Mary and Vocations by Rev. Thomas M. Coogan Reprinted from CatholicTorch.com Fall 2004     It strikes me, in my assignment as vocation director, that so many of the events leading up to the birth of our Savior, have special resonance with vocation ministry. For example, the mystery of the Annunciation - what were the Angel's first words to Mary? First, the Angel says - "Blessed are you - full of Grace.: Grace can be defined as the Love of God - and that is at the heart of every calling to priesthood or religious life - an experience of the love of God and the loving response of the one called. But then - also important -right from the beginning, Gabriel exhorted "be not afraid". Fear, confusion, or doubt are often initial reactions to the realization in the man or woman that  God invites to serve the Church possibly as a priest or woman religious. Mary's question "how can this be?" has been echoed in the heart of countless discerners who wonder "could the Lord really mean me?" Every Vocation is a battle between Love and Fear - including Mary's. Whenever you see a person who is serving the Church as a priest or religious, we see someone who, like our Lady, loved a little more than they feared. It is interesting to notice that no where in the passage does the Angel actually ask Mary if she will be the mother of the Christ. The question, however it formed in the mind of our Lady happened internally between her and God. It came about as a result of how Mary's life had prepared her for her vocation. From the Immaculate Conception through her whole devout upbringing, the facts of her life had been used by God to prepare her for this moment of realization of her vocation. This is also something I see in the vocations I meet. A vocation occurs to a man or women as a result of their life experiences. God moves lives, sometimes in very dramatic and extreme ways, to realize the possibility of a vocation. A person has a Calling not in spite of their past lives, but because of their past life. Sometimes I identify my ministry with that of the Archangel Gabriel, a ministry of helping a person to understand that yes, the Almighty has a special plan for your happiness, Yes our God is working a miracle in you. Yes our God has chosen you. And I have had the joy of witnessing that when the call is properly identified and understood, the response of the person often echoes Mary's own, "I am the humble servant of the Lord, let be according to His will." When Mary had accepted her awesome and special calling, how natural that she at first sought out someone who might best be able to understand what she was experiencing, namely her kinswoman, Elizabeth. In the Vocation Office we try to encourage a man or woman who is discerning a call to attend events with others like themselves who also feel an attraction to powerful mission. I find it thrilling to be present when those who have felt God acting so mightily in their lives can share their feelings and thoughts. The power of these moments is the power of Mary's song to her cousin "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, for the almighty has done great things for me and holy is His name." All that time that Mary carried her Son that first true Advent, who could know what was going on? Joseph, surely, and her kinsfolk. But mostly it must have seemed like a great secret from the world - a world that little suspected what God was really about to do. This quiet and reflective time might be likened to the time when a seminarian or a novice is in formation. Time outside of the regular grind of the world, almost as if the world had no clue as to how their universe was changing. As someone privileged to witness our seminarians on a daily basis, I find it difficult not to walk away inspired that God does indeed have plans for the future. I wonder whether the world suspects it? And Christmas Day itself, that would be the day of ordination or profession, when the idea of the calling becomes a reality as a new priest or a new sister begin their public ministry. The mission of every priest or religious is to proclaim the reality of Christ by what they say and how they live. The lives of our priest and religious, in a sense, are a song for the rest of us to hear, a song that proclaims 'Glory to God in the Highest, and Peace to his people on earth" The good news of Vocation is indeed "tidings of great joy" When that Christ child grew to adulthood, he chose followers who were regular people with extraordinary love to start our church. He has not ceased to call men and women to service even to our own day. Each person who responds to this call, in their own way makes real - the stuff of flesh and blood, by their very lives, -- the Gospel we preach. Our Clergy and Religious Men and women are walking incarnations of God's love for us to see.

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