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Written by Sarah Grech, The Catholic Register
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Friday, 08 June 2007 |
 Gillian Kantor, who authored Novalis’ It’s Your Call. (Photo courtesy of Gillian Kantor)
The magazine-style booklet, published by Novalis, briefly describes the single life, married life, consecrated life, contemplative life, diocesan life and lay life. The hope is that youth will gain more knowledge about all of these choices and maybe consider them in the future.
“Hopefully they have a better understanding about what each of these (vocations) mean, what some of the realities are,” said Gillian Kantor, a producer at Salt + Light Television and former reporter for The Catholic Register, who authored It’s Your Call. “It isn’t providing an in depth study but it gives them a taste, encourages them to find out more.”
Each of the 15 colourful pages contains information about different vocational callings people have decided to answer. There is also a quiz called “have I got what it takes?” readers can take to see which vocation best suits them.
“We feel It’s Your Call will appeal to young people because we think youth are hungry for meaning and purpose in life,” said Grace Deutsch, resources development and marketing representative at Novalis. “I think that young people hunger for more than just the mall and Facebook and we thought it was time to come up with something that would meet this need.”
Kantor interviewed Canadians from across the country including Tom and Erin Hickey, a young newlywed couple from Saskatoon; Marian Grady, a woman drawn to the single life; Sr. Marie-Pierre Delorme, a member of the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur in Ottawa; Sr. Jean-Marie Dwyer, who’s served as a Dominican Contemplative Nuns for 42 years; Fr. Stephen Courtney, a priest from Newfoundland; Deacon Brian Carter of Yellowknife, NWT; and Mary Clare Luca, a 20-year-old student from the University of Toronto living the lay life.
All of the people interviewed had many interesting things to say about how they live out their call, dispelling some misunderstandings about vocations. Dwyer, 60, lives a life of silent prayer.
“The silence helps us enter into the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. In a busy, noisy world, there is often no time to listen,” she said in the magazine. She finishes by saying, “I really have a lot of words for a quiet contemplative, don’t I?”
Grady belongs to the Oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate so even though she is living the single life, she is hardly alone.
She said that her particular vocation often leaves people confused. “I am called to choose the single life in order to be totally available to the community at large — not to a spouse and not to a religious community, but to the entire world,” she said.
This one time project that can be found in some parishes and schools and is available through Novalis for $2.50.
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Sarah Grech, The Catholic Register |
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