Saying ‘yes’ to God

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Father Emmanuel d'Alzon (1810-1880), founder of the Assumptionists

Father Emmanuel d’Alzon (1810-1880), founder of the Assumptionists

The act of saying ‘yes’ to God is one with profound implications, no less than life changing. It involves great sacrifice — you must give your whole self to God — but it is one with abundant rewards.

Consider the example of Emmanuel d’Alzon, founder of the Augustinians of the Assumption.

d’Alzon came from an aristocratic and noble French family, one that by association alone could have made him a major figure in law, politics, or the military — or even all three.

Instead, he turned all of that down and decided to become a priest, an act his family opposed.

You might look at this and think: he threw all of it away.

But he didn’t at all.

When you say yes to God, you do not lose your talents or interests or passions and become a mindless automaton, forever slaving away in a parish. The priesthood and religious life are not oppressive. Miserable priests, brothers, and sisters do not make for a happy and welcoming Church.

Instead, you will keep your interests and talents, but you will develop them and direct them toward God, all in the process of becoming more authentically yourself.

d’Alzon, after all, set out to restore the Church in a culture that had become hostile to faith. For him, France had become a “decrepit machine,” one that was “dangerous to try to repair.”

In his life, he was vicar general of Nimes; he founded the Assumptionists; he fought for academic freedom; he thought deeply about spiritual formation and published essays and letters on the subject; he was a major player at the First Vatican Council. Had it not been for d’Alzon, Assumption College would have never come into existence. And that’s only a small sampling of his accomplishments.

Most people would say this is a full life.

Now let’s explore some hypotheticals. Say d’Alzon had stayed with his plan to become a lawyer, even though he’d developed the ambition to restore French society. He might have taken a job in a government office, or he might have spent time in the courts. There likely would have been something inside telling him: you know, you have all of this, but you could have so much more.

Through prayer and study, he realized he was meant to be a priest — and, later, a religious. d’Alzon said yes, and God’s grace sustained and nourished him throughout his life, giving him energy and constantly renewing him.

Of course, this sense of renewal — this joy — comes with any vocation, whether that is to the single life, religious life or the priesthood, or married life.

But to get there, you first must listen to God, and you must say ‘yes.’