No More Waiting

Waiting is tough. The reality of our torturous wait lies in the fact that we are an impatient people, and have been such since the beginning of time (Literally, start with Genesis and work your way from there). Some people can wait just a small while, and others wait for what feels like decades. But what if we are never really waiting at all?

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “Wherever God has put you, that is your vocation.” There’s quite a statement jammed into that tiny sentence, but at the very core of it lies the fact that we have multiple vocations in life to which we don’t always pay attention. As Catholics, we tend to think of the two big vocations of religious life and marriage, and forget that we actually are called to other vocations still. For instance, we are all called to sainthood as we are “justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God” (2 Cor 6:11) and are “called to be saints” (1 Cor 1:2). Our primary vocation is to follow in Christ’s footsteps, to love. “Coming to see in the faith their new dignity, Christians are called to lead henceforth a life ‘worthy of the gospel of Christ’ (Phil 1:27). They are made capable of doing so by the grace of Christ and the gifts of his Spirit, which they receive through the sacraments and through prayer” (CCC 1692).

"Christ . . . makes man fully manifest to man himself and brings to light his exalted vocation" (GS 22 § 1). As the Catechism summarizes, “The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image and likeness of God (article 1); it is fulfilled in his vocation to divine beatitude (article 2)” (CCC 1700). That is to say, we are called first to our vocation to love in Christ, to live in Christ. Pope St. John Paul II also recognized this when he said “God created man in His own image and likeness: calling him to existence through love, He called him at the same time for love.God is love and in Himself He lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in His own image and continually keeping it in being, God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion. Love is therefore the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being” (Familiaris Consortio, article 11).

Not just this holy man and holy woman recognized the vocation to which we are called, all the saints have, in some capacity, reached the same conclusions. The heart of the writings of great saints touch on the mystery that is the Church as a bride, our indubitable call to love and be one with Christ. “…My vocation, at last I have found it…My vocation is love!” (St. Therese of Lisieux).

There is no need to wait any longer. God’s will, at least in part, is already before us. “For me to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21), and Christ is Love.