Who’s calling? Nowadays, with caller ID and smart phones that know more than we do, it’s easy to find out. In fact, if I don’t recognize the number on my cell phone or landline, I don’t answer. But what if it’s God calling?
That’s what most of the articles in this issue of MARYKNOLL magazine deal with: hearing God’s personal call and acting on it. Our contributing editor, Maryknoll Father Joseph R. Veneroso, puts it succinctly: “How can we know for sure the ideas that pop into our heads are from God?” When it’s good versus evil, it should be fairly clear cut, but what if we’re blessed with choosing between good choices?
Many are the good choices made by missioners featured in this issue. A seminarian to be ordained a Maryknoll priest had asked God for a “clear sign and direction.” A new Maryknoll brother felt led by the Holy Spirit to follow the inspiration of religious brothers before him. A Maryknoll sister heard God’s emergency appeal to serve migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border. A Maryknoll lay missioner answered “yes” to God by helping shelter people from gang violence in El Salvador. And as young people hear Pope Francis’ World Youth Day invitation “to be disciples and go out,” other lay people profiled here respond to the same message by sharing the Gospel from Texas to Taiwan.
We all have a calling, here or there. Will you answer?
Lynn F. Monahan
Editor-in-Chief
