the little I've read of it [so far], I can attest to as being great and really thought-provoking.

[quote]To Thomist-in-training and Maria Faustina:
Bless you for your words and your work. They struck a deep chord in my heart. Thank you!!!!
In the heart of Jesus,
Lauren[/quote]

Ditto, Lauren. Thank you so much, Thomist and Maria Faustina for sharing!

+JMJD

[Saint Therese]

"indotti" Yep that's me.