James Martin, SJ, final thoughts on vocations and his blog tour

Father Martin: Thanks so much to Sister Julie for hosting me today on her wonderful blog! I had a terrific time answering so many questions and getting to know her readers.

To wrap up today’s discussions, maybe I could talk a little more about the concept of “vocation,” which seemed to be on everyone’s mind. In short, I believe that a vocation is not so mysterious thing as people might think. Typically it manifests itself through very personal desires. A man and woman fall in love, and so discover their vocation as a married couple. A student might love studying biology, and so manifests his vocation as a doctor or biologist. The same in religious life or the priesthood. A young man or woman (or even an older one!) may find himself or herself powerfully attracted to a particular religious order or the priesthood. This is the “call.” The key is trusting that your deepest desires are God’s desires for you, and the way that God fulfills God’s desires for the world.

So the first step is, as St. Ignatius says, to pray to understand your desires, and believe that they are ways that God is calling you.

The second is to test them out. See where these desires and longings lead you. Explore and investigate. And then…join an order that appeals to you. Enter a seminary that you feel drawn to. Choose a career that you find exciting. Begin a relationship with the person you love. As Father Arrupe said, “Fall in love, stay in love, and that will decide everything.”

Finally, look for signs of “confirmation.” Now that you’ve started testing the waters, or entered the novitiate or seminary, or started a job, or started dating, how do you feel? What’s going on inside of you? St. Ignatius says that confirmation comes with deep feelings of peace and joy, even if there are some occasional problems. That’s a real sign that your “in sync” with the Holy Spirit who dwells within you. You may shock some people with what you’ve chosen, but over time if it’s the right vocation, it will bring joy to everyone. (And you might have to settle at the beginning for peace within you, even if not in others!) Overall, a feeling of “rightness” and gladness, as well as a deeply felt peace, are good signs of confirmation.

Anyway, that’s a little précis on vocation.

So thanks for all those questions. I talk a lot more about all this stuff in my books “My Life with the Saints,” and also “Becoming Who You Are.” I hope you might read them some day.

And do keep me in your prayers.

Sister Julie: What a blessing you have been to us, Father Martin. I’ve enjoyed hanging out with you and with all those who have visited today. May God continue to bless you and all that you do to reflect the light of God within the world. Know that you are always welcome here at A Nun’s Life.

My thanks to Denise for twittering the event at http://twitter.com/Denise205, to Michelle and Molly for your facilitation of the blog event, and to Loyola Press for the raffled book and discount for my readers.

And to my readers: Thank you for participating in Father Martin’s blog tour — for the questions you asked, comments you made, and for just being here. Father Martin’s blog tour continues through this week. Here are the other blogs where you can see what he is up to!

Wednesday, June 4 - The Dawn Patrol

Thursday, June 5 - The Anchoress

Friday, June 6 - Happy Catholic

Tomorrow I’ll let you know who won the autographed copy of My Life with the Saints. For a discount on this book see my post Conversation with James Martin, SJ.