In Matthew’s Gospel we find Jesus’ teaching regarding the Kingdom of Heaven—the kingdom he came into the world to preach and live, and for which he gave his life. He compares the Kingdom of Heaven to both a treasure and a pearl of great value. A merchant finds this great pearl and, finding it, sold everything he had and bought it. Now, this sounds rather silly to most people, after all, why equate the pearl with all his other possessions? Isn’t this unsound business practice?

Well, not quite. For the merchant knows the true value of the pearl. He knows it is very special and because he knows this to be so, he knows what he is doing. We are not told what he does with this pearl once he possesses it. That is an irrelevant consideration. What matters is that he knows the true value of the pearl.

A vocation is a possibility. It is a possibility among several options from which we must choose. By definition, a vocation is a calling, which, of necessity, means that someone is doing the calling. Within our tradition it is understood that God is calling us to a particular choice, and it is understood that God’s choice is the choice. It is the choice that will lead us to fulfillment and attaining God’s kingdom. The choice that God seeks for each of us may not necessarily be the easiest one. In fact, it may be the most demanding, and the most difficult to pursue.

We may think that God’s calling involves a purely personal choice. This is never true. Our vocational choices always have implications for us and for those affected by our choices. If someone is considering marriage as a vocation, then one’s partner is a part of the equation, a rather critical part! Or if someone is considering religious life, say the priesthood, then such a decision involves the Church, both as an institution, and as the people of God. Either choice is personal to the extent that one must make a determination, and we are always responsible for the choices we make.

But the understanding is that God is calling us to a particular choice, and if God is calling us to a particular option then we must look deeply into that option for otherwise we may, as Gamaliel points out to the Sanhedrin in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 5: 39), find ourselves fighting God. This is not a viable option, to say the least. It is not a real option since, to paraphrase the title of a well-known musical, “our arms are too short to box with God.” In order to avoid this uneven battle, we must have recourse to what it is called “discernment.”

Discernment is one of the major themes of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises. Embedded in the Exercises is the question of an election. An election is a choice—a choice we are seeking to make in union with God. In order to make this choice we must make sure that we see clearly, and that we are not confusing our own criteria for decision making with God’s criteria. This is crucial, for the understanding is that if we make a choice in accord with God’s will then we have made not just a possible choice, but the choice. Human beings have an extraordinary capacity to complicate things, and also a great capacity to trick themselves into pursuing things that are not real, and reality is always to be preferred over illusion.

Our choice of vocation will determine much in our lives. If we choose without discernment, without God’s input into our choice, then we run the risk of not only being unhappy, but also frustrated and even blocked from true human fulfillment, which is what God seeks for each of us. God seeks us our authenticity. To be authentic is to be who we are, and who we are supposed to be. My friends, it doesn’t get better than that! Let us discern and seek the pearl of greatest value—the one God holds before our eyes and hearts. That is God’s way, the best of all possible options.

This article is part of a series on Vocations. For more stories about the vocations of those in the Xavier community, click on the following links...
Introduction: As We Live and Breathe
A Two-Part Vocation
Having a Dialogue with a Friend
Hearing the Call
Recognizing God's Gift
An Ongoing Adventure
Living in Love
A Christian Who Doesn't Serve is a Contradiction
Fall in Love
The Presence of God's Love
Not One Call, but Many
The Salvation of One's Soul