There is a voice so gentle, yet
unmistakable, that rises above the noise, beyond the roles we wear and the
expectations we carry. It does not summon us by our titles, our tasks, our
triumphs, or our failures. It calls us by our name. This is the voice of the
Shepherd, Jesus, who sees us as we truly are. In the wake of the Church’s
discernment in conclave and the election of Pope Leo XIV to lead us through the
times ahead—amid global unrest, war, and cries for peace—Jesus invites us to
remember that vocation is first about being known and loved. Only then are we
truly ready to be sent. In a time when identity is shaped by what we do or
hold, when headlines are dominated by violence, including the fresh tensions
and attacks between India and Pakistan, we are tempted to respond with fear.
Yet into this fear, Jesus
speaks a deeper truth. Vocation is a relationship, it is about responding to
the One who first found us significant even when we were unknown, unseen,
unaccomplished. When we forget this, religious life can become just another
system of recognition, performance, and pressure. But Jesus overturns that
system. He calls the wounded. He entrusts mission to the unlikely. He builds
His Church on hearts open enough to be led. Vocation is an invitation to
remember: We are those held in His
hands, called by name, called to presence, to dwell, and to bow in love.
This is the sacred dignity of
our call: To live from the deep assurance of being known, to love from the
unshakable truth of being held, to lead from the quiet strength of being led by
the Shepherd’s voice. In times of uncertainty, conflict, and change, may we
listen again. May we remember who we are. And may we follow, not because we are
strong, but because we are His.
- Lilly Pushpam PBVM
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