17 September 2025

It is no longer fashionable to talk about work in terms of vocation. When do you hear it said, ‘I have a vocation to be a teacher.’ or ‘I have a vocation to be a nurse.’ or ‘I have a vocation to be a computer programmer.’ It is hoped that some people still say, ‘I have a vocation to be a minister.’

The understanding of work as a vocation or a calling from God came from those who professed a Christian faith. They saw their work as a response to their faith in God and what they had prayerfully discerned as his will for them.

Seeing work as vocation not only meant fulfilling all that was required of you but sometimes going beyond the requirements of your contract and travelling the extra mile. Nowadays, this would be anathema to an alert workforce. Either you were likely to damage your health or usurp  the responsibility of another or …

It is very fulfilling to think that  work is done in response to the love of God in Christ and the way of Him who went the extra mile, sacrificed himself for the benefit of another, went out of his way to heal, comfort and encourage.

Everyone who follows Christ has a vocation. It takes time to discern it. This discernment is not limited to a ministry of Word and Sacrament but to all that is necessary to build up the Church. For St. Paul assures us that everyone has a gift from the Holy Spirit to be used for the common good.

Some people covet the gifts of others and find no peace. The secret is discerning your own gift,  owning it and letting it grow and flourish within you. It may not be the gift you wanted from God but it is the one you have been given and for a purpose – enriching and sustaining the common good. Nothing more, nothing less.