XXXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time – A – November 15, 2020 Your vocation? Marriage? Future spouse? Giving those questions the attention they deserve and letting God have a part in it Readings: Proverbs 31: 10-13, 19-20, 30-31 / Psalm 128 / I Thess 5: 1-6 / Matthew 25: 14-30
Many diverse majors and fields of study are offered at the University of Houston and most colleges. Some represent the same fields as years past but are given new titles and terminology. Other majors are entirely new fields of study. At any rate, they require much preparation and are necessary for your future professional and career plans.
What about your personal life? As students, perhaps many of you are considering the vocation of marriage. How are you preparing for such a serious decision? Do you plan to? Are we talking about just a game of chance, to see whom you might find in terms of a potential spouse?
Our first reading is from chapter 31 of the book of Proverbs. The opening verses read, “When one finds a worthy wife, her value is beyond pearls. Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize” (10-11). Young women can adapt it to their respective concerns and hopes: “When one finds a worthy husband ….”
The reading, even if the language seems a bit dated, is filled with wisdom and good advice. How do you carry it out? It’s not a matter of planning versus luck or an active approach versus a more passive one. You can consider it as a balance of faith, marked by preparation and commitment along with serendipity or surprise. It is a balance marked by serious reflection and engagement and openness to Divine Providence.
While I refer to an important task, it is not meant to be complicated. First of all, it is essential to recognize that finding a spouse is an important aspect of life that will impact you more than choosing a major or field of work. Marriage is a vocation, a life-long commitment, not a career choice.
Let’s look at some possible ways to go about this:
First, “how is your love life?” Are you loving God? Your neighbor? Yourself? St. Peter says in his first letter: “Above all, let your love for one another be intense, for love covers a multitude of sins”(I Peter 4:8). That’s good advice for the soul and our salvation, but it also helps in many other ways. It concerns our relationship to God and how we relate to others.
Second, are you nourishing that love life, especially by prayer? Do you turn to God for forgiveness, peace, wisdom? Do you entrust your desires and hopes to him? Do you seek his guidance?
Thirdly, do you let Christ have a part in your decisions and plans? Do you give as much serious consideration to questions of vocation, personal life, friendships and dating as you do to other facets of your life, including studies and career plans?
Are you willing to go beyond your fears and worries to see what God’s will for you might be? In other words, are you willing to “let go a little and let God more?”
If you are interested in dating at the appropriate moment and hoping, in time, to get married, are you preparing for that? Such a question calls to mind some practical and spiritual matters:
Jesus says, “I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10: 10). Are you living life abundantly or placing conditions on your life and relationships?
Does your faith play an active part in how you meet and engage others? Would others recognize some Christ-like qualities in your demeanor?
Do you bring life and joy to the places you go and the people you meet?
How about your friendships and circle of friends, are they lifting you up and supporting your growth in holiness? Shared faith and values can be a strong base upon which we should build friendships
How do you spend your time, both free time and work? Where do you mostly spend it? Looking at a computer screen, device or video game all day is not the best recipe for making friends and meeting new people!
It’s about both being prepared and trusting: the intentional pursuit of the vocation God calls you to commit to and the willingness to “let go and let God.”
In a recent homily, Pope Francis said, “God is not afraid of new things. That is why he is constantly surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways.” Our shepherd is not advising us just to sit back and wait to see what God will do. Rather, these surprises occur in the context of a relationship with the Lord.
These “God” surprises take place when we walk the path of life and are open to let him guide us. Good decisions will be made and good things will unfold when we invite Christ to be a part of our hopes, dreams and plans. Sometimes God’s will can be more like “unexpected ways” and he hopes we are willing to respond in faith and not tempted to stay put out of fear.