Sorry to have been away.
Posted by: tony on 11/25/2009 06:57 PM
Updated by: tony on 11/25/2009 06:57 PM
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Expires: 12/26/2009 12:00 AM
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 I apologize for what appeared to be abandoning ship without explanation. One of the reasons that I stopped for a while was that I came to the conclusion that my writing was very much self-serving. I was taking the Catholic and political news and putting my unique (and what I considered valuable and read-worthy) commentary on it.
Blah! What ego!
There are many people in the blogosphere who can write much better than I. Original thoughts that touch people's hearts. The blogosphere doesn't need my symbals clashing and horn tooting.
But on a more personal and important note...
One of the things my former pastor did was institute weekly holy hour for vocations. We would have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, benediction, rosary, divine mercy chaplet and usually a small homily by our pastor about the saint of the day. We also would pray prayers for vocations from St. Therese and our former Bishop.
It was during one of those holy hours, when I was kneeling before my Lord and Savior, praying for an increase in vocations for our diocese, that I heard a single word:
Well?
So here I am, praying for vocations and imagining that God would send holy men and women to save us. How dare I pray for vocations if I would not entertain one for myself.
So I believe this is why I have been stalked by Jesus' most Sacred Heart. My wife and I have gone to Syracuse to meet with the Director of Deacon formation. I have met with my new pastor and we have made plans to discuss this. My wife and I have been set upon a path that we believe God wants us to travel.
During the course of this process, we may come to the realization that this is not where we're being called. The diocese may come to that conclusion for us. But either way, we will be able to approach our God with a clean conscience (at least regarding this one thing) that we followed the call we heard and responded to it as best we could with an open mind, a servant's heart and a deep and abiding faith that whatever the path, Jesus is with us, and where you see one pair of footprints, you can imagine Jesus carrying us like that lamb in the picture of the Good Shepherd.
I don't know where my parish will need me in the future. I'm leaving that open for now with regards to what training track I'll select. It may very well be something that I'm not trained in or drawn to. But God doesn't call the equipped, he equips the called.
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