a faithful discernment of the gifts and talents given by God, as well as the diverse social and historic situations in which one lives 89 Discovering God’s will is only the first step. We must be willing to follow through on what He asks of us. It is not a question of simply knowing what God wants from each of us in the various situations of life. The individual must do what God wants, as we are reminded in the words that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, addressed to the servants at Cana: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). 90 The Holy Father tells us that during our formation as Christians we can expect: an ever-clearer discovery of one’s vocation and the ever-greater willingness to live it so as to fulfill one’s mission. He clarifi es by telling us: In life . . . there are particul particularly arly sig signifi nificant cant and decisi decisive ve moments for discerni discerning ng God’s God’s call call and embracing the mission entrusted by Him. . . . No one must forget that the Lord, as the master of the laborers in the vineyard, calls at every hour of life so as to make his holy will more precisely and explicitly known. 91 Could now be one of those “particularly significant and decisive moments”? God put us on earth at this time in history and in our own circumstances for His particular reasons. The Holy Father continues by reinforcing the necessity of prayer and listening, Therefore, the fundamental and continuous attitude of the disciple should be one o vigilance and a conscious attentiveness to the voice of God. 92 But do we think that we are too old, too young, too . . . ? From the beginning, people have been making excuses and trying to prove that they aren’t up to the task given them by God. We have only only to look at some of the major Old Old Testament characters to see that human nature hasn’t changed. From our vantage point, it seems almost impossible that anyone who had seen signs and wonders performed by God, or had spoken with the Lord face-to-face, as Moses did (Exod. 33:11), would doubt the Lord’s wisdom. But we often see Old Testament characters explaining to God why they cannot do the job He has asked of them. Moses was a great objector. “Who am I? . . . I am slow of speech and of tongue” (Exod. 3:11; 4:10). Jeremiah’s protest is similar, “I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth” (Jer. 1:6). We, on the other hand, have the fulfillment of the New Testament in Jesus Christ. We have the Church guided by the Holy Spirit. And we have the most miraculous signs and wonders of all — the sacraments. The figures of the Old Testament could legitimately point point to us and say, say, “If we had known what you know know,, we would would never have doubted the Lord’s designs!” We have heard the saying, “The Lord does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called.” Looking at it this way, we see that many of the main characters in salvation 46
