God Kicked My Butt
(Or "Why I Love World Youth Day")

by Jacki Setta

As I write this, I'm one week away from hopping on the bus to go to see Pope John Paul II for the fourth time in my life. World Youth Day has once again rolled around, and I am giving thanks to God for providing us with such an amazing outlet for our faith.

World Youth Day is, for me, more than just a big Catholic Woodstock. It's more than just a party with the Pope and two and a half million of my closest friends. It's more than just a chance to deepen my faith and to serve God and others.

World Youth Day was God kicking my butt. God wanted me to come to work for Him, but I didn't know it until World Youth Day in 2000.

Church Brat

When I was a baby, my parents took me to downtown Philadelphia to see the new Pope. When they finally got to where John Paul II was going to be tooling around in his Popemobile, some college-age kids grabbed me out of their hands.

"He'll pay attention to us if we have a baby." Lo and behold, he blessed me. So I grew up a church brat -- I was in the pews every Sunday, at Youth Group every week, taught Sunday school, I even cleaned the church as my after-school job.

Ms. Setta? God on Line Two to speak to you

Eventually, I went to college and did the usual college thing: quit going to church. But two years ago, I received a phone call from my old youth minister asking me to chaperone their World Youth Day trip to Italy. She told me I'd have to actually "be" Catholic while on the trip, a condition I was willing to accept. I mean, we're talking a trip to Rome, here. Of course I could "be Catholic" for 14 days.

But somewhere in the midst of all the pilgrimaging and hiking and visiting monuments of our faith, and sharing the faith with so many other people who were so gung-ho about being Catholic, something in me changed.

It was almost as if the Pope, who has been such a huge advocate for youth in our church, knew what God wanted from me when he blessed me all those years ago.

Wait, you mean you don't have to wear a collar?

Vocations happen in the oddest places, usually when you least expect to hear the calling. In today's society, it can get kind of tough to listen. Don't worry, God has a way of kicking your butt if need be.

When I was a teenager, working for the church was probably the furthest thing from my mind. I had my heart set on becoming a high school band director. Vocation? You've got to be kidding me. What I didn't realize is that there is a plethora of ways to serve God as a vocation. It's not all about Priests, Deacons, Sisters and Brothers.

Vocations extend to those of us who are not ordained or consecrated. God calls each of us in a different way, and not even necessarily to work for God within the Catholic Church. Being married and raising kids is a vocation. Teaching religious education, or in a Catholic school is a vocation. Serving others in a setting such as Habitat for Humanity, or visiting people in hospitals is a vocation. Any of these sound appealing to you?

If you've driven down I-94 near Chelsea, MI, in the past month or two, you may have had the pleasure of seeing my favorite billboard, sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. It's black with white writing, simply asking, "Is God tapping on your shoulder?"

The answer could be yes. Or maybe God's even kicking your butt, too.

Life Applications:

What do you really want to do with your life? What do you think God wants you to do?

In what ways do you feel called by God?

Have you ever considered a vocation?

Copyright 2002 by Jacki Setta
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