For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/062608.shtml
Mary, Queen of Vocations, pray for us!
Today's Gospel warns us against doing 'good things' and being 'good people' with the assumption that the Lord will support whatever life we pick. Jesus' words indicate a big difference between one who does the good things that he wants in his life assuming that God's will is closeby somewhere and someone who instead will inherit the kingdom of heaven because He followed the will of God exactly by discerning precisely what Jesus means when He tells us to 'follow Him.' I have to tell people quite a bit that God will not take vengeance on them if they get their vocation in life 'wrong.' God desires our happiness and his gift of salvation is not confined to our ability to perfectly discern His will. All the same, however, Jesus instructs his disciples that it is gravely wrong to assume that God will honor any life that we pick for ourselves that seems to be in the general vicinity of His will. No, instead, we are to discern precisely through prayer, to respond generously and promptly to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to imitate Jesus as exactly as we can. It is not enough to superficially appear to be religious when in fact we are not willing to do whatever God asks of us, even if He calls us to where we would rather not go. This Gospel passage, like many others, is very helpful to those discerning a vocation, and should give great courage to those called to the priesthood or religious life to answer this special call!
+m
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