During the 34th World Youth Day held in Panama, the message of Pope Francis on the vigil of Saturday, January 26, 2019 was interesting. It was for me an opportunity to reflect about my journey and discover how God is writing my life as a vocational story, especially today, in the Xaverian family. Motivated by the experience of the 34th World Youth Day, I saw in the event of “The Annunciation of the Lord”, a clear portrait of my life that continues until now, accompanied by the work of God. The sharing of this experience is a thanksgiving to the Lord for calling me to life, the great vocation of all of us.
The Virgin Mary entered in my life through my mother’s teachings since my childhood, when I did not have any idea about God. She was the instrument that connected me to Him. For this reason, preparing myself to come to the Philippines in 2017, I chose, as a biblical reference, to live this time ad extra, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). The feast of Annunciation invites me to go back to the beginning of my vocational journey: how did everything start? It started as in the Annunciation experience: one place, one meeting, one invitation, and one answer. It was not a extraordinary event, but normal life as yours.
The narrative of the “annunciation” (Lk 1:26-38) brings me to “Moses’ calling” (Ex 3:1-4), because it shows me God as a great Pedagogue. “Pedagogy” is the word which summarizes God’s way of acting in my life since the beginning: step by step, a jump ever further, until this place (Philippines). Unlike Mary who had the angel Gabriel as God's messenger, in my case, the angels were/are many: parents, teachers, catechists, friends,… normal people around me. They knocked at the door of my life many times. In fact, God is very pedagogic.
In many and various ways, the same words addressed to Mary were said to me, “Rejoice… The Lord is with you… Do not be afraid” (Lk 1: 28; 32). They are words of encouragement present in the invitation to mission: to bring Jesus to the world, as Mary did. And the “conception” of Jesus in my life took time and it neither happened as an individual event, nor as a magic act. It continues as a journey, as it happened to Mary. When Mary said “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me” (Lk 1:38), she started an unknown journey. This is also my experience: to allow myself to be moved by the Holy Spirit.
Someone can ask “How can I know where the Spirit is calling me?”. As I said before, the calling of God does not happen only as an extraordinary revelation, but most of the time it happens in our daily journey. The experience of Moses helps us to understand it better “Moses looked; there was the bush blazing but it was not being burnt up. ‘I must go and look at this strange sight’, Moses said ‘and see why the bush is not burnt.’” (Ex 1:3). This “flame of fire” is referred to our ordinary life which makes us curious to know and discover. God is there, although we are not able to recognize him at the beginning.
I share some aspects that are signs of this calling of God to myself:
1-Happiness- the project of God is to be happy. “Rejoice”, says the angel to Mary. Thus, the will of God is not contrary to true and beautiful things which fill our lives;
2-Freedom- God calls us, but the modality to answer this calling is up to everybody. It is not an obligation in the sense that if we refuse it, God will be angry with us. However, every vocation is the answer of God to the world. Here we can understand Pope Francis when he says that life “is a mission” (Gaudet et exsultate 27). For me, this time is an occasion to strengthen my vocation as Xaverian Brother, which does not mean that I will not face difficulties along the way. The journey is going on.
3-Encounter- God and his people are not separated realities.To make a vocational journey is to embrace these two dimensions where God always says “Do not be afraid”. It does not mean to be a superhero, but to be much more human.
Pope Francis talking to the youth highlighted that “Saying ‘yes’ to the Lord means preparing to embrace life as it comes, with all its fragility, its simplicity, and often enough too, with its conflicts and annoyances”. Through my experience, I say that it is a beautiful “trip” (myself, God, and the people) marked by encounters, discoveries, farewells, arrivals. Living this journey, the advice of Mary becomes more meaningful “Do whatever he tells you”. What is He asking me today? To go ahead, although, sometimes, from this point of view, I cannot see the other shore. Despite my weakness, I believe that the secret of all vocation is to be connected with Him, like the lamp connected to the energy source. By doing this, we will have always something to share to the world.
