Q. Is that it? Is that how one knows what vocation or path God wants them to follow?
A. I would say those are the two major ones: prayer and spiritual direction. But one common phenomenon, one tell-tale sign that someone is on the right track and that I have witnessed in many friends over the years is a certain kind of "good" or - dare I say - "holy" fear.
When you get to the point where you have to give 100% of yourself to someone else - whether directly to God in celibacy or else indirectly to God but directly through your spouse-to-be, with no plan B, warranties or guaranties, the human heart shudders somewhat and hesitates. What if I'm wrong? What if I can't make it to the end like in the last marathon I tried? What if I fail like in my last CAT? Will I be able to simply press reset like in FIFA or change games altogether?
This fear of having 100% demanded of us for 100% of your remaining life can be pretty daunting. And I have seen it among friends thinking of getting married and in friends thinking about joining Opus Dei as non-marrying members. The other place I have seen it is in two separate episodes that happened 2000 years ago.
The first one had a pretty well-off young man probably in his early twenties who came across a certain preacher in his neighbourhood. Mind you this was no ordinary preacher! He spoke bluntly and simply and then some of the stuff he did simply had no human explanation. So this rich lad, well-loved by his many friends and hordes of servants for his long-standing uprightness, decency, honour and generosity saddled up to meet the preacher to ask him for advice on how he could be 100% sure of getting the one thing he didn't have despite his great wealth and great virtue. The preacher, impressed with the young man's character told him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." The young man simply couldn't. If that is what it cost to "inherit eternal life", that was simply not how he had planned his life. He was not going to give up his life-plan to be an apostle. St. Peter noted he went away sad (Mk 10:22). 100% was too much. Today, we don't know that lad's name...
A little later, a related incident happened off-shore to a slightly older gentleman. He was a simple guy who supported himself and his family: life was a hustle but he managed somehow. But this simple guy was rather impulsive: handbrakes and brake pedals were not his thing. His name we remember: buldings today are still named after him; parents still name their children after him; giving 100% was in his blood. And when we begin to get strong inklings as to what vocation God wants for us, like that simple guy we have to shout out to that same Preacher from the safety and sureness of our boat on the lake, "Lord if it is you, bid me to come to you on the water." (Mt 14:28) And when Jesus reaches out and tells us "Come!", we get 100% of our feet out of the boat and onto the water.
3rd December 2015