Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

One responsibility of the Vocation Director is to help the local church re-develop the vocation culture. When a Director has a chance to speak to the laity, one can raise their awareness of the role that parents and other family members play in nurturing the call to Religious Life and Priesthood. Children, teenagers and young adults need the guidance of their families in choosing a life vocation and are influenced by the opinion and awareness of their parents and other important adults in their lives. Many parents are concerned about preparing their children to get a good job and to establish security in life. Often, the unspoken guidance is to get married, have a family and get a good job. Our culture, through the media, also promotes this direction in life and confuses a vocation with a job. Unfortunately, job preparation excludes the choice of a vocation to a way of life, which includes marriage, staying single, ordained priesthood and consecrated life of Sisters, Brothers and Priests.

It is the role of the Church today to influence the choice of one's vocational lifestyle. As Vocation Director, I work to raise the awareness of the need for a vocation culture. Parents, extended family, priests, teachers in Catholic Schools, Religious, teachers in faith formation and others all need to participate in the development of this culture of vocation by encouraging service to the church through consecrated life, priesthood and lay involvement. From the earliest stages, each person needs to include a church vocation as a real life choice. Children need to know that the adults in his or her life encourage a life of service to the Church. Money, family and security aren't the only options in life. Rather, being a professional lay person in the Church, being a priest or deacon and participating in Consecrated life are part of a Catholic way of life. 

A Prayer for Discerning Your Vocation

Questions to Ask Yourself

Overview of the Discernment Process