The Call
In the months leading up to the
start of my service year as a St. Joseph Worker, I could never imagine the many
graces God had in store for me. The St.
Joseph Worker Program (SJWP) has cultivated my awareness of God’s Presence in
my daily experiences, those I encounter at my service site, within my
community, and especially within myself.
Coming to appreciate the gifts and talents that God has entrusted to me,
the SJWP has given me a chance to channel these gifts and talents to the
greater purpose of serving God and my dear neighbor.
Empowerment
is not just a mere privilege, but a responsibility - a responsibility to respond
to God’s call. The charism of the SJWP –
“to empower women to respond to the needs of the time in the tradition of the
Sisters of St. Joseph,” embodies the many gifts and invitations that God has
given to each unique person. The program
allows each St. Joseph Worker to serve and love, while cultivating the gifts
that God has given her. Just as the
needs of the time are constantly changing, so too are the ways we can respond
to them. Growth continues as she is
called to explore, and to go beyond personal comforts and conveniences to meet
the needs of her dear neighbors. Though
the responses are many, each one makes up the one mission of Jesus Christ, and
that of the Sisters of St. Joseph – “to bring all people into union with God
and with one another. The Sisters strive to be mindful of the diverse and unmet
needs of the dear neighbor. They work together with people living in the
neighborhoods they serve to help improve the well-being of the local
community.”
The SJWP has empowered me to see
past my own needs, and to be open to the needs of others in our local community
here in Santa Ana, CA. Awareness
presents invitations. Being aware of the
growth in poverty and homelessness in this area, or even the presence of
domestic abuse and drug use within my students’ families, I experience God’s
invitation to be His extended Body - to see with His loving eyes, to touch with
His healing hands, to walk into unknown territory with His swift feet, and to
simply love…to love as He loves. I am no
savior; I learned that during a mission trip to Vietnam three
years ago. Thus, I have, and am still,
learning to embrace my limitations as a human being. I can only cultivate and use the gifts that
God has given me to fulfill the unique mission that He invites me to. This may mean being with and listening to a student
who is crying or upset. Other times, it
may mean a simple hug and prayer for a person who does not have a home. A “good morning” and cup of coffee, combined
with a smile and eye contact, may be enough for another a person to experience
God’s Loving Presence. Doing all that is within the power God gives me, I can rest knowing He will
bring works to fruition according to His own goodness and providence. I am simply His instrument, and He is the
grand Musician.
The human family is just that, a family. We are all beloved children of God. Though easy to say and compose into words,
this truth is often overlooked in the midst of division or sense of
individualism. I am indeed my brothers’ and sisters’ keeper. Yet, I have often experienced the inclination
to prioritize myself over others. In the
midst of the typical business of a service year, I sometimes find myself
exhausted from exerting so much energy towards being with and for others. After spending seven hours with my students,
all I want to do when I go home is take a nice nap or relax with some Netflix. As such, there may be a lack of motivation to
go to events that may be available for enrichment or learning more about social
justice needs. In the same way, there are
times when I am more concerned with taking care of myself, that I may miss
opportunities to be present to my fellow SJWs and their needs, either spoken or
unspoken. Time and time again though, the SJWP’s
charism, as well as that of the Sisters of St. Joseph, invites me to be more
mindful of my experiences and those I am with.
It may just be that in the uncomfortable and inconvenient moments I am
called to grow in a deeper love and solidarity with others. Moments as such call for my willingness to
live this service year fully, to be present and mindful of the needs around me,
and to respond accordingly. While
moderation and balance are essential to holistic growth, the Gospel presents an
invitation to us all: “You shall love
the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your
strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).
Imitating Christ Crucified, we are
all called to give our very lives, to die to ourselves and our inordinate
desires. This spiritual and internal
sacrifice looks different for each person.
I
find that it is often easier for me to give of my material and external
possessions. Still, gently
and patiently, Christ calls me to give the greatest gift He gave me – my life. It is in this giving, or rather, returning,
that I have been able to receive the fullness of life of the Risen Christ.
The term vocation derives from the
Latin “vocare," to call. Vocation is not about doing. In fact, it has little to do with ministry. Vocation is essentially the call to be. It is the core identity of who one is, of who
God creates us to be in every moment. It
is so easy for me to get carried away with the habitual movements of each day,
be it at home with my community or at my service site with my students. Losing sight of service, my ministry becomes
more of a job that I am required to fulfill.
Burn-out and stress soon follow, which have been indicators of my need
to re-center myself on the charism of the SJWP and the purpose of my presence
in the SJWP. Reminded that the work I do
using the gifts I have, is not authored by me, but by God alone, I try not to be
so focused on doing the work - God’s work.
Rather, entrusting all I do to God’s providence, I am grounded in Him
and what He asks of me in each moment.
Furthering my discernment of God’s
vocation for me, the SJWP and the Sisters of St. Joseph have helped me to
deepen my relationship with God and prayer through the ministry of unifying
reconciliation. My ministry, education, can only be
fruitful if I allow it to be guided by God’s Spirit and if it is done for the
greater glory of God. Likewise, my
prayer life cannot be merely the spewing of word after word. Prayer is being aware of God’s Presence and
simply being with Him, even if it is in silence. It all goes back to the simple call to be in
relationship with God. Without this
foundational relationship, lived through a life of prayer, I am unable to
discern, to ask and listen to God’s will for me. My ministry and all that I do should be
reflections of my relationship with God. As one of the core values of the SJWP is
spirituality, I have been presented with many opportunities to go on retreats,
have weekly communal “Sharing of the Heart,” and learn about different aspects
of spirituality and prayer. In Orange,
CA, the SJWP has also been graced with a beautiful campus where I find
refreshing moments to simply sit in nature and be with God. It is in the stillness that I renew not only
my energy, but also my desire to respond to what God calls me to in my
day-to-day service.
To be honest, at this point in time, I do
not know with 100% certainty whether I am called to the single, married, or
religious life. Just as with each experience I have had in
the SJWP, my vocation is a grace.
Vocation is a gift that can only be received and freely responded
to. Discovering the gifts that God has
already given me, I am called to cultivate and be empowered by them to do His
unique will for me. Thankfully, in the words of St. Thérèse
of Lisieux, “I have found my vocation. My vocation is love!”
Catherine, a current St. Joseph Worker, will be blogging about her service experience as part of our ongoing Serving with Sisters Ambassadors series. This series is sponsored by CVN's From Service to Sisterhood Initiative, a project made possible thanks to the support of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
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