Christian Vocation:

A Life of Mission
Brother GLENN NICOLE E. PAGAYATAN
 A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke

Now it happened that Jesus was standing one

day by the lake of Gennesareth, with the crowd
pressing around him listening to the word of
God, when he caught sight of two boats at the
water’s edge. The fishermen had got out of
them and were washing their nets. He got into
one of the boats – it was Simon’s and asked him
to put out a little from the shore.
The Big Catch (Lk 5:1-10)
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from
the boat. When he had finished speaking he
said to Simon, “put out into the deep water and
pay out your net for a catch.”
Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all
night long and caught nothing, but if you say
so, I will pay out the nets.” And when they had
done this, they netted such a huge number of
fish that their nets began to tear,
The Big Catch (Lk 5:1-10)
so they signaled to their companions in
the other boat to come and help them;
when these came, they filled both boats
to sinking point. When Simon Peter saw
this, he fell at the knees of Jesus saying,
Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.”

The Big Catch (Lk 5:1-10)

“For he and all his companions were
completely awestruck at the catch they had
made; so also, were James and John, sons
of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners.
But Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on, it is people you will be
catching.” Then, bringing their boats back
to land they left everything and followed
him.
The Gospel of the Lord. The Big Catch (Lk 5:1-10)
Four Stages of Calling
 “Initio disputanti in
definitio terminis est.”
“The beginning of
every discussion is
definition”
St. Thomas Aquinas
Christian Vocation:
A Life of Mission
 In the Acts of the
Apostles, St. Luke
mentions the first
instance of the term
“Christian”

“So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he

had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year
they met with the church, and taught a large company of
people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time
called Christians” (Acts 11:25-26).
But what does it mean to be a “Christian”?

To be a Christian, in one sense, simply means to

have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains
how baptism is the defining mark of a Christian
and so Christians are all those who belong to any
and all of those churches where a Trinitarian
baptism is performed.
 Baptism constitutes the foundation of
communion among all Christians, including
those who are not yet in full communion with
the Catholic Church: “For men who believe in
Christ and have been properly baptized are put
in some, though imperfect, communion with the
Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism,
[they] are incorporated into Christ;)
they therefore have a right to be called
Christians, and with good reason are accepted as
brothers by the children of the Catholic Church.”
“Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental
bond of unity existing among all who through it
are reborn.” (CCC 1271)
 Those who have been baptized in
Christ. By virtue, precisely of such
incorporation into Christ through
baptism, every Christian is entitled
to take an active role in mission of
the Church.
We were created to become like CHRIST.
From the very beginning, God’s plan has
been to make us like His Son Jesus. As a
matter of fact, by virtue of Baptism,
every Christian is required to strive for
perfection.

Through Baptism, we were given

supernatural life, that is, the life of Jesus.
We are now called to imitate Jesus, our
Lord.
 A Call to a CHRISTIAN LIFE
Christian means the “bearer of the
name of Christ”

CHRIST – IAN I AM NOTHING!

 Followers of Jesus can be called
“Christians” by virtue of their baptism and
proclamation of their faith, made concrete
through Christian living.
 Vocation
Vox – voice
Vocare – to call
‘I am the Good Shepherd, I
call each one by name.’John 10:14
 What does the word vocation mean?
 To be called

 God calls us each by name

 What are some Bible stories that speak of callings?
 Samuel, Jeremiah, Paul, the Apostles, Mary…
 God created us each with a special purpose, mission for
our lives, knew us before birth.
 Jeremiah 29:11-16
 “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you says the Lord,
plans to give you a future of hope. When you search for me you
will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find
me says the Lord.”
 A strong feeling of
suitability for a particular
career or occupation. It is
here that you feel you
are suited to doing and to
which you give much
of your time and energy.
Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary
A job might be part of your career or might be
your vocation, but the connotation of a job is closer to
getting paid for your time than for your skills. ...
People work jobs to make money, so having
a job means you will have money. It can also be steps in
your career or can fund you in your vocation.
Vocation could be work that is outside your wage-
earning sphere of activity.
Through our vocation, we find ourselves.
God exists, and he governs the lives of men with
infinite providence, wisdom, and love. This is the
first thing that we need to realize when talking
about the idea of vocation.
There is no sense in considering a vocation only from
the human angle since, by its very nature, it is a
personal call from God. If it is to be answered, then it
must be because the one who calls has the authority
to demand an answer. And the only possible reply is a
whole-hearted commitment without compromises or
reservations.
It is God who calls. He
has a specific plan for
every man and woman
who will ever exist
and, within each plan,
the divine will and
human freedom are
wonderfully bound to
one another.
 God takes into account not only the
strength of grace and our good will, but
also our weakness and the evil that we
do. Everything that happens to us is
part of the plan, whether it seems to be
mere chance or the product of our own
careful deliberation. Those things that
happen to us because of other people’s
actions are as much part of the plan as
those events that are clearly acts of
God.
 Two Stages

Jesus Disciples
To live with Jesus They followed Jesus
and to live like him because they wanted to live
with him as well as to be like
him.
 When are we first called and to what?
At Baptism

Called to be God’s adopted children

PLAN OF GOD
PLAN OF GOD
PLAN OF GOD
PLAN OF GOD
PLAN OF GOD
 What do you want?
What is the greatest desire of the human
heart?
"I ask each of you first and foremost to look
into your own heart, think of all the love
that your heart was made to receive, and
also the love it is meant to give, after all we
were made for love...
We were made to receive love...
We were also made to give love..."
Pope Benedict XVI, Message to Youth
 Why?
Because we are made in the image of a God who
is Love.
 God is a communion of Persons, an eternal
community of love, a family.
 “God created mankind in his image; in the image of
God he created him; male and female he created
them.” Gen1:27
 We are all made for spousal love
…Our body/being speak of this!
 What is our ultimate destiny?
We are made for union with God…from
love for love…destiny to love, relationship
with God.
In the Scriptures:
• Begins with what?...story of what/who? A
marriage?
• Marriage of Adam and Eve
• Throughout the Bible God uses marriage
imagery, of God and His Chosen People Israel
• End of the Bible with what?...Another
marriage?
• Christ and His Church, the Lamb of God and His
Bride….
 “Christian revelation recognizes two ways of
realizing the vocation of the human person in its
entirety, to love: marriage and virginity or celibacy”
JPII Familiaris Consortio

What do they reveal to us about God? About our destiny?

Two ways to love totally & give complete gift of yourself.
Vocation of Marriage
 Jesus said: “…This is why man leaves his
father and mother and becomes attached to
his wife, and the two become one flesh?”
Mt19:4-5
 “God blessed them and said be fertile and
multiply…” Gen 1:28

 “Be subject to one another out of reverence

for Christ…This mystery has great
significance, but I am applying it to Christ
and the Church.” Eph5:21-32
Vocation of Celibacy or Virginity
• “The unmarried man gives his
mind to the Lord’s affairs and
to how he can please the
Lord.”ICor7:32-33
• Image of living out our
Heavenly marriage here on
earth. Union with God, our
destiny.
 They both have in common the Cross
 “Love one another as I love you. No
one has greater love than this, to lay
down one’s life for one’s
friends.”Jn15:12-13

 “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the

grounds and dies, it remains just a
single grain.”

 “Husbands, love your wives, even as

Christ loved the Church and handed
himself over for her.” Eph5:25
 How do we strive to keep this commitment to Christ
in order to discern and keep committed to a
permanent state of life?
 Prayer & Silence
 Sacraments
 Scripture & Spiritual Reading
 Living a virtuous life!!! (live like Christ,
you will become like Him)
 Conversing with wise people
 Devotions to Saints
 Learning of their lives
 Charity (alms-giving)/Ministry
 Right now: As chaste singles, we are
called to live the call to Holiness from
our Baptism, preparing for this
vocation commitment.
The Holy Spirit can help us discern
who God is calling us to be

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire!”
St Catherine of Siena
 Universal Call to Holiness

Universal Call to Holiness

(We are all called to be Saints)

Religious Brother Single or

Priest Married
or Sister consecrated

Any job (teacher,

care profession,
office etc.)

We are all called to holiness, but God may want us to live out that
holiness in different states of life. No one vocation is better than
another, they are just different ways of giving Glory to God.
Mother Angelica of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN)
used to begin her weekly live broadcast with the statement, “We
are all called to be great saints.” This echoes the call to holiness
that the Catholic Church has made to the People of God down
through the ages. First Jesus called his followers to holiness and
after he ascended into Heaven his Apostles continued to call
them. In the centuries that followed, the Fathers of the Church
repeatedly called Christians to holiness, as did numerous Church
councils.
Vatican Council II states “He [God] has,
however, willed to make men holy and
save them, not as individuals without
any bond or link between them, but
rather to make them into a people
who might acknowledge him and
serve him in holiness,” (Lumen
Gentium, no. 9).
Pope John Paul II, who repeatedly
preached this theme, said in his
General Audience on November 24,
1993 that “The Church is holy and all
her members are called to holiness.”
What is Mission?
How do we/the people ordinarily
understand mission?
 Mission
1. Spreading the faith / the Good News

2. To go to different places to spread and build the

Church – Church-Planting.
3. To go to the pagans and baptize them and make
them Christians.

4. To build churches and chapels in places where there

are none.
5. To give help and do charitable acts to the poor and
the suffering.
A missional hermeneutic of the Bible
“proceeds from the assumption that
the whole Bible renders to us the
story of God’s Mission through God’s
people in their engagement with
God’s work for the sake of the whole
of God’s creation.”

Wright, The Mission of God, 51.

missions Mission
Missio Dei shifts the missional conversation from
missions to Mission.
The church has understood Mission
primarily as missions, i.e. all the
activities, programs and strategies of
the church
- evangelisation,
- community building,
- sacramental-liturgical
celebrations, and
- social outreach.
These are often driven by the VMGS
of the church.
Mission = God’s Mission
Missio Dei
God is the source, means and end
of missions
Mission of God
Mission of Jesus and the Holy Spirit
from the Father
“The pilgrim Church is missionary by its very nature. For it is
from the mission of the Son & the mission of the Holy Spirit that
it takes its origin, in accordance with the decree of God the
Father” (Ad Gentes 2)
“Mission is God’s work. He is the Lord, the
commissioner, the owner, the one who
accomplishes the task. He is the acting subject
of mission. If we attribute mission to God in
this way, it is withdrawn from every human
whim.”
Georg F. Vicedom, Missio Dei, 12-3.
 Rethinking church
As the church is not the source of Mission but the Trinity,
the role of the church in Missio Dei is primarily a
participation in the mission of the triune God.
Thus, Missio Dei is God-centred Mission rather than
church-centred or human-centred Mission.
 Rethinking the
Missionary
Missionaries are called by God to participate and
contemplate God’s Mission.
Missionaries are not social workers, development
workers nor community organizers.
 “You did not choose me but I
chose you. And I appointed you
to go and bear fruit, fruit that will
last, so that the Father will give
you whatever you ask him in my
name” (John 15: 16).
God’s work is already acting in the
world through the culture, the
collective struggle, the natural
environment and through the
Church.
“Mission is a predicate of God. God is a missionary
God… Missio Dei is active in the whole of history, and it
consists of God’s addressing himself to the whole
world, both in and outside of the church. Through the
events of history, God leads the world.” -Birkeli

“Another way of saying all this is that God is Mission.

Not that God has a Mission, but that God is Mission.”
-Stephen Bevans
“As the Father sent me, so I am sending you”
(John 20: 21).
The main missionary is God who imparts God’s gift
of divine life to the people before we arrived.
Therefore, the task of mission is to respond,
participate in God’s already ever-active,
prevenient, life-giving grace, presence and
movement in any space and time.
We are missionaries only by virtue of our
participation in the Divine Mission.
 The role of mission is to celebrate, intensify,
point, clarify and inspire the people in
experiencing and seeing God’s active work and
mission in their lives, situation and natural
environment.
“The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in
the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent.
Instead, God brought them.”

John Mbiti, “The Encounter of Christian Faith and African Religion,” Christian
Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. 817-820.
God’s Mission is not just sending but is also
giving and receiving
Missio Dei is doing mission from God,
with God, in God and for God.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28,
19-20).
This gospel passage from Matthew speaks of the
Commissioning of the Disciples. They were
commissioned by Jesus to continue his work of
evangelization, to proclaim the good news of our
salvation. During the public ministry of Jesus Christ, he
has done many things, such as teaching, healing, acts
of forgiving, and expulsion of demons. This authority
and power of Jesus was handed down to the Apostles
after he Resurrected from the dead and ascended into
heaven. After the earthly life of the apostles, their work
of proclaiming the Good news of Salvation was handed
down to the Bishops, the successors of the Apostles.
 The bishop who is the chief shepherd of
the Diocese has the primary responsibility
for catechesis in the diocese. The bishop
has entrusted the work of evangelization
to the priests as his co-workers to
shepherd God’s people in the Diocese. The
Parish Priest as the head and shepherd of
the Parish, cannot accomplish the work of
evangelization alone. Thus, he also needs
co-workers who will assist him in the
work of evangelization and catechesis.
Fervently insisted that the
Church exists to evangelize.
There is no other reason for
which the Church exists in
the world.

This mission of evangelization can

be accomplished in many ways:
“through witness and
proclamation, word and
sacrament, interior change, and
social transformation.”
• One of the privileged ways in which
the evangelization mission of the
Church is actually carried out in
practice is through the process of
catechesis.
• All the different forms of catechesis
which are carried out within the
Church have this particular aim: the
evangelization of peoples, that is,
the bringing of the Good News to
individuals wherever they stand.
• Catechesis serves the evangelization
mission of the Church by deepening
the faith which the individual would
supposedly already have embraced
through the first proclamation.
 loci and means of
catechesis
empowered partners
in the mission of
evangelization and
catechesis.

FAMILY

COMMUNITY

BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES

SCHOOL

PARISH
 The end-product, of our Catechesis aims
to produce are catechists and Ministers of
the Word of God who are first of all well-
balanced individuals in touch with people
and open to the signs of the times;
persons deeply rooted in God through
prayer and the sacraments; mature
Christians deeply imbued with Catholic
Faith and eloquent witnesses of the Risen
Christ in the context of the Church and the
society today.
 Two Types of Catechists

• full-time catechists, who devote

their life completely to this
service and are officially
recognized as such;
• and volunteer catechists, who
offer a more limited, but still
precious, collaboration.
[Guide for Catechists #4]
 Classifications of Volunteer Catechists
• In actual missionary practice, the catechist's vocation is both
specific, i.e. for the task of catechizing, and general, for
collaborating in whatever apostolic services are useful for the
building up of the Church. [Guide for Catechist, Part I, #2 par. 3.]
• 1. School Based Volunteer Catechists - are those who commit
themselves doing catechesis in public schools together with the
full time catechists but only for a limited time.
• 2. Parish Based Catechists - are those who collaborate with the
ordained ministers in their parishes. Usually assigned in educating
the out of school youth and adults in their faith, preparing
parishioners for the reception of the sacraments, at times in
charge of the education committee of the parishes.
• 3. Community Based Catechists – still these people are under the
parishes, but their main function is in the BEC. The task entrusted
to them is multiple; preaching, leading community prayers,
catechizing catechumens and those already baptized, taking
charge of pastoral initiatives, and organizing parish functions.
 THE CATECHIST
VOCATION & IDENTITY
“Every baptized Catholic is personally called
by the Holy Spirit to make his or her
contribution to the coming of God’s
kingdom. Within the lay state there are
various vocations, or different spiritual and
apostolic roads to be followed by both
individuals and groups.”
“The call to the ministry of catechist is a vocation, an
interior call, the voice of the Holy Spirit. Catechists need
to be practicing Catholics who participate fully in the
communal worship and life of the Church and who have
been prepared for their apostolate by appropriate
catechetical teaching” (National Directory for Catechesis, 54).
More Than Volunteerism –
a VOCATION
By virtue of faith and baptismal
anointing, in collaboration with
the Magisterium of the Church
and as a servant of the action of
the Holy Spirit, the catechist is:
• A witness of faith and keeper
of the memory of God
• A teacher and a mystagogue
• An accompanier and educator
Directory For Catechesis #113
“Specialized workers, direct witnesses,
indispensable evangelizers, who
represent the basic strength of Christian
communities, especially in the young
Churches”.
The Code of Canon Law has a canon on
catechists involved in strictly missionary activity
and describes them as “lay members of Christ’s
faithful who have received proper formation
and are outstanding in their living of the
Christian life. Under the direction of
missionaries, they are to present the Gospel
teaching and engage in liturgical worship and in
works of charity” (Guide for Catechists # 3,
1993).
 The Ideal Catechists
1. Response to a Call
Catechist are called by God through the
Church to the ministry of catechesis, not only
to give time and talent for re‐echoing the
Catholic faith but to be open to one’s own
deepening understanding and living of the
Catholic faith.
2. Witness to the Gospel
Catechists are called to believe and witness
the Gospel and its power to transform life.
Catechists are persons with an ongoing
commitment to God’s Word in their mind, in
their hearts and in their lives.
 The Ideal Catechists
3. Commitment to the Church
Catechists are called to be ministers of the
Word and representatives of the Catholic
Church. They are called to teach what the
Church proclaims, and when teaching any
subject, must always teach what the Church
teaches, regardless of personal beliefs or
opinions.
4. Builders of Community
Our God is a community of persons, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. Made in the image and likeness
of God, we are called to be God’s people, a
community of faith. Catechists are therefore
called to foster and build a faith community in
their classrooms and in all aspects of the
parish.
 The Ideal Catechists
5. Servants of the Community
Catechists are called to serve the Christian
community in the spirit of Jesus and the prophets.
This service means not only seeking to meet the
needs of individuals within the parish but also in the
larger local and global community. This challenges
the catechist to be aware of Church teaching and
actions in terms of peace and justice. Catechists
need to be open to receiving the service and care of
others in order to truly be of service to others.
6. Knowledge and Skills
Catechists are called to prepare for this important
ministry by acquiring the knowledge, skills and
abilities needed to communicate Gospel values and
Church teaching effectively for different age groups.
 Qualities of a Catechist
1. Knowledge of the Faith
2. Formation based on Faith
knowledge, that is, allowing our
lives to be shaped by the faith
knowledge
3. Commitment to the Jesus
flowing from knowledge and
formation
4. Mission as a result of
informed commitment
 • Although catechesis is a responsibility of the
entire Christian community, it is the catechist
who is uniquely charged with the ministry of
promoting and educating in faith everyone
“whosoever believes.” (Mark 16:16) (GDC 220)
Tasks of • Jesus formed his disciples into a community of
Catechesis faith. He instructed them, prayed with them,
showed them how to live, and entrusted them
the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven.
Following the example of Jesus, the Teacher,
catechesis encompasses six diverse yet
interlocking tasks, as described by the General
Directory for Catechesis:
 • The aim of catechesis is to lead believers to
a deeper knowledge and love of Christ and
the Church and a firm commitment to follow
him. Jesus Christ is at the heart of all
catechesis. Catechesis shapes the initial
Purpose of proclamation of the Gospel. It prepares for
Catechesis the celebration of the sacraments, facilitates
integration into the ecclesial community,
urges apostolic activity and missionary
witness, instills a zeal for the unity of
Christians, and prepares one for the
ecumenical understanding and mission of
the Church.
 A catechist truly helps a person to
encounter God. (GDC #139) The
catechist is essentially a mediator,
facilitating communication between
the people and the mystery of God,
between subjects amongst
themselves, as well as with the
community. The catechist ensures
that his/her activities always draw
support from faith in the Holy Spirit
and from prayer (GDC #156).
1. NOMINAL Catholics - Katoliko lamang sa pangalan at
papel (birth certificate, baptismal certificate, etc.).
Hindi lubusang nauunawaan ang mga turo at aral ng
Simbahan. Hindi nagsusumikap na pag-aralan,
palalimin, at palaguin ang pananampalataya. Mabilis
ma-brain wash kung mabasahan lang ng kaunting
bible verse, tatalikod na kaagad sa Catholic Church at
aanib na sa mga man-made churches. Sila ay
kadalasang pumapasok lang sa simbahan tuwing may
dadaluhang kasal, binyag, pista, o libing.
2. CAFETERIA Catholics - Tulad ng ginagawa sa
cafeteria kung saan tayo ay namimili ng paborito at
gusto nating kainin at inumin, ang mga Cafeteria
Catholics ay yaong pinipili lamang ang mga aral at
turo ng Simbahang Katolika na pabor sa kanila.
Halimbawa, sumasang-ayon sa abortion kahit ang
turo ng Simbahan ay pahalagahan ang buhay.
Bukambibig din nila ang mga salitang
"KATOLIKO AKO PERO...".
3. PRACTICING Catholics - Sila ang mga Katoliko sa
salita at gawa, may nakakakita man o wala.
Nagsusumikap sila na lalong mapalalim pa at
mapatibay pa ang pananampalataya sa
pamamagitan ng pag-aaral ng salita ng Dios at turo ng
Simbahan. Naglalaan sila ng oras na makapagsimba at
masunod ang mga sakramento. Ipinagtatanggol nila
ang Simbahan at sinisikap nilang isabuhay ang mga
turo ng Panginoon sa kanilang pang
araw-araw na buhay.
There will always be challenges, and even difficulties, associated
with passing on the faith. What marks the current moment is a
deepening awareness of both the importance of what we have to
say – the message – and the willingness of so many – faithful and
informed catechists – to pass on the message.
As catechists we must courageously and lovingly proclaim the
message of Jesus. This the Church has always done with
confidence and assurance because we know that even in the face
of difficulty or indifference we can joyfully, confidently, and
lovingly articulate and share the words that give life. Looking to
the future of catechesis, we should do so with hope, confidence
and enthusiasm knowing that we bring something to those we
teach that no one else can. We share the story of Jesus.
‘Whatever your vocation, I urge you: be brave, be
generous and, above all, be joyful!’ Pope Francis