Over the centuries, theological understanding of the mystery of vocation has seen different emphases, according to the social and ecclesial context in which the theme has been developed. In any case, the analogical character of the term “vocation” should be recognized as well as the many dimensions of the reality designated. This leads, from time to time, to emphasis on individual aspects, in ways that have not always done justice to the complexity of the overall picture. In order to grasp profoundly the mystery of a vocation whose ultimate origin lies in God, we are therefore called to purify our imagination and our religious language, and to rediscover the richness and balance of the biblical narrative. In particular, the interplay between divine choice and human freedom needs to be thought through, prescinding from all determinism and from all extrinsecism. Vocation is neither a pre-composed script that the human being has simply to recite nor is it an unwritten theatrical improvisation. Since God calls us to be friends and not servants (cf. Jn 15:13), our choices make a real contribution to the historical unfolding of his loving plan. The economy of salvation, on the other hand, is a Mystery that infinitely surpasses us; hence only through listening to the Lord do we learn what part we are called to play in it. Understood in this light, vocation appears as a real gift of grace and a gift of covenant – the most beautiful and precious secret of our freedom.
TheoFonsAt the sources of the faith