A reflection on the Feast of Saint Andrew daily mass in Old Mission Santa Barbara with the brothers
It dawned on me the other day that since coming to the friars, I've rarely heard the term "vocation story."When I was growing up, priests and seminarians at vocation retreats told their stories of the signs they saw pointing them in the right direction. Typically those stories turn into one man's heroic answer to God's call. In my first years of formation, the friars just call their vocation story "their life story."
In our gospel today, we hear a vocation story, one often popularly cited as a model for vocations in the church. But It isn't just the story of Peter's vocation, nor Andrew's alone. Not just James or just John. Jesus didn't just see an individual, he saw "two brothers." When he sees the future disciples, he calls them together.
I wonder what Andrew would say today if he were asked about his vocation story; would he bother mentioning his brother Simon, or would he tell a story all about himself?
I still make my vocation all about me, always concerned about what I want to do, what I think is best for me - an attitude Pope Francis says will lead "us off the road."
Our gospel today challenges any thoughts of personal ambition and squashes any hint of self-pity or self-righteousness in a religious vocation. When people come looking to us for inspiration when they see us in our brown robes and knotted cords, what will be the story they hear? Will we remember our brothers? Will we remember one another?
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