Does not call the Sanctified...

This past week has been busy one with things going on with Life Teen and Edge, the Vocations Mass, Confirmation with the bishop, and now that Palm Sunday is coming upon us!  Wow!  This Lent has flown by. 

I have also have been taking more time with the Eucharist; whether it be in Adoration, praying in the Eucharistic Chapel or at daily Mass.  My love for the Eucharist continues to grow the more time that I spend with Him.  I feel as if He is inviting me closer to Him each and every time I go to pray with Him.  He is inviting me to get to know Him better through Scripture, prayers of the Church, and silence.  Silence has been a blessing since the beginning of my discernment process.  Someone once told me that God speaks the in the language of silence.  Silence is such a hard thing to get sometimes because of the world.  Phones are ringing, choir practice, the person next door is blaring their music a little too loud, cars are honking their horns, if you live in Minnesota, the geese are honking and so on and so forth.  But silence is where you can hear God clearly.  Once distractions are removed it is just you and Him.

When I first started discerning I heard God saying "Will you marry me?" which was beyond humbling but scary at the same time.  Now that I have applied, I no longer hear "Will you marry me?" but "Well done my good and faithful servant."  Which is still humbling and scary. Sometimes I wonder why Christ asked me to be His bride.  I am not perfect.  I am not more holy.   Then I remember what St. Francis said, “I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.”  God is merciful and loving. God always seems to chose the most unfitting people for His work.  He called Francis who was a wealthy son of a fabric merchant who in the beginning, wanted only to be a knight.  He desired wealth and women; He partied a lot and consumed too much alcohol on occasion.  But he had a conversion.  He lived his life the way the Gospel instructs us to and many came to follow in His footsteps.  Then St. Augustine, he was probably worse than Francis.  He enjoyed women, alcohol, money etc.  He had a child out of wedlock which was incredibly scandalous back then.  His dear mother, St. Monica, prayed for her husband and her son's conversions.  They both had them.  Her husband had his on his deathbed but Augustine went on to be one of the most well known saints.  He wrote "The Confessions" which is wonderful.  Then of course you have Paul who we meet in Acts.  He was persecuting the Christ followers.  He was killing them and tearing families apart.  He was knocked off of his horse and blinded and had to be lead to Damascus where the scales on His eyes fell off and He could clearly see.  He preached the Gospel far and wide and brought many people to Christ.  And of course Mary Magdalene, she was said to have 7 demons in her and lived a questionable lifestyle.  But once she met Christ her life changed dramatically to show the glory of God.  All of these saints and many more of them are an inspiration to me. They show us that it is possible to do God's work even if we are not the most plausible choice.   Sr. Mary Michael told me once, "God does not call the sanctified but sanctifies the called."  That is a very reassuring thought as this journey continues.  


God bless as we continue the journey through the desert this Lent!