The Christian is different. The Christian knows that to die is to live. The Christian is literally dying to live.

We hear it in Christ’s instructions, and see it in His life. He teaches us how to live by showing us how to die.

I remember hearing (or reading) when I was in the seminary that “a Catholic can make an idol even of the Eucharist.” I was turned off by the sound of it, but it was unsettling because I didn’t know what it meant. If Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, and Jesus is God, how then could the Eucharist ever become a kind of false idol?

We ask each other all the time, “How’s it going?” and the answer’s usually the same. “Fine. I’m good, thanks.” Neither are true of course. We’re not fine and God alone is good. But saying we are is easier than answering a much harder question, namely, “Where’s it going?”

Most sincerely held convictions about the good of martyrdom usually include an argument for its being of some help toward the preservation of a people’s unity. Soldiers who die for their country might say so, in any case. It’s all very strange though, how the sacrifice of one man might benefit the life of a whole community. It’s like trying to understand how the Eucharist works.

If the Church is a household, then liturgically we’re in that awkward in-between phase after demolition but before reconstruction; everything looks worse before it looks beautiful again.

Someone recently asked me, “Father, when you pray, do you pray to Jesus? Or to the Father? Or to the Holy Spirit?” I replied, “I ask Jesus to come to me, and then I pray with Him to the Father. At least, that’s how I experience it.” She followed up, “So what about the Holy Spirit?” “Well,” I said, “I suppose He’s the One making it all possible.”

When Pope Benedict was asked how many ways there are to God, he replied, “As many ways as there are people.” It caused some to be concerned that the Holy Father was implying that a person could attain the beatific vision (get to heaven) without the assistance of Christ. But that’s not what he was saying. He was saying there are many ways to Christ.

There may be other elements, but all authentic vocations will share these characteristics:

They are from God.

They correspond to the person’s humanity.

They are for love’s sake.

The word vocation means “a calling.” Think of voice, vocal, or vocabulary. A vocation is a word that God speaks to our heart, calling us to a particular way of life.