Time and Talent: What am I Doing Here, and Why?

I found a few resources for my next “Dr. Faustus” post this morning and afternoon, and got some writing done. Then it was time for my hour at the Eucharistic Adoration chapel.

That was, I think, an hour well-spent. But I’d been on a roll with the writing, and I don’t think that will happen again in the time I’ve got before supper.

I’d been reading about stewardship during my ‘chapel’ hour, so that’s more or less what I’ll write about here. But mostly about vocations. My vocation, specifically. And I don’t mean a job or career.

Vocations, in the Catholic sense, are what each of us does that will matter in the long run. In my dialect of English, Catholics who say “vocation” in this context generally mean being a priest, monk or nun. But I’ve got a vocation, too. We all do.

VOCATION: The calling or destiny we have in this life and hereafter. God has created the human person to love and serve him; the fulfillment of this vocation is eternal happiness (1, 358, 1700). Christ calls the faithful to the perfection of holiness (825). The vocation of the laity consists in seeking the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will (898). Priestly and religious vocations are dedicated to the service of the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation (cf. 873; 931).”
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary)

Using What I’ve Got

I’m human, so wanting God is written into my heart. (Catechism, 27)

Metaphorically.

That sort of writing is real, but it’s not the sort that shows up in MRI scans.

I figure that loving and serving God won’t happen if I don’t know God, and know about God.

Happily, I can learn about God by paying attention to what the Church says: and to myself, folks around me and this marvel-filled universe we live in. (Catechism, 2643)

Also happily, my talents — the kit I was issued — includes off-the-chart language skills and a knack for remembering and correlating idea. That’s not bragging.

Like I said: it’s the kit I was issued. All I did was decide to develop some skills that are possible with those aptitudes.

Using my knack for noticing and writing seems like a way I can support the common good. Which is a good idea. (Catechism, 18781889, 19361937)

Noticing God’s Universe

I figure paying attention to the wonders and beauty surrounding us makes sense.

It’s also fun. At least it’s fun for me. And it’s one way I can learn about God: by noticing what God is making, and what we’re learning.

Humanity’s continuing efforts to understand how this universe works is a good idea. Within reason. (Catechism, 22922295)

But it’s not humanity’s end game:

BEATIFIC VISION: The contemplation of God in heavenly glory, a gift of God which is a constitutive element of the happiness (or beatitude) of heaven (1028, 1720).”

HAPPINESS: Joy and beatitude over receiving the fulfillment of our vocation as creatures: a sharing in the divine nature and the vision of God. God put us into the world to know, love, and serve him, and so come to the happiness of paradise (1720).”
(Glossary, Catechism of the Catholic Church)

I’ve talked about this before:

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About Brian H. Gill

I was born in 1951. I'm a husband, father and grandfather. One of the kids graduated from college in December, 2008, and is helping her husband run businesses and raise my granddaughter; another is a cartoonist and artist; #3 daughter is a writer; my son is developing a digital game with #3 and #1 daughters. I'm also a writer and artist.
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