Calling

 My mother was a devoted Catholic with a deep faith. When she was dying, we had conversations about purgatory and other religious topics. As the conversation progressed, I thanked her for raising me Catholic, but in my very bones, heart, and soul, I knew I was called to be a Pastor. It is something I cannot help but do, nor could I separate myself from it. My mom responded that she couldn’t fault me for being a pastor. She understood.  When I hear Isaiah 49:1, which is part of the Lectionary readings today, “Hear me, coastlands, listen, distant peoples. Before birth, the LORD called me, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.” I think we are all called to something; mine just happens to be a servant. My ministry is called “A Wing & A Prayer Ministries,” which I can now work at more of, now that I am retired. One thing I am sure of is this: God didn’t call me because of my gender or my sexual preference. God didn’t call me because I am the smartest, most gorgeous, or even perfect. God called me from my mother’s womb, and I have been blessed to answer the call. Perhaps God has been calling you to be a nurse, firefighter, religious, or to be your true self. But make no mistake about it, God is calling you… Won’t you answer the call today on the path…. I have added Psalm 139 for its beauty and added fuel for thought.

Psalm 139

^“ You have searched me, Lord,  and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.  You hem me in behind and before,  and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.  Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,  even there your hand will guide me,  your right hand will hold me fast.  If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”  even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,  for darkness is as light to you.  For you created my inmost being;   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.