When we discern a vocation, we tend to expect certain fruits born of prayer and works: a spouse and children for those who discern marriage; acceptance into a seminary, convent or monastery for those who discern religious life.
But life doesn’t always take such a linear path. This was the case in the life of St. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), a Frenchman canonized in 2022 by Pope Francis. Charles was orphaned at age 6 and raised by his grandfather, who encouraged his grandson to follow his footsteps in the Faith and into a military career.
Charles’ young adult years were marked by the pleasures of the world — food, parties and a mistress with whom Charles refused to part when his military service led him to Algeria. His decision meant dismissal and then the first of a series of turns in his life.
On a dangerous journey through Morocco disguised as a Jewish merchant, Charles prayed, “My God, if you exist, let me come to know you.” A dear cousin encouraged him to spend time with a priest, which resulted in Charles’ confession and immediate return to holy Communion.
A vocation deferred
From then on, Charles devoted his life to the Lord, but despite his faith in God’s existence and his certainty about God’s loving providence, his life resembled a sequence of dead ends.
Initially he lived as a Trappist in France and Syria. Then he served as gardener and sacristan for the Poor Clares in Nazareth. He was ordained a priest in France but, doggedly following what he saw as his calling, he traveled back to Morocco and again to the Tuareg people in Algeria. There Charles hoped to found a monastic community. He wrote rules and names for his order. But an order needs followers, and Charles had none. Nor did his preaching result in a single conversion.
A gift of self
Rather than becoming discouraged, Charles trusted God in the midst of uncertainty. He threw himself into his work — feeding the hungry, creating a Tuareg-French dictionary, and translating the Gospels and some of the psalms into Tuareg — until he was martyred.
St. Charles de Foucauld gave his life for Christ, both at the time of his death and in each day that led up to it, even when results didn’t align with his hopes. A century later, a number of associations seek to live out the fraternal love that described Charles’ character. Their commitment to humility and to seeing Christ in the other is the fruit of Charles’ vocation, even though he didn’t live to see it.
Our prayers and works aren’t guaranteed to yield the fruit we expect, when we expect it. Through the intercession of St. Charles, may we trust that God will order everything according to his plan — whether we live to see it or not.
