Discernment and Vocation. These are subjects that have been prevalent in my mind for the past couple of months while here in Wexford. “What is God’s will for my life?” is a question that comes to my mind all too often, especially now that my time in Wexford is slowly coming to an end. Of course, that’s a question that can’t be answered so easily, it takes time and an openness to listen to what God has to say. And I’ll admit that over the past couple of years I’ve been a bit lost as to what God wants for my life. At least in the sense of what comes next.
I was recently reading parts of Pope Francis’ Exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate as a reflection in prayer. In the section that I had chosen to reflect on, he writes about the importance of discernment in the lives of all Christians. Pope Francis writes that “Discernment is not about discovering what more we can get out of this life, but about recognizing how we can better accomplish the mission entrusted to us at our baptism.” (174)
Reading this last part made me think about what we do here in the House of Brigid. One of the main things that we do in Teach Bhríde is that we go to two of the schools in the area and we help prepare some of the classes to receive either the Sacrament of First Holy Communion or the Sacrament of Confirmation. Last Week the 6th class students of Scoil Mhuire and Kennedy Park celebrated their Confirmations, it was amazing to see all the students that we helped prepare for Confirmation receive the sacrament. I couldn’t but help feel proud of them for saying yes to receiving the Holy Spirit into their lives.
After each of the Confirmation Masses, I had a chance to congratulate some of the students that we had worked with. There was one student that I was hoping to congratulate because he would always want to give answers to the questions being asked and he was enthusiastic about doing so. He was with his parents and I reintroduced myself to them and spoke about how it was a pleasure to work with him and his class. His mom then said, “oh, I know, he talks about you and Kelli all the time and how you come into the classroom and how you both teach them things for Confirmation, and he tells me about the subjects that you talked about in those classes.” Hearing this from one of the parents about how much just one of the students is impacted by our presence in the school was really powerful to hear. In hearing this I realized how much of a difference we make in the community and I was reminded about how much I’ve not only loved working with the students preparing for Confirmation but also it reminded me of the times in the past where I taught and I worked with kids of different ages and the joy that those times brought me.
I am thankful that this program allows us the space and time for personal growth, formation, and discernment. I think being able to have these moments to properly think about God’s will for my life has helped me realize how I can better accomplish the mission I’ve been entrusted with by God. While I may not be 100% clear discernment-wise about what God wants for my life, I know that in my heart and soul I feel the call to work with the youth of the Church, sentiments that I rediscovered while working with the 6th classes here in Wexford.
