From prison, where St. Paul suffers abandonment and loneliness, he addresses a letter to the first Christians of Ephesus. It begins with a joyful song of thanksgiving for all the gifts received from the Lord, especially for the vocation with which God has personally chosen us from eternity to be his disciples and to extend his Kingdom here on earth. The Apostle highlights the radical equality of the vocation by which we are all called in Christ at the initiative of God the Father, for in him he chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless before him through love. He has destined us in the person of Christ - by his pure initiative - to be his children, so that the glory of his grace, which he has so generously bestowed on us in his beloved Son, may redound to his praise.
Every believer, each one of us, has been called from eternity to the highest divine vocation. God the Father expressly willed to call us to life (no man is born by chance), directly created our unique and unrepeatable soul, and made us partakers of his intimate life through Baptism. With this sacrament God has anointed us with his anointing, and has also marked us with his seal, and has placed in our hearts the Spirit as a pledge. He has appointed for us in life a task of our own, and has lovingly prepared for us a place in Heaven, where he awaits us as a father awaits his son after a long journey.
Assuming this radical vocation to holiness and apostolate, God makes a particular call to each one of us. The vast majority, with a full vocation, are called to live in the midst of the world so that - from within - they can transform it and direct it to him, and sanctify themselves through earthly activities. Others, always few in relation to all the baptized, are asked to distance themselves from these realities, giving public witness - as consecrated souls - to their belonging to God. The Lord, in a mysterious and delicate way, makes known to us what he wants from us. Even within one's own vocation - married, single, priests... - the Lord points out a proper path by which to go to him, dragging many others along with us. "Indeed, God has thought of us from eternity and has loved us as unique and unrepeatable persons, calling each of us by name, like the Good Shepherd who calls his sheep each by name (Jn 10:3). But God's eternal plan is revealed to each of us through the historical development of our life and its events, and therefore only gradually: in a certain sense day by day.
"And in order to discover the concrete will of the Lord for our life, prompt and docile listening to the word of God and of the Church, filial and constant prayer, reference to wise and loving spiritual direction, the perception in faith of the gifts and talents received and, at the same time, of the various social and historical situations in which one is immersed are always indispensable."
Thus, in the course of time, the Lord leads us by the hand to ever higher goals of holiness. If we are faithful, if we have an attentive ear, the Holy Spirit leads us through the normal events of life, teaching us, interpreting them correctly and drawing from them - whatever their sign - more love for God.
Hablar con Dios