Following the Maker’s instructions

Sydney
1 June 2003

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Following the Maker’s instructions

By Josh Miechels

About 800 years ago, a young nobleman was having an uneasy sleep. A voice was coming to him in his sleep. “Francis,” it asked. “Where are you going like this?”

In my rush to study, do assignments, play pool, go out, catch up with friends, is God asking me the same thing? “Josh, where are you going like this?”

This is the question of vocation.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines vocation as: “The calling or destiny we have in this life and hereafter. God has created the human person to love and serve him; the fulfillment of this vocation is eternal happiness” (p903).

A wise man pointed out to me that the Apostles did not follow Jesus out of some para-pious initiative (Lk 5:1-11). As Jesus called his apostles, Jesus calls me to my vocation, be it marriage, the consecrated life, the priesthood, whatever he has created me for.

“Do not be afraid,” Jesus says (Lk 5:10) - for good reason. Trusting in someone absolutely is a hard thing to do, especially in a society that conditions us to trust no-one - least of all God.

Being Catholics, it ought not be so hard for us: every Sunday we repeat in the Nicene Creed “I believe in One God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.”

Yet a few months back I could not even trust this Father, my Creator though he might be, Almighty though he might be, to know how I best be fulfilled!

I had worried that if I started exploring my vocation, life would get progressively constrictive and boring. “It’s OK,” I told God, “you just be a good back seat driver, with all your helpful advice, and I’ll keep steering us in the right direction.”

The problem is, of course, that I do not even have a driving licence for life! None of us do. God had words for Job when he considered doing some steering: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Shall a fault-finder contend with the Almighty?” (Job 38:2, 4; 40:2)

Whoops.

I recently went to a vocations retreat, and am now considering what Jesus is calling me to do with my life. It does not mean I am particularly holy (my friends can attest to that!). It is simply the logical, daily application of Catholic faith.

God’s call need not be as dramatic as my description of the call of St Francis of Assisi - but it is just as real. The question is not whether God has a plan, or is waiting to carry me with open arms. The question is do I trust him not to drop me?

I reckon that on my soul somewhere is stamped (in a little rectangle): “Made in Heaven. © God Unltd. WARNING: product success guaranteed only if used according to the Maker’s instructions.”

What are the Maker’s instructions for you?

Josh is an Arts/Social Work student at the University of Sydney. Voice of Youth is co-ordinated by the Catholic Chaplaincy, University of Sydney, based at the John Paul II Student Resource Centre, Level 1, 245 Broadway 2007. Call 9518 6415 or visit www.usydcc.org