Tom Ruck

The concept of call is a bit difficult to describe. It might be a bit easier to begin with describing what it is not. A call is normally not a burning bush or an audible voice from the clouds. It is no t typically accompanied by fanfare or dazzling light. Rather, Sacred Scripture defines it as a small quiet voice (see Samuel, Elijah). In the Gospels, Jesus calls His disciples through personal invitation: “Come and see”, “follow me”. Jesus continues to invite us, each and every one of us, to a deeper relationship with Him. Are we focusing our attention on His invitation or are we too distracted by the busyness and noisiness of our everyday lives?

It took me a long time to really listen to Jesus’ invitation, to pay attention to His call. I intended to be a good husband, father and Church participant, but for many years, I did the minimum needed to hold things together. Truthfully, I was mostly focused on myself - my dreams, my career, my success, my desires. My participation in Church was limited to attending Mass on most, but not all, Sundays. I was in “God, I got this” mode. My family moved quite often due to my endless pursuit of a better job and we found ourselves in Wichita, KS. It was there in the middle of the wheat fields that my faith was sparked back to life. Our children were enrolled in a wonderful Catholic school and when they explained what they were learning about our faith, I realized how much I had forgotten. After two years in Wichita, we moved to St. Laurence. The ember that was lit in Kansas started glowing more brightly. My wife Dolores and I signed up to be catechists. I relearned my faith as I was teaching it to 7th graders. After a few years, I switched to RCIA and thought had I really found my calling. I seemed to be able to connect with other adults that were seeking Jesus and to share my growing love for Him and His Church. Father Drew invited me to become an instituted acolyte to assist with Holy Communion and the purification of the sacred vessels after Mass. Serving in this ministry deepened my love for the Eucharist, for Jesus, and truly set my heart aglow. I started noticing things that I had never paid attention to in the past: a Scripture verse that resonated for several days after I read or heard it. A comment made by another person in a conversation. For example, whenever I read Mt 25 - when I was hungry, you fed me, naked you clothed me - I would always linger on the part about visiting me in prison. I started wondering if I was being called to prison ministry. Or when Father Lahart, the former President of Strake Jesuit quoted, “to whom much is given, much is expected”, I started to feel a need to give more of myself and the many gifts with which I have been blessed to the Church. The final piece of the puzzle fell into place after I had an opportunity to serve on Pastoral Council: within three months after completing our term, three former Council members approached me on separate occasions and asked if I had ever considered becoming a deacon. The first time I was asked, I laughed and said, “what me, no way.” The second time, I was a bit surprised and asked if the person was colluding with the first person who asked me the same question. (The answer was no they were not.) When the third person asked, I became a bit frightened and realized this might actually be the way God was trying to communicate with me. Dolores and I decided to “Go and see” and find out more about what this ministry entailed.

This August will be exactly six years from the beginning of my diaconal journey. Two years into the process, I lost my job for the first time in my life. I realized God was not punishing me but asking me to surrender. Giving Him a part of myself was not enough, He wanted all of me and my total commitment. After a few months of struggling, I finally surrendered and said, “Yes” with all my being. A month later, I got a new job. I don’t believe in coincidences any more. The last few years of formation have been extremely grace filled as I began to embrace the call to serve God by serving the People of God and His Church.

The punchline of my story is that I believe we are all called each and every day, in a unique and personal way, to grow in our relationship with Jesus. We can do this by emulating our Savior who came not to be served, but to serve and who laid down His life for others. We all have different gifts, but they are all intended to be used to build the Kingdom of God here on Earth. We can do that by being Jesus to others, by loving one another. We need more deacons to serve the growing number of parishioners that make up our parish, but even if you are not called to this ministry, you can serve our Lord in some other way. Pray to our patron saint, St. Laurence the deacon, especially during his upcoming feast day, for more vocations to this ministry and to other forms of service to the Church. Ask for the grace to be open to God’s call and for the inspiration to invite others, as Jesus did, to follow Him. Ask for the grace to say, “Yes” as our Blessed Mother did, because if you do, it will radically change your life for the better.

St. Laurence, you faithfully served Jesus and His Church as deacon and willingly sacrificed your life for Him as a martyr. Please intercede for us, the parishioners of St. Laurence parish in Sugar Land, TX, and through your prayers ask The Blessed Trinity to grant us the grace to say yes when we are called and to offer ourselves in service to others. Please ask our loving God to bless us with additional vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life. Finally, please pray for the protection and health of our pastor, parochial vicars, deacons, all those in religious formation and our entire parish family as we celebrate the commemoration of your feast day. St. Laurence pray for us!



Peace and blessings,
Tom