Reflections on discerning a vocation – faith, listening and trust
By Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III
Bishop of Biloxi
Vocation and Discipleship Prayer
Loving Father, Your Son, Jesus Christ the High Priest, has told us that the harvest is great but the laborers are few.
We ask you now to send more laborers into your vineyard. Please touch with your Holy Spirit the hearts of all those you are calling to live a life of service in your church as Priests, Deacons, Consecrated men and women, dedicated married couples and committed singles persons.
Help us all to follow Christ faithfully and to answer the call to holiness and discipleship. We as this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen
- Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III
I have been a priest for 46 years and a bishop for seven. The Lord has moved in my life many different times. It has been a joy to both be a priest and a bishop.
The Diocesan Prayer for Vocations speaks of the priesthood, diaconate, religious life, consecrated life, married life and single life. We all have a vocation and fit within God’s plan. Our vocation is a call from God to live a life of goodness and holiness.
We live a life of holiness by living His two great commandments: (1) Love God with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength and (2) Love our neighbor as ourselves. Living these two commandments is essential for all of us, singles, religious, married couples, and clergy. It is one of the central aspects of our being called by God.
Perhaps you are beginning to feel a tug on your shoulder or a whisper in your ear from God speaking to you specifically. That is how it began for me. I entered the seminary when I was 14 years-old. I had no idea at the time that I would one day become a priest, but I felt a pretty good tug on my sleeve from God nudging me to, “Give it a shot. Think about it. Pray about it.”
Over the years, through high school and college, earning my college degree and then through graduate school, the pull became stronger and stronger. You might ask, “How did I know?” and I think that is a real question for all of us. How do we know when God is calling us to a vocation?
We begin in our faith in God; believing that God has a plan for all of history, and that God specifically has a plan for each of us, a plan for you and a plan for me, within the gift of His son Jesus Christ that He has given us. God speaks to each of us, and we need to listen!
Listening means that we are a people of prayer. Daily prayer is critical and encourage you to be a person of prayer every day. There is a prayer exercise that I use very regularly. It involves the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Every time we bless ourselves with the Sign of the Cross, that blessing is a reminder of our own baptism. With that prayer, I take a minute – usually at night – with God, the Father, going over my day and giving thanks for the blessings of the day. These blessings are often simple things. They can be major things. They can be moments of great joy. They are gratitude moments. For the small and big moments of your day, give thanks!
I spend the second minute with the Son of God, Jesus, and I ask Jesus for forgiveness for anything that comes to mind that happened during the day when I was not Christ to another, when I was not as good as I was supposed to be, or as good as I thought I should be. It could even be a sinful moment, and I ask for forgiveness in that minute.
In the third minute, I pray with the Holy Spirit and I ask the Spirit to guide me and give me the grace I need to continue to be a witness of Jesus the next day, especially if I know there will be things going on the next day which may be challenging.
I begin with this simple form of prayer which calls us into a spirit of listening, and then I turn to the Word of God. Being people of the Bible is important. If you have not started the habit of reading Scripture daily and need a place to start, I encourage you to begin with the Gospels and the New Testament. (This does not mean that the Old Testament is not important; it is, but when beginning, I especially encourage you to start with the New Testament.)
The end of St. Matthew’s Gospel the heart and center of all of our diocesan work as a Church in Southern Mississippi:
The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, the worshiped, but they doubted. Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:16-20).
These are our marching orders as a Church. Whether we are a priest, a sister, a brother, a deacon, married, or single, these words, The Great Commission of Jesus, are for each of us! That is what He asks us to do. That is who we are called to be.
Frequent reception of the Sacraments also leads us to being open to God’s call in our lives, especially the Most Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Confession. When we receive Jesus’s Body and Blood, it is a moment for us to share in His Body and Blood and He becomes one with us. It is fantastic! It is Jesus touching our lives and becoming part of us. Inviting Jesus into our lives through the Sacraments allows Him to be one with us and this closeness will help you with your discernment.
Another tool for discernment is trust. Trust that the Lord is working in your life. Start in your own heart. Having people in your life who you trust and with whom you can share where you are at in your faith journey is very helpful. Perhaps a Religious sister, a priest, or a faith-filled friend, somebody you can speak to and share how you see God moving in your life. Then let them echo that back to you.
I have a spiritual director I meet with on a monthly basis. It gives me a chance to go to confession, and it also gives me a chance to share how the Lord is working in my life, in my prayer life, and in my life as a bishop. I find it very helpful to have someone to walk with in faith who will help fill in the gaps and reflect back what the Lord is doing. There is also a challenge to act on what the Lord is doing and to recognize how He is moving in our lives.
Another key to discernment of your vocation, is to recognize the fruits of the Holy Spirit and their presence in your life, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22b-23a). Being attentive to the fruit of the Holy Spirit will help you be aware of where and how the Holy Spirit is working in your life and to confirm your decision making.
As you draw closer in relationship with the Lord, through prayer, His Word, the Sacraments, and spiritual direction, make a decision and say “YES” to whatever the Lord is calling you to be. Again, it can be married life, single life, religious life, diaconate, or priesthood. Our “YES” will echo throughout our lives most likely for the rest of our lives.
Our vocation is meant to be built on the love of Jesus Christ, and once again, we come back to those two great commandments. If we love God with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength, we will be aware of God’s hand moving in our lives and directing us. If we love our neighbor as ourselves, through that action we will receive the grace we need to really know how God is calling us to live out that particular commandment. It enables us to see God working in our lives.
When we give the gift of love away, it is amazing how it returns to us as such a wonderful blessing.
If you are feeling the tug, contact:
Director of Vocations;
