{"id":71,"date":"2009-11-23T17:53:18","date_gmt":"2009-11-24T01:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=71"},"modified":"2011-05-29T10:58:56","modified_gmt":"2011-05-29T17:58:56","slug":"a-call-to-vocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-call-to-vocation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Call to Vocation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>oday at Mass, two odd things happened.<\/p>\n

First, I should mention for those not Catholic that today’s second reading at Mass was from the Epistle of Saint James, specifically 2:14-18.<\/p>\n

What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
\nif someone says he has faith but does not have works?
\nCan that faith save him?
\nIf a brother or sister has nothing to wear
\nand has no food for the day,
\nand one of you says to them,
\n\u201cGo in peace, keep warm, and eat well, \u201d
\nbut you do not give them the necessities of the body,
\nwhat good is it?
\nSo also faith of itself,
\nif it does not have works, is dead.<\/p>\n

Indeed someone might say,
\n\u201cYou have faith and I have works.\u201d
\nDemonstrate your faith to me without works,
\nand I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So that was sort of rumbling around my head.<\/p>\n

After receiving Holy Communion, Francine and I returned to our pew to kneel in thanksgiving. At this time, I always pray for the conversion of my children, and then the idea suddenly popped into my head – “God, I’m a little thick. If you are calling me, could you be a little clearer?”<\/p>\n

At that moment, Francine’s rosary exploded in her hands. Beads bounced everywhere. The sound was quite startling, and there were some gasps around us.<\/p>\n

I helped her pick up what beads we could find on the pew in front of us, all the while thinking, “clearly a sign. Clearly too thick to interpret it.”<\/p>\n

This was unnerving enough, but then after Mass the Holy Names Society put on one of their famous breakfasts in the basement. This coincides with their monthly meeting, which they very cleverly begin before everyone has finished eating.<\/p>\n

I took the opportunity during a particularly boring bit of the meeting to sneak back upstairs to the church. I prayed before Our Lady and asked if she might not provide a little clarification, as I was clearly a bear of very little brain.<\/p>\n

As I knelt in front of her altar, I heard Father Sacco’s voice rumbling up from the basement, saying “…Thom and Francine…”<\/p>\n

I had the sudden urge to run back downstairs to find out what we’d just been volunteered for.<\/p>\n

I finished my prayers and in perfect serenity returned to the basement. Francine and I are going to be working with the parish outreach and communications to lapsed Catholics.<\/p>\n

The entire archdiocese will be launching a program related to CatholicsComeHome.org<\/a>. I’m not sure what our jobs will actually entail, but I’m very excited at the prospect.<\/p>\n

Where does this leave my call? I hate to read tea leaves, but it seems that God is making sure that both of us are on board for this before we go too much further.<\/p>\n

And I think I might talk to Father Sacco about this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today at Mass, two odd things happened. First, I should mention for those not Catholic that today’s second reading at Mass was from the Epistle of Saint James, specifically 2:14-18. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3,30,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-francine-my-love","category-moments-in-time","category-rev-carmine-sacco-s-j","category-vocation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-19","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":469,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/we-need-works\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":0},"title":"We Need Works","author":"Thom","date":"15 April 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"During Lent, I am reading the Desert Fathers. On occasion I will post sayings that strike me during my Lectio. Abba James said, \"We do not only need words, for at the present time there are many words among men; but we need works, for this is what is required\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wisdom"","block_context":{"text":"Wisdom","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/wisdom\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":105747,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/an-end-and-a-beginning\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":1},"title":"An End and a Beginning","author":"Thom","date":"31 August 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I am no longer a catechist, at least in the formal sense. Yesterday, Archbishop Etienne and Holy Rosary parish welcomed the Boylan-Nims family into Christ's Church. And with them, our parish RCIA comes to an end, and by extension my role as its director. This was our penultimate Mass as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2020 - the end of Holy Rosary"","block_context":{"text":"2020 - the end of Holy Rosary","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2020-the-end-of-holy-rosary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/2020-08-30-13.10.59-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/2020-08-30-13.10.59-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/2020-08-30-13.10.59-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/2020-08-30-13.10.59-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/2020-08-30-13.10.59-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1795,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/today-at-mass\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":2},"title":"Today at Mass","author":"Thom","date":"27 November 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow. Today we used the new translation of the Mass for the first time. There were the expected little confusions in the responses, but over all everybody dove right into it with enthusiasm. The most difficult bit was, as expected, the reflexive \"and also with you\". Francine even messed this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Moments in Time"","block_context":{"text":"Moments in Time","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/moments-in-time\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2439,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-year-of-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":3},"title":"A Year of Faith","author":"Thom","date":"21 March 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed a \"Year of Faith\" to run from 11 October 2012 to 24 November 2013. Pastoral guidelines have been published that call for prayer, celebrations, pilgrimages, catechetical events, missions, and new forms of evangelization. The Pope calls us to profess the faith, celebrate the faith, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holy Days"","block_context":{"text":"Holy Days","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18011,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-year-of-faith-begins\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":4},"title":"The Year of Faith Begins","author":"Thom","date":"11 October 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Pope Benedict XVI has proclaimed a \"Year of Faith\" to run from today, 11 October 2012, through to 24 November 2013. Pastoral guidelines have been published that call for prayer, celebrations, pilgrimages, catechetical events, missions, and new forms of evangelization. The Pope calls us to profess the faith, celebrate the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History"","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Logo_Latin-240x339.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2035,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/on-the-role-of-spiritual-guides\/","url_meta":{"origin":71,"position":5},"title":"On the Role of Spiritual Guides","author":"Thom","date":"18 January 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Suffering through a snow day here at Pistachio House when I came upon this. It needs to be shared, and I for one need to ponder the scriptures and the Pope's words. Helping Those Called to \"Recognize the Voice of God and Follow It\" VATICAN CITY, JAN. 16, 2012 (Zenit.org).-\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Meditations"","block_context":{"text":"Meditations","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/meditations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Pope_Benedict_XVI_Angelus_CNA_Vatican_Catholic_News_12_8_10_2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":761,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}