Vocation

Today, the Catholic world celebrates the feast of two of the Church’s greatest men, Peter and Paul. It is hard to find any other two people with distinct and contrasting personalities like Peter and Paul. They occupied two ends of a very wide spectrum in our understanding of the mysteries of God. Both men saw things so differently, came from different social classes and backgrounds, had distinct and contrasting personalities and yet, when it came to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, both men spoke one language. For me, St.

Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal who survived after his 70 brothers had been slaughtered addressed the people of Israel at Shechem in the form of an imaginary conversation that is intriguing. He said: One day, the trees decided to anoint one of them to become their king. They approached the Olive tree, but the Olive tree said he could not forgo his oil which gives honour to the gods and men. He did not think he could make such a sacrifice.

Two things stand out in today’s celebration. First, is that vocation, a call is a gift which God freely gives to us all. Second, our future depends on how we respond to this call. In each case, free will or freedom are exercised. God gives us freely and we receive freely. What happens, what we do with this gift is the summary of our life.