Why We Need the Holy Spirit to Discern Our Vocations

The apostles were huddled together in the upper room for fear of the Jews.

Being locked indoors out of fear for your life? Sounds familiar.

Coronavirus gave us a little taste of what it must have been like for the apostles before Pentecost, waiting for the promised moment when the Consoler was supposed to come upon them. As Catholics, we’re called to rely on the Holy Spirit for everything: when we’re lonely and afraid, or even happy and confident with ourselves.

When it comes to discerning our vocation, we tend to feel this need very strongly. 

Vocation comes from the Latin word vocare which means to call. Our vocation is God calling us to live our lives for Him in a particular way. Everyone has a vocation to holiness, but each individual has a particular vocation. A path that leads them to holiness the fastest.

To discern your vocation means to walk with God, listen for His voice, and unfold His plan with Him. Discernment doesn’t mean knowing everything before it happens. In fact, it means admitting you don’t really know what is about to happen.

In college, I met with a priest a few times to talk about entering the religious life. In prayer I felt God calling me to sign up for a retreat with a Franciscan order, so I found one in the fall of that year. The retreat was postponed to an undetermined date, but before that date came, I met a girl.

I told my priest how conflicted I was about this. I committed to going on the retreat, but I knew I liked this girl. Was this a test of my faithfulness or a sign to go in another direction? 

He said to me, “God asked you to sign up and you did. He wanted you to act. Right now, He’s not asking you to figure things out. He’s asking you to act again.”

The Lord knows me well. He knows I would have paralyzed myself in prayer for months trying to figure out His plans before taking an action.

But that’s not how the Holy Spirit works. 

When the Holy Spirit descended upon a group of terrified men in first century Jerusalem, those men came alive with zeal for the Lord. They left the room and walked brazenly into the open, preaching Jesus’s name. They went to the Temple daily to preach, knowing Jesus had been killed for the exact same thing. They prayed and then took action.

The Franciscan order is 800 years old. I decided, “I guess it isn’t going anywhere. I’ll ask her out and see what happens.” Phoebe and I dated for about two years and now we’re engaged! She’s brought me so much closer to God than I could’ve gotten on my own. There’s no doubt this is where God wants me to be.

There’s no way I could’ve known this would happen. God wasn’t asking me to figure out the future, He was asking me to figure out the next step and then take it. That’s what He’s asking of you as you discern His will for your life.

When we discern, it should be an active verb.

Daily prayer keeps us connected to the power of the Holy Spirit and then leads us to take action. When we pray for the Holy Spirt to guide us, we should act with the faith that He will guide us. 

Discernment is not a test where you fail if you get an answer wrong. The confusing and incredible truth about God’s plan is that He takes our mistakes into account, so don’t be afraid of taking the wrong step. Just pray and act. 

Walking with God is like a baby learning how to walk. All he is concerned about is the next step and his father.