Prayer
God calls but once, your answer is forever!
Caption under a mural painted on the wall of a stairway in a minor seminary. It is a reminder that each one of the seminarians has responded in some way to find their journey through the priesthood. The very words that can penetrate the mind of anyone who feels that call is just as real for them.
Take a moment and reflect on the Incarnation as Christ, the Son of God, stepped away from heaven and followed the only way he could set a path for all of us to be forgiven. It would be erroneous to think that this event was a call by God for his only Son of God, who is God, to answer in a positive way. Yet, when God decided that the only way to forgive his wayward children was to pay the price of a ransom, it was indeed a call waiting for a positive yes.
When the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary it too was a call placing a young virgin at the quest of Almighty God to become the very one who would begin the path of the divine taking on humanity and creating the answer from all humans who would hear and answer the call forever. (Lk 1:26 38).
Precluding this Incarnation we can see the many prophecies of the Old Testament when God called prophets, men who were simple shepherds, to speak for Him to the chosen people of Israel, promising a Messiah who would sit on the throne of David and proclaim to the poor a time of freedom. (Lk 4: 16 - 21).
As we dwell upon the words below the mural it must open the hidden mandate that God prepared before time that would call each person to a ministry which would indeed bring to life the words Jesus spoke from the prophet Isaiah. (Is 61: 1 - 3). It is more than a projection of a role to be followed, but an honor that any one of us hears his call, responds in joy, and sits at the throne of God when we hear; “well done good and faithful servant.” (Mt 25: 23).
The ministry Jesus began was not one of great joy, but it did find satisfaction that some of his listeners took to heart the words and signs Jesus extended to them. It cost him his life on the cross. The prophets met the same as well as all the apostles, except John. The price of reaching the unbaptized is usually death, or something like it. Yet, the meaning of “your answer is forever” has a deeper reward as the souls under the throne from Revelation bear out. (Rev 7: 13 - 17).
“Many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Mt 22: 14).
Ralph B. Hathaway