On lazy summer evenings, as the shadows lengthen across the backyard, I call my youngest children home in the singsong chant of parents the world over: “Katheeee, Christieeee.” I need to listen to my Father calling me by name as well. In my early years of motherhood, God called to me in the voices of my children. I responded by becoming a work-at-home mom. Now that my children are growing older, I find I’m being called to serve more in my community. When our high school needed an advisor for its yearbook and newspaper, I answered the call. Our parish is planning a new church building and asked for committee members. I heard God calling me to that process as well.
God, my loving parent, made me, cares for me, and calls me by name. It’s up to me to answer the call.
—from St. Anthony Messenger‘s “Psalm 47: Called by God, Called by Name“
by Sandy Howison
