BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Lay Cistercians of Gethsemani Abbey
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20250309T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20251102T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20270314T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20271107T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260130
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260131
DTSTAMP:20260511T201815
CREATED:20260124T215514Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260124T215514Z
UID:14547-1769731200-1769817599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Office for Vocations
DESCRIPTION:THE WORK OF TWO WILLS \nFrom “No Man is an Island” by Thomas Merton \n◊◊◊ \nEach of us has some kind of vocation. We are all called by God to share in \nHis life and His Kingdom. Each one of us is called to a special place in the \nKingdom. If we find that place\, we will be happy. If we do not find it\, we can \nnever be completely happy. For each one of us\, there is only one thing necessary: \nto fulfill our own destiny\, according to God’s will\, to be what God wants us to be. \nIn any case\, our destiny is the work of two wills\, not one. It is hopeless to \ntry to settle the problem of vocation outside the context of friendship and love. \nGod loves us more than we love ourselves\, as if we were Himself. He loves us \nmoreover with our own wills\, with our own decisions. \nIn planning the course of our lives\, we must remember the importance \nand the dignity of our own freedom. For our freedom is a gift God has given us in \norder that He may be able to love us more perfectly\, and be loved by us more \nperfectly in return. Perfectly confident of being loved by God\, the soul that loves \nHim dares to make a choice of its own\, knowing that its own choice will be \nacceptable to love. \nEvery person has a vocation to be someone: but he must understand \nclearly that in order to fulfill this vocation he can only be one person: himself. \nWe must be ourselves by being Christ. A person only lives fully when he knows \ntruth and loves what he knows and acts according to what he loves. In this way \nhe becomes the truth that he loves. So we “become” Christ by knowledge and by \nlove. \nIn order to be what we are meant to be\, we must know Christ\, and love \nHim\, and do what He did. Our destiny is in our own hands since God has placed \nit there\, and given us the grace to do the impossible. It remains for us to take up \ncourageously and without hesitation the work He has given us\, which is the task \nof living our own life as Christ would live it in us. \nOur vocation is precisely this: to bear witness to the truth of Christ by \nlaying down our lives at His bidding. Our Father in heaven has called us each to \nthe place in which He can best satisfy His infinite desire to do us good. His \ninscrutable choice of the office or state of life or particular function to which we \nare called is not to be judged by the intrinsic merit of those offices and states but \nonly by the hidden love of God. My vocation is the one I love\, not because I think \nit is the best vocation in the Church\, but because it is the one God has willed for \nme. My vocation is at once my will and His. He chose it for me when His \ninscrutable knowledge of my choice moved me to choose it for myself. \n  \n6 No Man is An Island – Thomas Merton – Harcourt Brace Publishers – New York – 1955 – pg 131f.13 \n 
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-office-for-vocations-26/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR