Someone might be saying your name right now. Do you know why? It might be to call you to take part in something very important going on in the Diocese in coming days.
The center section of this week's issue of The Evangelist focuses on vocations and ministry. The front page and page 3 remind us that the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is upon us. Other pages concentrate on the important issue of assisted suicide. Next Wednesday, the annual March for Life will be held in Washington, D.C., to protest abortion.
One of those major topics -- ministry, life, ecumenism -- surely has your name written all over it. You've wanted to learn more about your faith; you've been interested in protecting vulnerable human life from attack; you're intrigued by what goes on inside the Lutheran or Episcopal church down the street.
That interest, curiosity and inclination to know more is a calling. Everyday life can sometimes deafen us to it; this week might be the time to listen and follow the summons.
Some time ago, the Diocese sponsored a vocation program titled "Called by Name" in which Catholics were invited to name specific individuals they thought might have a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. This week, expand that thought. Do you know someone who is being called by name to take part in an ecumenical program, to march in Washington or to learn more about being a parish minister? In fact, are you yourself being summoned to do one of those things?
Listen! That's your name being called, maybe by God, maybe by a neighbor, maybe by your own sense of wanting something deeper. Answer the call; you'll be a better person for having done so.