Does God have a specific plan for each of us, or is it more like general guidelines for all of us? How do my gifts and abilities, my personality and particular circumstances, impact my vocation? What is the role of the church in this process? What are the needs of the world that call us to respond?<BR><BR>Awakening Vocation explores these questions and breathes new life into an ancient idea---rousing vocation from a centuries-long slumber. Inspired by the broad and inclusive vision of the Second Vatican Council, the book traces the history of Catholic reflection on vocation and offers a constructive proposal for the present. In plain language, Edward Hahnenberg argues that Catholic thinking on vocation has been frustrated by a deficient theology of grace and that the key to reclaiming the notion of God's call today lies in a vision of God's selfgift reaching across all of human history and into every human heart. Rethinking vocation in light of a revitalized theology of grace helps move beyond earlier dead ends, opening up new ways of imagining discipleship and discernment within our wonderfully diverse and yet deeply divided world.<BR><BR>"Awakening Vocation is not only a clear and creative work of theology, it is also a prophetic wake-up call. By placing compassion and solidarity at the heart of discernment, Hahnenberg reminds us all of an important truth: We discover our deepest identity by walking with those in deepest need. In challenging us to think about vocation in new ways, this is as good as it gets!"---Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ Author of Dead Man Walking<BR><BR>"In dialogue with Luther, Ignatius of Loyola, Barth, Rahner, Ellacuria, and many others, Hahnenberg draws the contours of a contemporary recontextualization of Vatican II's universal call to holiness. Through vocational discipleship and discernment, today's Christians are challenged to experience a profound resonance between their deepest identity before God and the particular choices they make in their daily lives. This is an impressive plea for an open Christian identity and an open Church in a world of plurality and difference, suffering and conflict---a must for both systematic and practical theologians."---Lieven Boeve<BR><BR>Past president of the European Society for Catholic Theology and author of God Interrupts History