This week I have been at the Oxford Diocese clergy conference up in Derbyshire. We have had three days away together as a diocese, several hundred clergy gathered in one place to pray and reflect together. One particular talk struck me, by Sister Gemma Simmonds SJ. The theme of the conference is “Called, Chosen, Commissioned”. She was talking about how we are all, individually, and uniquely called. I shall not even vaguely try to summarise all she said here, but I offer you the reflection from John Henry Newman which she shared with us:

“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. 

“Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am. I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”

May these words give you peace and reassurance and confidence in God‘s loving presence and plans for your life.

Revd. Talisker

Photo by Valeriia Miller on Unsplash