{"id":1281,"date":"2008-12-30T10:54:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-30T10:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/12\/when-the-call-on-your-voicemail-is-god.html"},"modified":"2008-12-30T10:54:00","modified_gmt":"2008-12-30T10:54:00","slug":"when-the-call-on-your-voicemail-is-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/12\/when-the-call-on-your-voicemail-is-god.html","title":{"rendered":"When the call on your voicemail is God"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify\">&#8220;My call to religious life, like that of many others, did not come in isolation. It arose as one among several good opportunities from which I could choose. I was not grasping at this choice as a last chance because there was nothing else to do. God provided a rich array of invitations and allowed me to see that they were all good. I looked for which choice would allow me to be most at home in myself, to be generous in service to others and to live the dream that God was dreaming for me.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\">When I started to embrace God\u2019s call I began to discover what my gifts were\u2014what I was good at, what gave me energy and joy and provided me with what I needed to be interiorly at home. Of all the things that I could do, I wanted to choose what would let me give myself away in service to God and God\u2019s people. Frederick Buechner, a writer and Presbyterian minister, defines \u201ccall\u201d as \u201cthe place where your deep gladness meets the world\u2019s deep need.\u201d Ultimately, my call to religious life made a way for God\u2019s dream to be lived out in me and for me to be joyful. The thought that I could love deeply, work professionally and minister to God\u2019s people was exciting. It spoke to me of the fullness of God\u2019s word with all its promise and potential. Coming to recognize these aspects of call has helped me to listen more deeply with others for how God is moving them. I suggest that those who are discerning a call meet with someone like a vocation director, who can accompany them on the journey. That provides a way of reflecting on all of life\u2019s experiences and helps them to listen for God\u2019s dream and their deep joy.&#8221;\u00a0<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: italic\">&#8212; Sister Charlene Diorka, S.S.J.,\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: right\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: italic\">writing about her vocation in the current issue of <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.americamagazine.org\/content\/article.cfm?article_id=11331\"><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: italic\">America<\/span><\/a><span class=\"Apple-style-span\" style=\"font-style: italic\">.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;My call to religious life, like that of many others, did not come in isolation. It arose as one among several good opportunities from which I could choose. I was not grasping at this choice as a last chance because there was nothing else to do. God provided a rich array of invitations and allowed&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vocations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When the call on your voicemail is God - The Deacon&#039;s Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/12\/when-the-call-on-your-voicemail-is-god.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When the call on your voicemail is God - The Deacon&#039;s Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;My call to religious life, like that of many others, did not come in isolation. It arose as one among several good opportunities from which I could choose. I was not grasping at this choice as a last chance because there was nothing else to do. 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