WORDS Michael McVeigh

Discovering what we should do with our lives means looking at the gifts we have, and how we are called to use them for others.

Clara Georghegan says there is no crisis in vocations in Australia.

Through the Catherine of Siena Institute, Clara facilitates Called and Gifted workshops, helping Australians of all ages reflect on their gifts and find their true calling.

She says every time a person is baptised, they are given a vocation by the Holy Spirit, a calling to live a certain life in the service of God. What we have isn’t a crisis in vocations, but a crisis in discernment.

Much of our thinking on vocations is about what she calls ‘state of life’ vocations, e.g. priesthood, sisterhood or marriage. We need to start thinking about vocations in a different way.

‘If more people started trying to discern their baptismal vocation, you actually might find more people to serve in the priesthood and in religious life’, she says.

‘If we are called, we are gifted; and if we are gifted, we are called’, says Clara. She describes the gifts that each person has as ‘charisms’.

‘I remember one person who did the workshop and there were strong indications that she had the charism of encouragement. She said, “That’s it! I can’t go to the supermarket without someone stopping me and wanting to tell me their life story”. If people are asking something of you, chances are you have that gift.’

She says our gifts are things that are given to us, not for ourselves, but for the sake of others. We don’t choose them – we receive them from God.

Finding our charism means looking for the clues around us, firstly in the teaching of the Church, secondly in the uniqueness of our personality – our talents, culture, experiences – and thirdly, in the issues and needs of our time.

‘All you’ve learnt, through your education, your life experiences, your work, your loving and suffering, will be used by God in your vocation’, she says.

We often tell young people today they have the freedom to choose be anything they want to be, and that if they work hard enough, they can achieve any dream. What’s lost in this is the sense that our gifts are just that – they are given to us from God, and even our achievements are in fact not our own.

‘It’s not about working hard, it’s grace’, says Clara. ‘It happens despite you sometimes.’

Because it is so intrinsically linked with our purpose for being here on earth, our charism is very much about finding our happiness in life. She quotes Cardinal Newman:
‘God has determined, unless I interfere with His plan, that I should reach that which will be my greatest happiness. He looks on me individually, He calls me by my name, He knows what I can do, what I can best be, what is my greatest happiness, and He means to give it me.’

The Called and Gifted workshops are open to young and old, as people can come to their vocation at any stage of life. There are teaching teams operating in Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane. Programs are also run in parishes and at diocesan level across Australia, and the workshops have been used as formation for religious congregations.

Participants are invited to look for patterns in their life to see where God might be calling them. Some common charisms that Clara has encountered include administration, writing, craftsmanship, mercy, healing, intercessory prayer, discernment, prophesy, encouragement, service, teaching and leadership.

Clara says often people expect God to download their plan for them, and are too tentative to take any action. It’s okay to explore a path – even mistakes add to your experiences.

‘None of the great saints got it right every time, but what made them great was they had the courage to try again’, she says.

Called and Gifted workshops are run through the Melbourne and Brisbane Archdioceses.

Finding your charism

Three questions to ask when you’re contemplating the path that God has set for you.

1. How does it feel when you’re using that charism? It should be energising, you should feel as if you’ve found your place.

2. Do people ask you for the charism? You should be able to point to examples where people have affirmed that thing in you by asking you to do it.

3. Does it work? There’s no point saying your charism is to be a  teacher when your students aren’t learning. There needs to be a link between your actions and some results.

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