Prayers for Prodigal Catholics
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“You Go Too into My Vineyard!”

The call of the Lord Jesus "You too go into my vineyard" is addressed  to everyone: lay people are personally called by the Lord from whom they receive a mission on behalf of the Church and the world.  

                              ~John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation to the Laity, 1988

 Editor’s Note:  Pope John Paul said we each receive a mission, a call from the Lord to work in His vineyard.  What is your mission?  Have you found your place in God’s vineyard?  It might be helping the poor in some exotic land across the ocean or fulfilling some need in your own backyard. The important question to consider is, “Are you answering the call?”

In the following message, Joyce seems to suggest that her way of answering God’s call is less than spectacular.  But, look at her life in light of Jesus’ words “Whatsoever you do…”   Joyce is ministering—to HIM.

Here is what she had to say:

The thought of going into the vineyard is an overwhelming one.  I like to think that God’s mission for me is to take care of my family, and there are times when that task is one I can barely handle.  I don’t think I am going anywhere near the vineyard anytime soon.  I am at the age and stage of life where I thought I would be able to relax a little, read a book or sit on the porch in the early morning sipping coffee.  I have a friend who commented one day, “Wasn’t it supposed to get easier by now?”  You would think! 

But that isn’t the reality of what many of us face each day.  I have one family member who is seriously ill, one who has almost completely given up on life and lives in a state of depression and a seven-year-old bundle of energy who is the light of my life and the reason why I spend more time at the swimming pool and park than I do on any profound mission. 

I like to think that I’m doing what I was meant to do and that God sends the vineyard to me so it can fit into my daily schedule.  I take an hour here and there each week to minister to some outside of my immediate family and although it is a miniscule drop of help in their lives, it is what I can do, what I can offer and hopefully will qualify for my trip into the vineyard.

I’ve learned to be flexible in my life because nothing is as I expected it to be.  I am constantly being given a new challenge to meet.  I am so grateful God is flexible, too.                                                                                 ~Joyce

In addition to her time in God’s vineyard in her home, Joyce makes time in her daily routine to help us fold and label these newsletters twice a year. She helps us turn a huge job into a simple one.  Thanks Joyce! 

From "Silent Strength"  The Newsletter of the Marian Mantle Group, June 2007
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