Occasionally I am asked to celebrate a Mass or give a talk at my cousin’s children’s Catholic school in suburban Philadelphia. A few days after having begun Lent, I was able to Zoom with the second grade class who were about to make their First Reconciliation. As expected, they were nervous … and they came to the Zoom session with LOTS of questions.
As most conversations with 8-year-olds go, it began with some inquiries that helped them shake-off their nervousness about Confession, and then quickly ventured into the realm of the improbable: “What happens if a murderer comes into the confessional? What happens if a priest calls a kid’s parents to tell them what sins she has confessed to?”
And then, out of the blue, this question: “Father, how will I know if Jesus is calling me to do something special for him?”
The depth of the question caught me by surprise, to be honest, and I hesitated to come up with words to speak to a child about the beauty of vocation.
I must have paused too long, because a very-loquacious red-head named George answered from a desk in the back of the classroom: “Oh, that’s easy. Whatever you do out of love IS your calling from God.”
And there I sat in Zoom-silence again, struggling to find the words to respond to an answer so simple and yet so very profound. We the Church spend millions of dollars every year on vocations programs and research when, in truth, all we really had to do was ask George.
His face appeared on the screen again, and just as I was ready to compliment him for his insight, George then followed-up with: “Would Superman have to go to Confession if he killed a bad guy?”
And from off-screen on the other side of the classroom came the voice of a true superhero, the second grade teacher: “Put yourself on mute, George. Give someone else a chance to ask a question.”
Sage advice, during Lent and always: Get to Confession. Live your vocation out of love. And don’t forget to mute yourself from time to time!