Vocation: Questions... Reflections

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Here are some questions you can reflect on: I received this from a day retreat I went to at Sisters of the Child Jesus in my hometown members.shaw.ca/gmlamy/index.html
  1. What is my vision of God? Self? Others? The World?
Is my my call blocked, sabatoged by a faulty vision, by a poor self-image or by a distorted vision of God? It is very important how I envision God. For example, if he is only conditionally loving, then I am not free to truly answer his call. If I don’t love myself I can’t believe in the call, etc.

Read the following statements:
  1. I must be loved and accepted by everyone who knows me or I cannot love and approve of myself.
  2. I must do everything perfectly or else I cannot think of myself worthwhile.
  3. I have to please others and satisfy their expectations or I feel like a failure.
  4. I am afraid that God is only conditionally loving and that I had better meet His conditions for Him to love me. God will only love me if…
  5. The thought of God’s anger is frightening, therefore I am careful not to upset Him.
  6. I’ve done so many awful things in my life God could never forgive me.
  7. I’m stupid, I do silly things, never get things done, always do something wrong.
Do any of these statements require a yes or are most of your attitudes toward God and yourself more like the following: God is love, and love me; I am happy to be me and wouldn’t want to be anyone else.
  1. I listen to what God is saying to me in His word.
Reflection: Let the following passages sink into your being. Take delight in them. Believe them.

Isaiah 43:1-1; John 4-16; Isaiah 43:15,16; Psalms 139; Matt.11:28-30; Ex.16:8; Gen 1:31; Isaiah 49:1-15,16; Isaiah 43:2; Rom.8:28-30; Jer.1-5; Psalm 8; Sir.17:3; Wisdom 2:23; Gen.9:6.

Pick the quotations that really speak to me.

Is God saying something to me in these quotations? What?
  1. Does God accept my weakness?
Reflect on how he accepted the weaknesses of others: Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Prodigal Son, King David; Jesus ate and drank with sinners, parables of Lost sheep and Good shepherd.

Reflect on the call of the Apostles. How many were perfect? They all denied Him in one way or another–they ran away, they misunderstood his mission, etc.
After the Ascension, even though Jesus had been with them after his Ressurrection, they huddled in fear in the upper room. However, with the exception of Judas, all came to believe in unconditonal love.

I reflect on how God accepted the weaknesses of others: Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Prodigal Son, King David; Jesus ate and drank with sinners, parables of Lost sheep and Good shepherd.

I reflect on the call of the Apostles: How many were perfect? They all denied Him in one way or another–they ran away, they misunderstood his mission, etc.
After the Ascension, even though Jesus had been with them after his Ressurrection, they huddled in fear in the upper room. However, with the exception of Judas, all came to believe in unconditonal love.

Do I believe that God accepts my weaknesses? Explain
Do I accept my weakenesses? Explain.
  1. God calls me to Being
Our very first call was/is the call that brought us into being. God pronounced your/my name and we are called into life.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”- Jer.1:5

I am a Divine secret called into being.

“I have called you by name; you are mine”- Is.43:1

*Sit quietly for a few moments. Inwardly pronounce your name. Hear it as God says it. *

How do I feel about my name? What does my name, as given to me by God, reveal to me? Wha meaning does it have?
  1. I need to recognize my giftedness. Who I am in God.
Do I truly believe I am unconditionally loved, today, by the God who created me? Do I love myself?

Picture a butterfly and a frog ask yourself which is prettier?

Do I accept who I am? Who I am called to be or do I negate myself because I don’t seem to fit some sort of “image”?
  • Remember you don’t have to answer online. You can keep your answers to yourself if you want
Deep inside each of us,
like a brand.
There is a place where
God has
touched
caressed and
kissed us.

There is an ancient legend which hold that when an infant is created God kisses it soul and sings to it. As its guardian angel carries it to earth to join its body, she also sings to it. The legend says that God’s kiss and His song, as well as the song of the angel, remain in that soul forever–to be called up, cherished, shared, and to become the basis for all of our songs.

To feel that kiss, to hear that song, requires solitude. Inside each of us there is a church, an oratory, a place of worship, a sanctuary not made by human hands. And it is a gentle place, a virgin place, a holy place, a place where God has already touched us. (In Exile, Robert Rollenheiser)
 
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