Making Career & Lifework Choices

Part I: Discovering Your Personal Vocation and Mission

by Rick Sarkisian, Ph.D

The rich young man in Mark’s gospel (Mark 10:17-22) asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Pope John Paul II teaches that he was really asking:

• What must I do so that my life may have meaning?

• What is God’s plan for my life?

• What is His will?

And today a young person might ask:

• What is my purpose in life?

• What am I doing here, anyway?

Jesus responds with a simple "Follow me." To follow Christ means to discover our vocation (to be what God wants us to be), and our mission or purpose in life (to do what God wants us to do).

One of the most important decisions you will make involves choosing a profession or career. The task is often difficult and woven with uncertainty. There are many occupational categories to consider, and many wonderful avenues to explore.

Personal Vocation & Mission

Far more important than career choice, however, is understanding that you are being called to a unique and highly personal vocation and mission. VOCATION is the Universal Call in baptism to live a holy life (this gives life meaning and destiny), and the Specific Choice of a state of life, such as marriage, priesthood, or the consecrated life. MISSION is the General Witness to others of Christ, and our Lifework Choices, which denote specific use of God-given abilities to bring glory to God in all things (for instance, as student, parent, worker).

There should be a sense of exploration and adventure in seeking the personal vocation and mission for every baptized Catholic. I encourage you to regularly pray for knowledge of God’s will, and for an understanding of His plan, which over time becomes more and more clear. Remember that you are individually chosen by God for a specific vocation and purpose in life, as it is written in Isaiah 43:1 "I have called you by name, you are mine."

Daily prayer – preferably in a quiet place – is one of the best ways to discover this sense of purpose. Pray daily, preferably in a quiet place. This is a time to meet God and talk with Him about the day. Even prayer time without words, just silence, is a way to communicate with God and have an open line to Him. Ask for awareness of God’s gifts, and how to use these gifts in the home, school, and working world.

Prayer for discernment of your state of life is essential. If you are called to the vocation of marriage, pray for your future spouse. If you’re called to the priesthood or religious life, seek guidance from the Holy Spirit about how best to serve God (i.e. diocesan priest, religious order, special ministry to the poor).

The people, signs, circumstances and opportunities that surround us are also ways to understand God’s will. Guidance from the Holy Spirit helps to sort out God’s plan from other influences in life. Be assured that even when wrong choices are made, our Lord will never let us down, and He will be there to turn mistakes into great goodness. As St. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians, "And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (1:6).

God’s Call

Never forget that you are chosen according to God’s purpose for a particular vocation and mission. You are consecrated for this purpose to grow in holiness and grace, following the sound of God’s voice. The prophet Jeremiah tells us: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations" (Jeremiah 1:5).

Saying yes to God in response to His call is to be what God wants us to be. It is not what the world wants us to be. "Success" is not as important as being faithful. Sometimes a call may be very gentle, very subtle. Sometimes His call will be as obvious as a billboard message, or honking horn. God’s call may simply be a nudge in a general direction, or more specifically to a clear, distinct plan of action. Regardless of how the call takes place, God is there to cooperate with our choices in a beautiful, often surprising way–to reveal life-map details on our journey to Heaven.

Pope John Paul II tells us that discovering the Lord’s will in our lives always involves "…A receptive listening to the Word of God and the Church, fervent and constant prayer, recourse to a wise and loving spiritual guide, and a faithful discernment of the gifts and talents given by God, as well as the diverse social and historical situations in which one lives" (Christifideles Laici).

As faithful Catholics, let us consider the many opportunities that exist for developing a greater awareness of personal vocation and mission in our lives.

Our vocation and mission involves far more than the limits of career choice. It makes up our lifework and our very existence as human beings, as one-of-a-kind, unrepeatable works of love in partnership with God’s creative powers in service to the Gospel