The Christian Vocation
"There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:4)
Welcome to the Vocations Section of our Columban website. My name is Father Patrick McInerney. I am the Columban Vocations Coordinator in Australia.
The focus of these pages is the Columban Vocation to Missionary Priesthood, but there is also much general information on who we are, what we do, and our missionary life.
Whether you are interested in this life for yourself and want to find out more, or whether you know someone who might be interested and want some information to give them, or whether you are simply surfing the web, these pages will provide information about the Columbans, assist your ongoing discernment, and point to those who can answer your further questions.
But first, without having ever met you, there are three things about you of which I am absolutely certain.
- First, you have a vocation, or better still, you are a vocation. God has desired and created you and brought you to this point in your life. You are an indispensable part of God's plan. "You did not choose me, but I chose you . . ." (John 15:16)
- Second, as a baptised Christian - part of the Body of Christ and a Temple of the Holy Spirit - you contribute to the life and mission of the local Church. "... I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should last." (John 15:16)
- Third, as part of the local Church, you share Christian responsibility for your sisters and brothers around the world, especially the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the stranger, and those in prison (see Matthew 25:35ff).
Christian discipleship is lived in many ways. Most are called to marriage; some are called to single life in the world; and some are called to consecrated life as a priest or a religious sister or brother. Also, whatever their particular state in life, Christians work in all sorts of careers - teachers, artists, nurses, musicians, engineers, social workers, scientists, and so on - each one contributing to bringing about the Kingdom of God.
In whatever way God is calling you, I pray that you respond generously, for the Lord is generous, and His generosity will not be outdone. As Jesus promised: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back." (Luke 6:38).
May God bless you and your Christian mission in life.
Fr Patrick J. McInerney
Columban Mission Institute
Locked Bag 2002
[167 Albert Road]
Strathfield NSW 2135
Phone: (02) 9352 8000
Email: patrickmcinerney@columban.org.au
