"Career Advice" (Messages from the pulpit)

What will it cost you to fulfill your call in life?
Will you need a degree?
If so how will you pay for college?
Is there financial aid available or will you have to pay out of pocket?
Taking classes takes a toll on your energy levels especially if you go full time and go to work.
Will your school of choice take you out of the area leaving your friends and family behind?
There are so many questions to ask. One of the most important being will the challenges of your choices bring you fulfillment?
What choices and challenges did Mother Mary have to face knowing she had been chosen to give birth to Jesus?
What would Joseph think? Would he really believe that Mary would be a virgin when she gave birth?
Think about it.
Only a man whom truly trusts God and trusts his wife would believe that The Holy Spirit would be responsible for bringing Jesus into her womb. That took strength. How many men today would believe such a thing? I fear most would say she has to be lying. Surely Mary had been with another man. That wasn't the case. The purity of Mary caught God's eye and he chose her as the vessel to bring The Savior of the entire human race into the world.
It could have cost Mary, Joseph, and their unborn son their lives.
What about pressure?
In all of our lives there is and will be pressure.
Working or not.
Healthy or sick.
Alone or surrounded by friends and family.
Imagine being Mary.
She had to think:
Will I be a good mother? Will I be a good wife? Can Joseph and I really do this?
Are we good enough to raise The Son of God?
Can we keep him safe?
Now imagine being Mary as she watches her son die on the cross.
I know wonderful women that have had to deal with the death of a child.
It breaks my heart when I see what they are going through.
What's worse is that in the story of Mary she knew that her son Jesus had been abandoned by his closest friends. Only John stuck it out.
She heard Jesus ask His Father in Heaven why He had forsaken him.
After all Jesus was innocent. He did not commit one single crime.
So the cost of our salvation was paid in full by Jesus.
What is our cost to follow Jesus?
Are we able to face God and admit our sins? It takes courage to face things we are ashamed of.
Are we willing to testify about Jesus before man as Jesus desires to testify on our behalf before The Father?
Are we willing to let go of the sins that so easily ensnare us?
For some it may mean admitting that we are powerless over drugs and or alcohol.
Maybe we must face consequences for our actions which may include jail time.
Maybe our circle of friends need to change. We may even have to start all over. It's tough. I know.
Maybe you'll have to step out in faith knowing that God has a plan. Even when you have no idea whatsoever that plan may be.
You may have to a long lonely road if you feel God calling you to religious life.
Such as becoming a Catholic Priest.
It's 8 years of school. It's adjusting to the life as you wait to take on the full duties of being a parish priest.
It's a 24/7 on call job.
Plus you can't get married.
Obviously I could go on and on about all of life's choices.
My advice:
Lean not on your own understanding. Go to the source of all knowledge.
Seek wise counsel from God.