Searching the unknown is for explorers; searching for God is to be known as lovers!

Searching the unknown is for explorers; searching for God is to be known as Lovers!

Read the anals of history and examine the many who went out looking for something and found a new world, the cape of Good Hope, the Pacific Ocean, and many other discoveries we have today.  To those who took a chance and behold life in the Western Hemisphere of the Americas has become an experience to behold.

A young man or woman who found themselves searching for their place in society discovered a path they never dreamed about until a call came from the Holy Spirit presenting a path most people do not find.  

Question many priests or women religious as to what they owe this choice they find themselves in and you may get a round of answers not often found in the average person.   Some will tell you they always had a gnawing at their heart when still an adolescent, but not until the hand of God opened the window revealing a gift that is reserved for only a few.  

If you could watch some young men or women as they mature it has a lot of parental guidance, usually mothers, who nurture their young children presenting the graces found in the Catholic Church.  I was able to view one mother who attended daily Mass with at least two of her boys.  They became altar servers, attended a catholic grade school, and one is now a priest in the Pittsburgh Diocese.   Another family in the South Hills of Pittsburgh also provided the example of daily Mass and a family that prays together.  One son was recently ordained as a Dominican priest and is living up to their identity as an order of preachers.  His homilies stand as proof.

We still get some families that pray together, attend Mass with their children, regardless how restless  some of the children become, and with God’s grace perhaps we find a future priest or women religious among them.  The generation of new vocations is not as prevalent as in years past, but there are still some accepting the call.  One strong attribute for those who do answer the call is a sign of God’s grace entering the soul in spite of the temptations to serve themselves instead of serving God which only they can attest to. 

As our class of deacon candidates used to speak about why God called me, there was a question of being worthy for this position.  But we must always remember it isn’t our worthiness that was the reason for the call, it was for what manner each one is getting ready to evangelize in our own way that He called us for and future candidates as well.

There is something about the mannerisms we appear to take on without even realizing we have changed.  Before ordination, my work companions made a statement when they said Ralph doesn;t even swear anymore.  At lunch one day, among plumbers and other construction workers, one plumber told me; Ralph you won’t convert me.  I told him only God will convert you, I just set an example.  These little remarks made me see that God was working with me as he does with anyone he calls to ministry.  I am reminded that it isn't what we can do, but who we become when we pick up the banner of faith and walk with it as a sign of grace for others to follow.

Becoming a follower of Christ, whether as a priest, men or women religious, or a permanent deacon, will lead us as a lover of Christ and the suffering we may encounter if we accept this call as his disciples.  We live in a world that hates Catholicism and all the manifestations it represents.  Listen to the remarks made by newscasters, and Catholics are included in the ways of political enemies of the far-left.  We have always been parallel with freedoms and pro-life attributes to the enemies of the far-left.  If nothing else, we must make a stand for the unborn, freedoms being taken away, and all who are suffering for the name of Christ and his kingdom here on earth.  

Ralph B. Hathaway