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 | By Mary D. Dillard

‘Each of us is necessary’

I remember daydreaming as a youngster about being a housewife and stay-at-home mother, but not just any housewife: think Leave it to Beaver. While I was born some decades after that era, my grandmother, who was a major role model, was not only a fabulous housewife but also a dedicated mother and doting grandmother. Not surprisingly, today, I can say with some certainty that my daydreams did not derive from a clarity of vocation but from an admiration for my grandmother and a glorification of the past. Looking back, I wonder why, as a young person, it never crossed my mind to focus on what God wanted for my life.

Don’t get me wrong: I had a good Catholic upbringing. We went to Mass every Saturday evening and said our prayers at night, but my future was mine. As Catholics, we are aware of our free will, but does that give us free reign to separate aspects of our life into a select few instructed by our faith?

This issue focuses on vocations, and while many, especially in the context of our Catholic faith, automatically assume a vocation can only mean one to the priesthood or religious life, it is my hope that this issue will offer some insight into the true meaning of vocation.

Personally, I think the best way to set the stage for this issue is to look at the homily Pope Benedict XVI gave during his papal inauguration Mass in 2005. “Each of us is the result of a thought of God,” the pope declared. “Each of us is willed. Each of us is loved. Each of us is necessary.”

In other words, as children of God, we each have a part to play in His plan, and that part is our vocation. When viewed in such a way, it is clear that a vocation is not something relegated to a select few; rather, we all have a vocation. Upon that realization, it becomes clear that our faith should instruct every facet of our life.

Two individuals who have done just that are highlighted in this issue’s cover story: Deacon Daniel Sessions and Brother Paschal Pautler, O.S.B. The two, who have been friends since childhood, share an ability to see God’s path: one that has led them both to the threshold of ordination to the priesthood. They have chosen to heed the Lord’s call: “Come, follow Me!”

We, too, should strive to follow the Lord, relinquishing our prideful desire to dictate our own path. “Accepting His invitation,” to again quote Pope Benedict XVI, “means immersing our own will in the will of Jesus, truly giving Him priority, giving Him pride of place in every area of our lives: in the family, at work, in our personal interests, in ourselves.” It is then, and only then, that we “will find true life.”