It amazes me that just about every time Jesus appeared to His followers after His Resurrection they did not recognize Him.  Even after spending so much time learning from Him and following Him, they still could not tell who He was when He came to them.  I believe that at least part of the explanation for this is that they were becoming too focused on themselves after the death of Jesus.  After He died, we can certainly imagine that they must have been very scared and unsure about how to move forward in their lives.  It was at this point that they put it upon themselves to find the next right step, rather than placing their trust in the plan of Jesus.  In fact, they did this so to such an extent that even when Jesus Himself appeared to them, they could not recognize that it was Him and that He had everything in control.  It is easy to fall into the same trap in our own lives, especially when it comes to discerning a vocation.  Trying to find your vocation can be a difficult and stressful thing at times.  However, the last thing we ever want to do is take the matter into our own hands and feel like we have to be the ones to figure everything out.  Jesus already has the plan!  All we have to do is trust in Him.  Rather than getting too turned in on ourselves, we need to surrender everything, especially our whole future, to Jesus and simply be calm while He makes Himself known to us.  We do not want to miss the Will of Jesus in our lives.  Be calm, trust in Him, and always be open to recognizing Him no matter what circumstances you are facing in your life.  ​

– Fr. Bobby Gonnella