Every once and a while though it is my opposable thumbs that remind me of who I am. Those two digits more than the other eight remind me of my vocation as a priest chosen to bring God into lives of the people I serve.
Last week, as I was making my way through Ash Wednesday, I began to notice the ash that was staining my thumb. It would take several days before my fingernail and thumb print would be free of the black stain of ash. It was my thumb that allowed me the privilege to impose ashes on the foreheads of almost one hundred people reminding each of those people of their deep need for God.
Perhaps though it is on those days that I dip my thumb in the oil of chrism and then impose the sign of the cross on the newly baptized that I am most reminded of my priestly vocation. You see it doesn't matter how much I wash my hands after baptizing someone, the sweet fragrance of chrism lingers on my thumb. On those days, the sweet fragrance will occasionally interrupt whatever I am doing and transport me back to that holy moment when God tore open the roof and sealed the baptized as His child forever.
What is it that reminds you of your vocation? What reminds you of who God has called you to be in this world? For me, today it is my thumbs.
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