Here I am Lord

Photo by Nayani Teixeira on Unsplash

One time, I had an appointment with a couple of Rogationist seminarians who were scheduled to leave for Papua New Guinea the following week to work there as missionaries. After giving them a thorough medical check-up ( and finding out that they were both in tip-top shape), we had a lively talk, and the soft spot of the mother in me was struck deeply when I found out they were still so young! 25 and 26 years old! Wow! They were just literally the age of my children! And they will be away for 2 straight years!!

To be honest, I had mixed emotions seeing them go. I tried to imagine how their mothers must have felt when they informed them about their mission. For a parent, letting go of our children and releasing them into the world, not knowing exactly whether they will be safely asleep in a warm, comfortable bed at night or excruciatingly battling the adversities of a cruel world, is simply not easy.

But on the other hand, I also imagined how proud their mothers must be to have raised sons like that - who, at a very young age, when most of their peers are enjoying worldly pleasures - already received the grace of the burning desire to serve The Lord. It is such a unique gift! If I were their mother, I would be immensely proud and brimming with gratitude to God!

Thinking about them now, I realized that they were called! And they were chosen! This then led me to ponder that, indeed, at certain points in our lives, we were all called

to fulfill God’s plan for each of us. We might not have greatly noticed it, but in each of our individual unique vocations, we were called to God's purpose. For after all, God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. “

Pondering upon this, I realized this is a very reassuring passage. Humans that we are, it is not impossible to at times feel frustrated, demoralized, or plainly fed up with our jobs, our vocations, and our missions, and giving up is not far from our minds. But Jeremiah 29:11 can easily jolt us into fired-up mode again and continue our missions.

It is not only for our own individual interests that we are what we are and where we are today. Beyond what we can comprehend, there is a greater purpose for all these.

The only appropriate response then should be: Here I am, Lord!

Edna Sasing-Lao, MD, is a lay collaborator of the Rogationists - St Mathew Province. She and her family are the National Coordinators of the Pamilya Rog, a union of the families of Rogationist priests, religious brothers, seminarians, and other families who share the charism and spirituality of the ROGATE.