By Fr. David Khorey, OCAN Spiritual Advisor

(Fr. David Khorey, a retired attorney, will be the opening speaker on Saturday morning at the OCAN National Retreat, April 24-26, 2026)

Many of us at least thought we were “called” to be lawyers.  Perhaps people said of you even when you were a child that “you should be a lawyer” when you grow up, in a way they do not often speak of other jobs or professions. Certainly many of us charged into law school with idealistic expectations of how we would help bring justice to an unjust world.  As practicing lawyers we hear the law referred to not merely as a job, but as our “vocation” (from the Latin vocare, “to call”), and indeed many of its responsibilities require the kinds of time, energy, and moral commitments that other “vocations” similarly require. (The priesthood comes to mind, for example).

But as Orthodox Christians, what do we mean by a “calling?”  Is it something that we can identify that stirs us from inside, to compel us to do something in particular?  Do some of us have it, and some of us not? Is it possible that we never find out what it is, because we are unable to discern it, though we continue to search for it?  When, or if, we find it, do we find happiness and contentment, since after all it is what we are “called” to do?

Our answer to these questions may be different from what you might expect to hear, even from others in a Christian context, for our response as Orthodox Christians to so many of life’s questions is based on a sacramental understanding of who we are. It is in the Holy Mysteries of the Church that reality—God’s presence in our lives, manifest—is revealed to us.  It is in the Holy Mysteries of the Church that we encounter Christ, our Savior.

And in the mystery of Holy Baptism, we all received our calling, which was a direction, and more:  to renounce Satan, and align ourselves with Christ, join ourselves with Him.  He is the one who calls all of us to be in Him and with Him in Holy Communion, for He not only calls us but is what we are called to be, up to the measure of the fullness of His stature that by His grace, we may attain.

So we are always “called,” by Christ, to Christ.  That is our calling.  How do we respond, as Orthodox attorneys?

Only by “renewal,” that is, to seek to “renew a right spirit within me.”  We speak here of no less than the Holy Spirit, sealed at Holy Chrismation, through which we may clean our defiled baptismal garment in Confession and by participation in the Holy Eucharist.  Indeed if we take a broad “sacramental” view, all of our encounters with the world and those around us are opportunities for renewal in Christ who calls us to Him, and to bring the world to Him.

In this way, when we pay attention to the calling received to align ourselves with Christ through His Church, then we are renewed.  This is the only true vocation. Then the eyes of our clean heart are able to see that it is Christ who is calling even now, to Him, whatever we are doing, wherever we are doing it, for He is all in all, and it is Christ who is the source of all joy when we fulfill this calling, that we all have, through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Feb. 2026

We invite you to come to our OCAN National Attorney Retreat on April 24-26th to hear Fr. David share further thoughts on our calling in Christ!

© 2026 David Khorey