Remove your sandals

The time of Lent is approaching. This is a wonderful time for listening to the voice of God in our lives, especially as a time of discernment of His holy will in our lives and for our lives.

This sacred time evokes entering the desert, that is, allowing God to speak to us and listen to Him without the distraction of other voices. Listening only to His voice.

Moses, in his escape to the desert, encounters that fundamental moment of his life in which God manifests His liberating plan. God, who hears the cry of His people, calls Moses to collaborate with Him in His plan of freedom for His people.

In that meeting at Horeb, God invites Moses to renounce himself and be guided by His grace, and to be an instrument of His salvation for His people. “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Ex 3:5)

In order to be an instrument of God, the young man who discerns his vocation needs to enter an intimate dialogue with God in the desert through prayer, taking time to listen to His voice that is always clear, penetrates the heart, and reveals His will.

There in that sacred space of intimacy with the One who calls, with Him who seduces the heart and who fills with His grace the deepest depths of the human being, is God Himself.

In that encounter, he who is being called must renounce himself, allow himself to be guided and molded by God, and surrender to His will. Filled with humility and simplicity of heart, he responds with generosity to His will, that is, with courage, not being afraid to give up his life and totally abandon himself to the will of God.

It is important to leave the sandals aside, recognize that the PRIESTHOOD is not a human, but divine plan, and on behalf of the people of God. This call comes from God, who is holy and invites those He wants to collaborate with Him in this blessed plan of salvation.

Today, God hears the cry of His people who need messengers of hope, emissaries who listen to the voice of God, who let themselves be transformed by Him, who are brave and who trust in His word, who risk their lives to serve God and the Church.

Young man, I say to you that are being called by God, to enter the desert, listen to His voice, let yourself be shaped by Him, leave your sandals, renounce yourself, and respond with generosity. The Church of the present time needs men of prayer, in love with God, generous in their response to the service of His people, and committed to doing the will of God in their lives.

The Lenten season is a favorable time to speak heart-to-heart with God, who is always new, who continues to call real men to make them instruments of His love and grace on behalf of His people. The priesthood is a blessed call that requires prayer and abandonment in Him.

We invite you, young man in the Diocese of Fort Worth, to enter the desert of your heart, as Moses did, to listen to His voice, abandon yourself to His will, discover His plan for you, and to be generous in your response to His divine call.

Son, come to us, we want to accompany you on your path of discernment. Your Bishop Michael Olson and the four vocations liaisons pray for you and entrust your vocation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of the High Priest, so that she may always guide your journey.

Servus meus es Tu, in quo Gloriablor! 
“You are My Servant, In Whom I will show My glory.” Is 49:3