“Before God, posturing is not worth it, and when we hear the call, we can ignore him and ‘leave him alone’, as happens in messaging applications, but at the risk of never being happy,” explains the Archbishop of Seville (Spain). ), Mons. José Ángel Saiz Meneses, in a letter titled Call and mission.
In this vocational reflection, the prelate remembers that every vocation is the “story of a mission that begins with the call of God and continues with the response that corresponds to man.”
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The primacy of God in the vocational dynamic, the prelate recalls, is reflected in the words of Jesus to the apostles “it is not you who have chosen me, it is I who have chosen you”, collected in the Gospel according to Saint John.
Faced with this situation, “it is not strange that we feel small, incapable and unworthy,” says the archbishop, because we know that “we are not Marvel superheroes, nor can we tame dragons.”
However, the Archbishop of Seville calls “not to panic” in the face of the uncertainty of the vocational response and encourages learning “from those who have taken this path before us.”
In his opinion, “we must not ignore the example of the believers who have preceded us, just because our society is different from theirs, or because times have changed.”
Thus the prelate recalls that the case of the prophet Jeremiah is emblematic “because he is very aware of his limitations, of his personal fragility”, but with the help of God he ends up devoting himself to the mission “with confidence and joy.”
In this sense, he adds: “God calls all the baptized to be his prophets, and as Pope Francis insists, he has a dream for each one, according to their age and personal situation, their abilities, their virtues and defects.” , to his way of being.”
The Archbishop of Seville also points out that on the path of vocational response “we are inspired by the Gospel and the lives of the saints” because “they are not usually timid or prim, even if they have soft ways when it comes to expressing themselves and treating others.” the rest”.
“Being people of character is not the same as having bad character. And the saints, in general, had a strong character, which was reflected in their decision and commitment to follow God’s call,” he specifies in the letter.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.