Could it be that God is calling you?

30 questions for reflection:

1.    What is a vocation?
The word vocation comes from the Latin vocare which means calling. Vocation is an inner call which could come as a strong attraction to something: a way of life, a profession, a task or a concrete mission. One knows God is calling when:

• A strong desire to follow Christ and to serve the church and others is felt.
•  A grace of God is recognized.
• It is not a passing feeling or idea, but is presented with a certain insistence and through a period of time.

A vocation is composed basically of the free call on the part of God and of a free answer on the part of the person. The vocational process depends on an encounter with Christ and with his cause.

2.    Who could have a vocation?
All Christians, by our Baptism, are called by God to follow Jesus Christ and to evangelize. God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Such a great love as God has for each of us cannot leave us indifferent. Each and everyone needs to answer his or her own call. The key in this is to feel “reached” by Christ who reveals to us the mystery of God, teaches us to respond faithfully and helps us to reach out to others and to serve them.

3.    What must be done to get a vocation?
The thing is not to do anything, but rather to be open and to listen to what God wants of us. God is revealed to us through the words of other people; through the examples and testimonies that encourage and challenge us to follow the example; through a community who sometimes asks for help requesting the talents and capacities of each of the members. There is no need to do, but to listen. However, in order to respond to one´s own vocation, we need to have concrete aptitudes:

• A certain maturity that faces sexuality and aggression in a positive manner
• Psycho-emotional stability
• Orientation of the whole life to the service of others. Respect for human dignity
• Faithfulness to the decisions made in spite of difficulties
• Capacity to solve problems without allowing frustration to paralyze us
• Sense of God in life
• Living daily life with faith

4.    How could I know what is my vocation?
God does not call by phone; nor does he send dramatic messages. Rather, the events of life, the personality and way of looking at things usually give clues as to the path to follow. Prayer and the accompaniment of a person you trust are always important. Prayer and the person accompanying you will guide you on the process of vocational discernment.

5.    What is discernment and how do you do it?
Discernment implies choosing between two goods (such as religious life or single life or marriage), not between good and evil. If our decision were between something good and something evil, that would not be discernment, since God could not be calling you for something evil. There is no vocation to evil: that would be called temptation.
Discernment takes place in the context of relationship with God. When we love someone we want to please that person.
Discernment comes from spiritual struggle. We all have the fight against our false identities, selfishness, pride, anger, addictions, greed, fears, doubts, lack of trust…
According to Ignatius Loyola, there are seven attitudes or necessary qualities for discernment:

• Openness. We cannot know what God is asking of us if already interiorly we have decided what we want to do.
• Generosity
• Courage. We could be being asked something difficult and risky
• Inner freedom. Ignatius speaks about three types of persons: those who talk much but don´t do much: they are full of good intentions but are distracted in their own affairs.
• Another person is that who does everything except what is necessary, which is listening to God in his or her life.
• The third type of person is the one who is truly free, whose desire is to do the will of God unconditionally.
• A habit of prayerful reflection about his or her own experience Having clear priorities
• Not mistaking the end for the means. Many people first choose marriage, which is a means and then consider service and praise of God. Others choose money or success and then serving God. That is placing God on a second plane.

6.    What is a priest?
The priest is a person who, called by God, shares in the priesthood of Christ, that is, in his sacrifice before God, and in preaching the Word. In the gospel, Jesus spoke about himself as the Good Shepherd, the one who takes care of his people. His sacrifice on the cross is the supreme act of love for his community. For us Christians, Jesus is the only priest before God the Father. But Jesus chose his disciples to continue his mission.
Priests are at the service of the parish communities and other groups of Christians to nourish them with the Word of God and the Sacraments. They carry out their sacred roles in worship and in the Eucharistic communion. In it, acting on behalf of Christ and proclaiming his ministry, they unite the offering of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ.

7.    Why can't priests get married?
In the Catholic church priestly ministry is considered so important and it so requires the energy and total commitment of the priest that this vocation is considered as one of radical and total self-surrender to Jesus Christ in celibacy.

8.    What is the difference between a diocesan priest and a religious priest?
Diocesan priests live in parishes, sometimes by themselves, and pledge obedience to the local bishop. The religious vocation most often implies a community life and this vocation includes poverty and obedience to the superior of a community as well as to the Superior General of the Congregation. Each one of the Congregations has its own charism, that the religious priest must embrace as part of his identity and commit to develop within the Congregation.

9.    What is the difference between a priest and a religious brother?
The difference is that the brother does not receive the sacrament of Holy Orders. He has a different vocation: while he makes a commitment to observe the same vows of chastity, poverty and obedience as his brother priest within the congregation, a brother does not preside at a Eucharist nor does he administer the sacraments. In a certain way, he is liberated to be able to live the life of the people, serving it and working hand in hand with it.

10.    What is the difference between a priest and a deacon?
From the beginning of the church in the community there were deacons and deaconesses, whose role was service through the preaching of the Word, social works of care for those in need, and the administration of some sacraments, such as Baptism and Marriage. Even if in later times the custom of the church became that only those who were going to be ordained priests received the laying of hands as deacons, after Vatican II Council the Diaconate was reestablished as a form of permanent service within the church. It behooves the deacons, among other things, to assist the bishop and the priests in the celebration of Marriage, proclaim the gospel and preach, preside at funerals, and give himself to various works of charity.

11.    Can deacons get married?
There are transitional deacons, who will be ordained priests after a while. These have a commitment in celibacy and do not get married. But there are also married men who are permanent deacons. These ones, in agreement with their spouse, decide to follow this path. In many places there are diaconal couples; that is, although it is the husband the one receiving ordination, both of them share in the ministry.

12.    Are all priests saints?
Unfortunately, not. Priests are human beings and therefore are subjected to temptations and problems of all kinds. We all know cases of priests who have not been faithful to their ministry or who have committed sins—and sometimes very serious. But the call of priests is, like that of all Christians, to holiness. And, in the case of priests, they are called to a radical self-giving to God and the service of the community.

13.    What is a woman religious?
A woman religious is a woman who has received a call of Christ to giving herself radically to God by living in community within an Order or religious Congregation, in poverty, chastity, and obedience.

14.    Are there different types of congregations?
In the tradition of the church there are contemplative Congregations and active Congregations. The contemplative congregations usually live in cloistered communities (that is, without leaving the monastery or convent) and totally dedicated to prayer and silence. They pray for the needs of the church and the world, inspired in the words of Jesus to Martha: “Mary has chosen the best part.”
The congregations of active life are those who, even if living in community, are involved in pastoral action and in works of evangelization and mission, according to their charisms. These are the orders and congregations who work in hospitals, schools, mission projects, catechesis, and so on.

15.    Is marriage a vocation? What is that vocation all about?
Marriage is also a vocation. It is the call of God to live in intimate relationship with another person, to model the manner of intimate relationship of God with the church and to build the domestic church that is the family. Marriage is a school of love not only for the children, but for the whole church and the world. Matrimonial love, by nature, must be creative. God created out of love to share with us his beauty, goodness, and happiness. Matrimonial love must also be generative, like God´s love.

16.    Could I have a vocation to be single? Is that a real vocation?
Being single could be a vocation and powerful and strong as that of marriage or consecrated life. But, why would God want someone not to get married, not to live in community or in the priestly life? God has a great variety of ways to call. In this call to the single life, says Fr. Eduardo Fernández, SJ, “the key of love is to allow it to reflect the love of God. In the case of single people, this love is not manipulative or possessive, but self-giving and compassionate. This means that single people will have to risk much in order to reach out to others avoiding exclusiveness and competition.”

17.    What do missionaries do?
By definition, the church is missionary, that is evangelizing. Christ gave his mission to all his followers to proclaim the Good News. In the traditional meaning of the word, missionaries are those who live their homes, leave their comfort zone in order to respond to the needs of others and to spread the Good News of the salvation of Christ throughout the world.

18.    What would I have to do to become a priest?
Young men who desire to become priests go through a process of discernment about the motivations for their vocation; a process of human formation; a process of psychological growth; academic studies and theological and pastoral studies in the Seminary or in the novitiate of the Congregation to which they want to belong. There they are accompanied by spiritual directors, professors and superiors in their journey until they reach their final decision about their Ordination.

19.    And what needs to be done to become a religious?
To come in contact with the Congregation in order to know its history, charism and spirituality and to allow the superiors of the Congregation to come to know you in order to discern together if that is in fact your journey. Normally there is a period of formation that is composed by the stages of postulant, junior, and novice, until there is a profession of vows, first temporary and then perpetual.

20.    What are the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience?
Poverty does not consist simply in not having things, but in a generous sharing of everything we are and have. It is a life of solidarity with the poor; it implies an awareness of the injustices in the world and of the suffering of others, and the commitment to work in order to alleviate oppression and to bring the Reign to fulfillment.
Chastity means assuming and transmitting human love in a universal way, availability and renunciation to personal comforts. The mystery of celibacy is a mystery of non-possessive love. A life in celibacy offers more solitude and less intimacy than marriage.
Obedience is a commitment to listening deeply the call of God, who sometimes comes through the authority and the community. It is also a promise to live that call faithfully. The means that help a mature obedience are: to put in first place the needs of others and particularly of the poorest; to pray asking for an open heart to see clearly where we should be standing; an attentive listening and disinterested that challenges the heart and renounces everything that ties us down and hinders a generous service.

21.   What is a superior?
Contrary to what the word may denote, it is not someone who is more important or dignified, but the person whom God and the religious community have placed as leader of the community in order to help it to fulfill the will of God from the charism of the congregation. The superior accompanies each member of the community and the community as a group in its pilgrimage to God. The persons who enter a congregation make an act of trust in that the superior represents for them the voice of God.

22.   To whom does a diocesan priest owe obedience?
The diocesan priest is obliged to listen to, respect and obey the bishop of his diocese.

23.    Do diocesan priests make a vow of poverty?
No. Diocesan priests have freedom in the distribution of their salary and the goods they may obtain through their work or through inheritances.

24.   Do religious men and women necessarily have to live in community?
Most religious congregations, except for very concrete cases, have community life as one of their characteristics. Community life offers many supports for faithfulness to the vocation, although it also presents some challenges in the building of right relationships.

25.   How can I choose to which congregation to belong?
First you need to know yourself and see in which line of work or charism (health, education, catechesis, pastoral ministry, foreign mission, or spirituality) your talents and gifts could be of more service to God for the building of God´s kingdom.
Afterwards you could talk to some people whom you trust and who know you well, be informed on different options, attend vocational retreats, and obtain information materials on the history, life, and charism of the different congregations. In all this process, God will lead you to the place where your true happiness is.

26.   What is a charism?
Charisms are the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives the church for the good of the whole community. Some groups might have a charism for education, others of health, or youth ministry, for instance. That is the objective for which they were born within the church.

27.   What is a lay ecclesial minister?
The lay ecclesial ministers are persons—men and women—especially called by God to develop a mission of evangelization or education and administration within the church structure. They receive a special training and devote their lives to work within the church, while they continue to live in their families. In a document of the bishops of the United States issued a few years ago, they are called, “Coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord.”

28.   What is a lay vocation?
A lay vocation is that of people who feel the call of God to live their Christian life in the world and carrying out their professional, civil, or family duties.

29.   What is a secular institute?
A secular institute is an ecclesial association that gathers persons who continue to live in the world and carrying out their professions with a lay vocation, but with a commitment to a particular charism and a support community. They profess vows or promises, but not of a public nature.

30.   What is an association of the faithful?
This is another way within the church in which those called to this way of life also continue their professional life in the world, being nourished by a charism. They don´t have vows, although some members may make private commitments to live in celibacy. The associations of the faithful gather around the same charism and spirituality single or married people who want to live their Christian life in a deep, demanding way and with the support of a community.