Reflection April 27, 2026

Today is the day to sense the call of God. The call of Jesus. To be God’s partner in the world, in love and in work. This goes back to our baptism when we were anointed for service.

It’s not just a job. One person can be a teacher and it’s a job another can find a vocation in it. Vocation comes from our relationship with Jesus. Not from the work only. This Sunday brings us back to the first moment of being a Christian. Baptism. All our call comes from that. The call to love whether married or single. Whether a priest or a layman or woman. Within that big call are the other life calls. Today celebrates that.

That we are needed by God. Christ has no body now but yours. Some people would never know love unless from you – like friends, marriage. Others might never have been helped get over drink or drugs, get through a bad time, reform a life of crime, accept loss, illness only for the love of another. Someone might never learn to pray or about God except from you. Do you believe that you can be like this?

The ideals and desires we have to do good for others are from God. Let’s be ambitious to fulfil them. Someone once said to St Ignatius of St Francis Xavier - he’s very ambitious. He was - and St Ignatius said - he’s not ambitious enough. So he changed his ambitions of being the top sportsman, most popular student in Paris University into wanting to win the world for God and Christ. He knew that Christ wanted him. He was ambitious to give his life totally.

We want to follow the Lord - and we need to believe that he wants us. The call is to love - and all of us can do that. Then we find the ways we make that effective. Love means knowing the other and giving oneself for the other. That’s the meaning of the Good Shepherd. The love of God is spread simply in the end, and in the evening of life we’ll be judged on love.

In prayer and in working for the Lord, our vocation will grow. This is baptism in action, this is vocation, this is God’s love alive today among us.

Donal Neary SJ