Vocations to a Special Consecration in the Church (Christus Vivit 274-277)
Vocational Letters – July 2020.
By Fr. Jai Hyung Michael Park, CMF
Korea Independent Delegation
There was a boy, who was good and docile enough to follow what his parents wanted him to do. He tried to be a good son in his family and also to be a good student in his school. He was regarded as a kind of a model student and also got good grades in his classes. After high school he began to study Physics and electronic engineering in one of the best universities in Korea. His family and friends praised and blessed him, and it seemed that a bright future was promised to him. He was proud of himself and so were his parents; he was even sure about his happiness and fulfillment.
It was not long before he felt something missing in his life that looked perfect. While he enjoyed his studies and was happy with all the applause and cheers, he found a certain emptiness in his heart. It was even strange that the more he received applause, the more he felt the emptiness. And he finally realized that anything external could not fill up the internal emptiness, which was absolutely reserved for the Lord: it was the desire for God. He had to make a decision whether to continue the “safe journey” with external applause or to take a risk by starting a new “adventurous journey”.
In this discernment process he tried to listen to the soft voice of the Lord from inside rather than to the loud and splendid voices from outside. Eventually, he “cast the nets once more” with complete confidence that he could be fulfilled only by the Lord. According to the young man, now a Claretian priest, he had been influenced too much by voices from outside to suspect that he was not on his own path. He, as Pope Francis said, had just dismissed the possibility of devoting himself to God in a form of consecration. (CV#276)
He gave God a chance so that He might whisper into his heart. The young man finally let God speak in his interior silence and he recognized his very unique call for himself. The voice was still very soft, but it was so attractive and powerful that he was not disturbed by other voices any more. It made him dream of a new vision for the Kingdom of God as a disciple of Jesus, and the vision began filling up his emptiness. It was the moment that the young man found the treasure, which was planted in his heart by the Lord.
For this Claretian, the emptiness was a kind of a compass that guided him to greater desire for God. The compass showed him which could bring complete fulfillment: what the world kept shouting and what the Lord kept whispering.
As we accompany young people, what we can do is to challenge them to face the emptiness in their hearts; then the compass will help them to listen in interior silence and to answer in confidence for a new adventure.
Can you hear God's whisper in your life? Do you feel the same emptiness that the young man describes? Contact our Vocation Director and he can help you explore and hear God's voice better in your life.