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January 14, 2018 Deacon Jim Marschall

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consider this question if you would who introduced you to God or if it helps to think of it this way who introduced you to Jesus there are a lot of introductions in our readings today we hear the story of Eli pointing Samuel and direction of God John the Baptist pointing Andrew and the other disciple in the direction of Jesus and then and intern brings his brother Simon to Jesus introducing others to God we call that evangelizing evangelizing sure we have with others there's one very common moment Among Us almost if not all of us have had one very significant Advantage lysing moment happen in our lives baptism whether we were baptized as children or later in life we were brought to the font of baptism by someone someone introducing us to Jesus maybe it was our parents and godparents maybe it was someone else that is a very common experience among all of us the last Monday was the Feast of the baptism of the Lord and you reach either Wilson's bulletin cover this weekend Beast baptismal I'm going to borrow a line from that article in baptism we become children of God and children of God are called to be Disciples of Jesus Christ so another way to think of evangelizing is that it is making disciples an invitation an introduction to discipleship a disciple is a follower someone who sits at the feet of the master and from the master and of course seeks to live like the master and how can we know the master or live like the master unless we are introduced of course that's not just a one-time thing it happens throughout our lives there can be many evangelizing experiences in any one of our Lives discipleship is a lifelong process another significant evangelizing moment in most if not all of our Lives is confirmation as father mentioned at the beginning of the mass today we celebrate the right of preparation for 157 High School age students in our community beginning the process of the immediate preparation for that sacrament surely they will come forward and they will indicate their desire to over the course of the next few months take time and prayer learning and service that they might discern how they want to live their discipleship they are already children of God and they're seeking to grow as disciples there's a significant there's a number of significant signs connected with confirmation one of them involves taking a name they will all be invited to choose a name that will be their confirmation name the naming or renaming is a very important and significant event in anyone's life in Scripture we see you today are large is introduced to Peter and Peter to our Lord you're Simon the son of John Jesus already knows this man he knows who he is and he knows who he is to become you know it's the kind of disciple he has to become until he says to him you will be call Peter have you translate that name it means rock as you know do you will be a solid rock disciple the foundation on which our Lord will build his church his naming renaming very common in scripture Abram at one point was given the name Abraham by God likewise his grandson Jacob became Israel in the New Testament we know that St Paul was named whose name was Saul before you changed it in light of his conversion my advice to compromise take very serious the choice of the name choose a name that will reflect the discipleship that you hope to live in your life I might recommend Peter or perhaps Thomas or Chad names all very solid names there's another idea that's expressed in our readings today and fits very well with this and that is the concept of vocation vocation we hear that word and probably when I say it most of you think of those who are called to priesthood the accident wildlife and that's very true that is vocation there's much more to that idea okay comes from the Latin ocatio which is translated calling you've heard me use that word a couple times it's used in the readings one is called to one's Mission or purpose in life location discipleship is a vocation it is the vocation of all of the baptized it is our Universal vocation vocation that we share in common Alicia it also has a unique and specific vocation a call from God that grows out of our own gifts and who we are as an individual I'd like to share with you some words from some people who are much smarter than on the meaning of vocation if I may this first is at different times attributed to the ancient philosopher Aristotle or more modern philosopher Frederick buechner the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet from Cardinal John God has created me to do some definite service God has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another I have my mission I have a part and a great work I am a link in a chain a bond of connection between persons and from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops the document on stewardship is entitled stewardship a disciples response and this definition of a Christian steward you can just change it to disciple of Jesus and it works there too I just type of Jesus is one who receives God's gifts gratefully cherishes and tens them in a responsible and accountable manner shares them Injustice in love with others and returns increase to the Lord so our vocation we know who it is is doing the calling right it's God God created each one of us each of us with our own unique giftedness second reading speaks to this where we hear that we are created Body and Soul by Guy and we belong entirely to God and if we are to glorify God in our bodies in our lives another call to discipleship includes that learning about call of our unique discipleship the way we will live it out uniquely it's bigger than education careers jobs Lifestyles family but it includes all of these Michigan sound daunting perhaps especially for young people high school-age preparing for confirmation looking at graduation from high school coming and decisions about education and family and career would it be nice if it works for all of us like it did for Samuel I mean you're awake in the middle of the night by a voice and you just speak Lord your servant is listening and God just let you know what he needs from you I've never met anybody for whom it happened that way maybe it does happen that way for some but it's important to remember that this isn't just about what am I going to do in the future or as we say when we were young what am I going to do when I grow up discernment involves living as a Desai right now right where we are right when we are when we do that we will learn the next steps whatever life decision you may be facing Edge Mission Ministry career relationships living as a disciple of Jesus Christ in the here-and-now is the best way to find the answers and I save this from my own experience Anthony experience of many others who shared their stories with me a disciple nourishes his or her relationship with Jesus Christ through daily prayer a disciple participates at mass at least weekly we come here weather to be nourished as a community by the word of God and by the Eucharist we make the sacraments a part of our life especially the sacrament of reconciliation which helps us to grow in humility and in virtue and Understanding God's direction for us and service being a service to those in greatest need around us is part of the disciples call the way of life that opens us to knowing ourselves as God created us and fulfilling God's purpose in our life or as Matthew Kelly says becoming the best version of ourselves if we let God God will not let us down this is God who created us loves us gifted each of us uniquely and knows each of us better than we know ourselves so I'll close with another question then I'll invite you to consider take it home with you take it into your week to whom are you introducing God

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