Faith Learned, Faith Lived: Rise to the Occasion for Listening and Answering God's Call

The Year of Faith is a celebration of our calling to follow Christ and how we can come to know Jesus in our commitment to the ACE community and Catholic Schools. Our prayer is that we can learn to find Jesus in the ordinary and routine things of our lives. ACE Teaching Fellows calls men and women to live a simple life as teachers in Catholic schools.

August 6^th was the feast of the Transfiguration. Matthew, Mark and Luke all write about this experience. Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray.

Read Mark 9: 2 -10 to discover the meaning this had for the disciples and a way to discover what God is calling us to do.

There are three things that stand out in this passage:

• It is good for Jesus and the disciples to be in a different place.
• A change takes place in the appearance of Jesus.
• God speaks and says, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”

The disciples did not immediately understand what this meant. It took time for them to come to a clear understanding of who Jesus is and what impact this event would have on their lives. They are much like us as we try to discover what God is calling us to do.

Most people acknowledge the search for meaning in their lives, but they just do not know how to go about it. The disciples saw the Transfiguration and thought of a way of responding, but that was not what Jesus had in mind. They did not understand what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus.

Lauren is beginning her first year of teaching Middle School Math. She has had an interesting journey to ACE. She studied Nursing as an undergraduate and thought this would be her life’s work. She worked in a hospital last year and discovered she did not want to be a nurse. She was not happy, and that caused her to examine her life and pray for insight—which helped her discover ACE and change direction. Now, the smile on her face indicated to me that she was happy discovering her calling as a teacher. She said this change in her life made her happy.

The Transfiguration shows us the mission of Jesus and the disciples and can show us how to discern what God is calling us to do. The process is this: Step back from the daily activity we are involved in and be honest about what we are feeling. Lauren paid attention to the fact that she was unhappy as a nurse.

Peter, James and John went up a mountain with Jesus, which was to step away from their daily activities. We do not have to go up a mountain, but we do need a quiet place for reflection. We have to be willing to take seriously the words of the Father and listen to the beloved Son. After we step away from our daily activity -- put aside the noise in our lives --we will be ready to listen to Jesus.

We may find our calling, and it may be something we did not expect. Let us be open to allowing the Word of God to guide our lives.