How Are We Called As Christians?

On Thursday evening, the class of 2023 came together as a Catholic community to commence our graduation events. This celebration of the Eucharist allows us to give thanks to our God for the many blessings and opportunities experienced at Santa Maria College.

The theme for the mass explored ‘a journey into excellence’. As Christians we can view life itself as a sacred journey. A journey about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding our vision of what is possible, stretching our soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to our intuition and taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. It is our hope that our graduates continue to be people of Mercy and agents of change in our world, striving to emulate the Gospel values and Catherine McAuley’s dream of education, equity and support for the poor.

So, what might God be calling our graduates to as their journey in secondary education concludes? The term vocation comes from the Latin vocare, which means to call. It implies that we are all “called to be committed followers of Jesus, who calls all of us to develop to our fullest potential, in order that we may be empowered to share our own individual gifts, talents, abilities and blessings as fully as possible, for the sake of others.” (Catholic Vocations Ministry Australia, 2023).

Every member of the Church is called to holiness (Lumen Gentium, Chapter 5). This means we are called to love: to love God and to love each other. The way that a Christian lives out that call to holiness is their vocation. God’s call is always an invitation to “choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:13). God calls people to choose life within the vocation of marriage. Others are called to choose life through the single vocation, while others are called to choose life as sisters, brothers and priests.