"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses..." (Acts 1:8)
 

The home page of the 2008 World Youth Day website (www.wyd2008.org/) dramatically flashes these words across the screen. This is the theme for the next World Youth Day to be held in Sydney, Australia. The words express the true vocation of all Christians. 
 
We often confuse the concept of “vocation” with “career.” Our vocation is to be Jesus' witnesses in the world. How we do that is through our careers—separate callings that the Spirit gives to each of us individually based on our personalities, strengths, and talents. 
 
In her autobiography, St. Thérèse of Lisieux narrates how anxious she was about her vocation at one time in her life. She wanted to be a priest and a missionary; she wanted to do something important. During a personal retreat, she was reading the opening verses of chapter 12 of St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians:  
 
"There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit." (1 Cor 12:3-7)
 
While contemplating the reading, she realized that she had been confusing her vocation with the way to act out that vocation.  She wrote:
 
0 Jesus, my Love, my vocation, at last I have found it…my vocation is Love! Yes, I have found my place in the Church and it is You, 0 my God, who have given me this place; in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be love.
 
This revelation is the theme of what Jesus was telling his friends before his Ascension as stated in the above passage from the Acts of the Apostles. Our vocations are the same as Teresa's. We too are called to be love. We witness Jesus in our lives not by what we say or for that matter what we do—but by who we are: bearers of God (who IS love) in the world.
 
Thinking about our careers is a very necessary thing. Where do I best fit? What talents should I develop? What do I do best? What do I enjoy most?  When we examine our career choices, we need to remind ourselves that it is really about vocation. It is not about having impressive titles, it is not about our forte, and it certainly is not about popularity and fame. To understand our calling, we need to pray and contemplate the way the Little Flower did. We need to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit who comes down upon us not just once in our lives, but sometimes many times.
 
This has recently become very real to me. After 17 years at Good Shepherd Church in central Pennsylvania, the Holy Spirit has called my family and me to central Ohio—Columbus. The calling came out of the blue through an invitation by a friend and former co-worker. In that special way that only the Holy Spirit can make happen when he wants something done, the doors kept opening wide before me. I am not sure what God has in store for my ministry or my career, but I can rest easy, because I know my vocation will be the same: to be a witness to the love of Jesus in the world.