The Deacon. Thomas Fargnoli

him to pursue the life of a deacon. On that particular Sunday, I was questioning that motivation. Was my calling saying ‘Now is the time?’ During that Mass, the deacon proclaimed the Gospel. It was as if he was speaking to me directly when he repeated Jesus’ words, ‘Follow me.’ Later during that same week, I attended the funeral of a relative. As I listened to the priest during the Mass, again, it seemed as if I was all alone in the church and he was speaking directly to me. He said, ‘Thomas who asked the Lord, ‘Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’

      “It was the next day that I started the process—yes, I was called. Was I called ten years earlier? Was I called to be a priest twenty years earlier? Perhaps, but keep in mind, God is calling us all the time. Not our will but his and if we maintain an ongoing relationship with him, we will know what path to take and when to take it. As Blaise Pascal puts it, when we are called to make a decision, ‘Choose the path with the heart.’ In other words, choose based on love. Blaise continues, ‘We know the truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.’”