As this column comes to print, it is “National Vocation Awareness Week” (November 3–9, 2024). This annual observance is a weeklong celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States and is dedicated to promoting vocations to the ministerial priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life through prayer and education, along with praying specifically for those engaged in considering (discerning) one of these vocations.
When the Church speaks of vocations, it is not simply another career or job choice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the common vocation of all Christ’s disciples” is “a vocation to holiness and to the mission of evangelizing the world” (#1533). The word “vocation” derives from the Latin term “vocare” — “to call.” The call to a “vocation” as seen throughout Sacred Scripture is indeed a call from God.
The Letter to the Hebrews tells us concerning one’s vocation that, “No one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God” (5:4). This statement is an important one because I have heard people say to me over the years that they feel called to a Church vocation. However, it is only a feeling until it is tested by the individual and endorsed by the Church as a true vocation … a true calling.
So how does one discern a vocational calling? The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offers these tips:
• Pray — Establish a routine prayer life of attending Mass regularly, praying the Rosary, meditating on Scripture, journaling, making a retreat, spending time with the Lord in front of the Blessed Sacrament and celebrating the Sacrament of Penance regularly.
• Talk — Contact your diocesan vocations directors, Fr. Jason Hage and his assistant, Fr. James Buttner, and speak to them about your discernment thus far to get their advice on the next steps. A person can also speak initially to their parish priest or to a priest, deacon and religious who they are acquainted with regarding their sense of calling.
• Spiritual Direction — Spiritual Direction, often by a priest, deacon or consecrated person, attunes the heart to the voice of the Lord and will help you identify how the Holy Spirit is moving in your life.
• Come & See — Sometimes coordinated by the diocesan vocation office, or at least promoted through them, these “Come & See” events offer a glimpse into the life of a seminarian/deacon/religious sister or brother and will help you identify if this is the life to which God is calling you. In the Diocese of Syracuse, the St. Andrew Dinner Project, the Bishop’s Picnic in August and discernment groups throughout the year are meant to provide for such discernment.
• Get Involved — Consider volunteering in one’s parish or community and finding trusted friends who can provide support and accountability for your discernment journey. I have heard that a great way to test a vocation is to get involved in community service. Such service helps a person define their true desires.
• Rest — Discerning a vocation should not be considered an “accomplishment” that you check off your to-do list. It’s a daily walk with God that involves the whole person. A healthy life balance of eating well, exercising and getting the proper amount of rest will positively contribute to your spiritual wellbeing! This balance will be important for years to come.
• Spiritual Reading — Some recommended reading for discerners are: Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux; Introduction to the Devout Life — St. Francis DeSales; Time for God — Fr. Jacques Phillipe; and Jesus of Nazareth — Pope Benedict XVI. Also, specific texts dealing with vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious are also essential reading.
What is sad for me is that the beauty of a Church vocation can get lost in the materialism, consumerism and make-a-name-for-oneself focus of today’s society. Pope Francis reflects on this situation in his October 24, 2024, encyclical, Dilexit Nos (“He Loved Us”). In the document, the Holy Father quotes the June 1, 2008, Angelus Address of Pope Benedict XVI: “Every person needs a ‘center’ for his or her own life, a source of truth and goodness to draw upon in the events, situations and struggles of daily existence. All of us, when we pause in silence, need to feel not only the beating of our own heart, but deeper still, the beating of a trustworthy presence, perceptible with faith’s senses and yet much more real: the presence of Christ, the heart of the world” (DN, 81). Is that not what embracing one’s vocation is all about — the embracing of the God who desires to speak to us at the very core and center of our being? As St. John Henry Newman would state: “Cor ad cor loquitor” — “Heart speaks to heart.”
Pope Francis then goes on to write that God’s call not only leads into deeper communion with Father, Son and Holy Spirit but also “sends us forth to our brothers and sisters.” He states: “Jesus is calling you and sending you forth to spread goodness in our world. His call is one of service, a summons to do good, perhaps as a physician, a mother, a teacher, or a priest. Wherever you may be, you can hear His call and realize that He is sending you forth to carry out that mission” (DN, 215).
Such time of reflection is what National Vocation Awareness Week is all about as we pray also for those engaged in vocational discernment. This coming year our Vocation Prayer will be the Jubilee Prayer for 2025, so I share it with you for your own prayer time:
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.
Amen
