By: Francis Doyle

“Put out into the deep…” These words, initially aimed at Christ’s first disciples, have reverberated down through millennia within the Church. While the situation that Peter and the others close to Jesus found themselves faced with was no doubt peculiar to them in an extraordinary way, the same invitation from Christ remains echoing deep within the hearts of all the elect baptized into the inheritance of Christ. If for the disciples, the answer to what they were looking for – their big catch – was to be found by casting their nets out into deep waters, what is the answer for us today? What is this “deep,” wherein each of us, if we let down our nets, will find that for which we long so profoundly? Obviously, this answer will be as unique as each enquirer from whom God hears these questions.

For me, and probably for most young people discerning their vocation, this “deep” is quite an unknown. Shallow and familiar waters are quite comfortable; in them we know what we are dealing with, we know what to expect. We’ve envisioned our lives in these waters, and so many around us seem so content in them, not often pondering life lived any deeper. But for some, the shallow waters have proven empty; comfortable perhaps, but ultimately unfulfilling and always leaving something to be desired. Casting into the deep can be a deeply frightening notion, and yet we know that what we stand to gain is so much more than we could ever find in shallow waters. Once God stirs these feelings in our hearts, often there is no turning back. Then suddenly, we are faced with a whole new series of questions: how do we possibly begin to find out what God may want from us? Where does God want us to be, and what does He want us to do with the gift of life we have been given? Again, the answer may be found in Jesus’ own words.

What about casting “into the deep” by entering deeply, fully and honestly into relationship with God? What about venturing deeply into sacred scripture, where people from all generations have heard and responded to the call from the One who is ever ancient and ever new? What about casting into the deep by letting go of our attachments to those things that keep us bound to this world, and instead embracing those things which free us to follow God’s will? What about casting out into the depths of what can be the nearest yet most unknown thing of all: our own hearts and our own deepest desires? At this point in writing, the writer laughs out loud at himself.

How easy these thoughts are put to paper, and yet how different is the situation for that individual discerning their vocation! As my friend who is studying in our local seminary once told me, “lots of people want to be martyrs for the Kingdom, but no one wants to wash the knives and forks.” In other words: the big and lofty things are all well and good, but how do we translate that into our normal, mundane, every day routine?

On the general level, we know that the number one answer to this question is prayer. The Gospels go out of their way time and again to tell us of the time Jesus spent in prayer with His Father. If Jesus the Christ, the firstborn of all creation, had the need to engage in relationship with the Father in this manner, how important this must be for us attempting to discern God’s will for us! But every once and a while, God abandons His gentle guiding, and more directly intervenes along our journey. Only in retrospect do I see this direct intervention in my life, and yet how bold and direct it was in my life.

Fr. Mike, the chaplain at the University where I work came up to me and looked me in the eye. “Francis,” he said, “there’s a retreat I think you should go on. Check your e-mail – I sent you some information about the Redemptorists.” That name meant little to me then, but now I thank God so much for placing the Redemptorists along my vocation path. From the moment I first arrived at Redeemer House in Toronto and was met by Fr. Santo, the vocations director, there was a very strange feeling: almost like a feeling of being at home.

The Redemptorist way of life immediately speaks of heading into the deep: ministering to those forgotten individuals left on the fringes of our communities. From St. Alphonsus Liguori and the young, dedicated priests and brothers he gathered around him to minister to the poor shepherds and farmers around Naples, to the vibrant and faith-filled community I was privileged to live and pray with for a short period, who faithfully attend to the needs of Toronto’s most vulnerable – the Redemptorists live out Jesus’ call in a way which resonated with me in an incredible way.

Life as a Redemptorist seems to facilitate something which is quite difficult to find anywhere else: a life where one can live out Gospel values and engage the community in a radical way, and accomplish this by living as simply as possible. The devotion and passion with which Redemptorist priests and brothers live out their call would inspire any individual who is discerning religious life or the priesthood, and their faith and enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air into my discernment journey.

Anyone who is discerning a vocation to priesthood or religious life should most definitely do themselves a favour and look into life with the Redemptorists – it is not something they will regret.

For me, this journey continues on, and God is the only one who knows where my life will go from here, or what my story will be. My simple prayer is that God will give me the strength and courage I need to cast out, as did St. Alphonsus – wholeheartedly and without reservation – into the deep. As we know from the Gospel story, the apostles’ catch was so large that their nets began to break and their boat began to sink.

A great reward waits also for us – a reward which requires more than just testing the waters or getting one’s feet wet. The waters may be deep, dark and unfamiliar, but the example of St. Alphonsus and the life of the Redemptorists can give us the strength we need to dive in head first.