16th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - 17/7/2016 - Gospel: Lk 10:38-42
Vocation - Profession
The Catholic Church uses the word vocation to talk about the purpose and goal of a human being. Every human being born in this world is called to be a steward of God's creation. As a steward of creation we are all endowed with a personal vocation and a profession. In general as a steward our vocation is to love God, the Creator and to love our neighbours and to take care of the universe. Besides a call to be a steward of creation each one has a personal vocation to pursue and we can find out the personal vocation through constant prayers.
A word vocation in the modern world is commercialized and used in non- religious contexts. Many people promote a career or a profession as a vocation. The words vocation and profession are sometimes overlapped but there are differences. First, everyone is endowed with gifts and talents to develop and we use them to earn for our living and to serve a common good and that is our profession. A vocation is a personal response to God's call to live out the Gospel message, to be a living witness for Jesus, to be Christ's bearer for others. It is the call to love God and our neighbours for the greater glory of God. It is a call to learn, to love and to serve the Lord and fulfil the promises made at baptism. It is the call to see the purpose and meaning of our live in this world. The more we are connected to God the clearer the purpose of life is and the more we see this connectedness the more we are open ourselves to do God's will. This gift of wisdom helps us to give thanks to God with mind and heart and thank one another for giving support of our vocation. Second, a vocation is something we suppose to make as a life time commitment while a profession we can keep or make changes several times in life. Third, you can be an expert in your profession but you can never be an expert in your vocation because our vocation comes from God and we rely on God's grace to keep our vocation. Fourth, you need to updates your profession through readings and workshop while your vocation is required to combat against constant temptations. Prayers help to keep your vocation safe and firm through God's grace.
Mary said nothing. We know not of her mind but Jesus told Martha that she gets a better part. We know Martha has shown of her cooking skills while Mary was listening to Jesus. 'A better part' Jesus said must be something better than a profession; it must be a vocation. Hospitality is a Christian virtue we all need to do when we are able to but don't let them take control of our feelings. Both profession and vocation are important; the former takes care of our physical body while the latter takes care of our spiritual body. We need to remember that eternal strength can empower external strength not the other way round. Sometime external strength is a negative for internal strength.
A word vocation in the modern world is commercialized and used in non- religious contexts. Many people promote a career or a profession as a vocation. The words vocation and profession are sometimes overlapped but there are differences. First, everyone is endowed with gifts and talents to develop and we use them to earn for our living and to serve a common good and that is our profession. A vocation is a personal response to God's call to live out the Gospel message, to be a living witness for Jesus, to be Christ's bearer for others. It is the call to love God and our neighbours for the greater glory of God. It is a call to learn, to love and to serve the Lord and fulfil the promises made at baptism. It is the call to see the purpose and meaning of our live in this world. The more we are connected to God the clearer the purpose of life is and the more we see this connectedness the more we are open ourselves to do God's will. This gift of wisdom helps us to give thanks to God with mind and heart and thank one another for giving support of our vocation. Second, a vocation is something we suppose to make as a life time commitment while a profession we can keep or make changes several times in life. Third, you can be an expert in your profession but you can never be an expert in your vocation because our vocation comes from God and we rely on God's grace to keep our vocation. Fourth, you need to updates your profession through readings and workshop while your vocation is required to combat against constant temptations. Prayers help to keep your vocation safe and firm through God's grace.
Mary said nothing. We know not of her mind but Jesus told Martha that she gets a better part. We know Martha has shown of her cooking skills while Mary was listening to Jesus. 'A better part' Jesus said must be something better than a profession; it must be a vocation. Hospitality is a Christian virtue we all need to do when we are able to but don't let them take control of our feelings. Both profession and vocation are important; the former takes care of our physical body while the latter takes care of our spiritual body. We need to remember that eternal strength can empower external strength not the other way round. Sometime external strength is a negative for internal strength.
Written by Fr Vũđình Tường
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia
St Francis Xavier Catholic Parish
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane Australia