The Vocations Committee promotes vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life while affirming and supporting those who have already answered the call of service to the Church. Through prayer, Eucharistic Adoration and other programs, we seek to increase awareness within our parish of the shared task of identifying, inviting and nourishing these vocations. 

What is a Vocation?

God created us to know, love, and serve Him. He created us in His image, male and female. Every human being can find both His image and likeness inside us. This theological mystery is at the center of all meaning. From this non-competitive interplay of divine and human, we find the ability to be special and to create a world that reflects the originality and magnanimity of God.

A vocation is the will of God, discerned by hearing and responding to the voice of the Creator. There is no single greater call than God's persistent and enduring design.

As Catholics, we celebrate the fact that we are not meaningless creatures burdened with creating our own destiny. In fact, our destiny is to rejoin God in beatitude, to use this pilgrim life on Earth to proclaim the Gospel and to recreate the world.

A vocation, therefore, is to respond repeatedly to our Father's voice in heaven and spread the flame of love all over the world. It is to proclaim Jesus Christ and witness His love in the places where He is needed most. We all have an invitation to be a part of the world that yearns to see the face of God, even in the ordinary and secular.

Priesthood / Seminarians

What is the priesthood?
Simply, it is following Christ's example to serve his people. The priesthood serves, in particular, by bringing others to Christ through the sacraments. They can offer our prayers to God through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and lead us to communion with God through the Eucharist. "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)

Who are Seminarians?
Seminarians are men who attend a seminary with the Priesthood in mind. They study to grow in four areas; human, spiritual, pastoral, and intellectual. At the seminary they grow in relationship to our Lord by praying, going to daily Mass and confession, and learning about theology and philosophy.

The Deacon’s Ministry

Saint John Paul II said the deacon’s ministry is "the Church’s service sacramentalized." The deacon’s service in the Church’s ministry of word and liturgy would be severely deficient if his exemplary witness and assistance in the Church’s ministry of charity and justice did not accompany it. He also affirms that at the very heart of the diaconate is a calling to be a servant of the mysteries of Christ and to his brothers and sisters. These two dimensions are inseparably joined together and show the importance of the nature of the ministry, which is given by ordination. (National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States, 36)

Sisters / Nuns

Each religious order is distinguished by its charism, spirituality, rule, apostolate ministry, and how it lives its fraternal life. Having a knowledgeable spiritual and vocational director's guidance can greatly assist you during your discernment. Women are encouraged to contact the Vocations Office to discern whether God calls them to a vocation to the Religious/Consecrated Life.

Resources