Faithfulness to One’s Vocation
You have been favored with a vocation in this little Congregation … You must live until death in the most perfect exercise of love toward God and toward neighbor. (OOCC, VIII, pp. 264 - 265; SD, p. 1)
St. Vincent Pallotti considers a person’s vocation as a precious gift from God. It is not something a person truly merits or deserves. But it is a gift, a favor, and a grace God bestows on the human person. Hence, for St. Vincent, his own vocation and that of the other members of the congregation he founded are undeserved favors that come from the infinite love and mercy of God. It is not given to the individual for his own selfish purposes. There is no doubt that a person’s vocation enables him to attain his glorification and salvation. This does not mean that a person can use his vocation totally and fully in a selfish way. According to St. Vincent, a person is called to a particular vocation in the little congregation he founded in order to exercise in the most perfect way the love of God and of his neighbor. God calls a person to make a full commitment to accomplish the commandment of love, its twofold precepts, and to live it in the most perfect manner until one’s death. A person’s faithfulness to his vocation consists of saying ‘yes’ to the Lord at every moment of his life, in accomplishing the precept of love of God and neighbor, and by living in a person’s life the very spirit of this commandment. When a person truly lives the spirit of this commandment in the context of diverse apostolic ministries in which he is engaged, he works out his own salvation, works for the salvation of his neighbor, and glorifies God in and through his work of salvation. When this happens in the life of person, he is truly faithful to his vocation.
Do I consider my vocation a free gift from God? Am I selfish in living my vocation? Do I realize that the goal of my vocation is to exercise the commandment to love, in its twofold precepts? Am I faithful to my vocation? Do I use my vocation to work for my salvation, the salvation of my neighbor and the glory of God?
I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called. (Eph. 4: 1)