A vocation is a calling from God and we are invited to respond to the call. Some may choose to respond to the call wholeheartedly; some may respond with hesitation or with some fear; whereas some may choose to ignore or reject the call. The question is: how do we know that God is calling us? Sometimes we may be called by God, but we may not recognise His voice. This is where it may be helpful for us to seek help from another person such as a priest, a religious, a vocation director, or someone who could help us to discern whether we are being called by God, or we are just imagining things. Such a person would journey with us for a while, so that we would be able to hopefully recognise God's calling and make our choice.
In today's reading, we read about Samuel being called by God, but Samuel was unable to recognise God's voice, since he "had as yet no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him." Fortunately for Samuel, Eli was there and he "understood that it was the Lord who was calling the boy." With Eli's help, Samuel was able to respond to God's call, and later "all Israel from Dan to Beersheba came to know that Samuel was accredited as a prophet of the Lord."
What about us? Have we received God's call to a way of life? Are we able to recognise God's voice? Some of us may be fortunate to be able to recognise God's voice on our own. Some of us may need a little help from another person, especially from one who has been called and has recognised God's voice. Whatever the case may be, may we discern and think carefully, and may we be generous in our response for the glory of God.
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