In Caravaggio's "The Calling of St. Matthew" Jesus points to Matthew, who is focused entirely on his money. The pose is supposed to remind us of Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam". In accepting God's call we are re-created!
Continue reading to learn more about how God has an incredible plan for each of us.
You have a purpose?
Consider what the world is telling you to do with your life: find your dream job, make money, enjoy the pleasures and stuff you want, and somehow make the world a better place while you're getting what you want. One ad tells you that you can change the world and 100 tell you that you need their product in order to be happy. Maybe they'll even tell you that you're improving the world when you buy their product. This may sound cynical, but if your mind is only on work and what you can buy, then you are exactly what the world wants - you (i.e. your labor and talents) are a product and you buy products, so you keep the economy growing. That's not to say that a growing economy is bad, but is that all you were made for?
If the thought of priesthood, consecrated life, or marriage (as a heaven-directed call) has ever crossed your mind as even remotely intriguing to you, then you can be assured that thought is not from the world. The world wants you to remain focused on worldly concerns, but God is always calling us to look beyond the cares of this world.
Each of us is called to be a saint - to be heroically virtuous in directing our lives to God - but we are not all called to live out those virtues in the same ways. The three primary and traditional categories of vocation are priesthood, consecrated life, and marriage. Within each vocation there are countless sub-vocations (e.g., being parish priest at St. James the Less rather than St. James the Greater, being single and making private vows rather than joining a religious community, being married to this person and not that one), which can all ultimately be divided down to the question, "what is God calling me to do in this present moment?"
Figuring out what God is calling you to do with your life or even with this present moment can seem daunting, but it's not supposed to be. There's no need to be dramatic about it. The present moment is straight forward: a) Pray. Talk to God about what's going on in your life, read the Bible, get to know God through His Church. b) Live in a state of grace by always following the moral Commandments that God has explicitly given to everyone in the Bible; e.g. the 10 Commandments, love God, and love your neighbor. If you aren't in a state of grace, then go to confession. c) Fulfill the responsibilities of your present state in life (e.g., if you're a student, do your work, be involved with the community, and have some hobbies and activities you enjoy).
If you're living the present moment well, then the bigger picture supernaturally starts coming into focus.
PRIESTHOOD
"The redemptive sacrifice of Christ is unique, accomplished once for all; yet it is made present in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Church. The same is true of the one priesthood of Christ; it is made present through the ministerial priesthood without diminishing the uniqueness of Christ's priesthood: "Only Christ is the true priest, the others being only his ministers" (CCC 1545).
CONSECRATED LIFE
"Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. The perfection of charity, to which all the faithful are called, entails for those who freely follow the call to consecrated life the obligation of practicing chastity in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, poverty and obedience. It is the profession of these counsels, within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God" (CCC 915).
MARRIAGE
"Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the Lamb." Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its "mystery," its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising from sin and its renewal "in the Lord" in the New Covenant of Christ and the Church" (CCC 1602).
