A call to religious life is special and should be considered carefully, says Sr. Helena Burns.
CNS photo/Justin McLellan
January 24, 2025
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Having difficulty discerning your vocation — or know someone who is? These tips might help.
First, let’s define “vocation.” A vocation is a calling from God to marriage, religious/consecrated life or ordination (priesthood/diaconate). Why only these three? Because a vocation is permanent and vowed.
Being single is not a vocation properly speaking because we are born single. It starts us off in life as a default position. Some people are single who want to be married but have never met the person they feel called to tie the knot with. Some may have been attracted to religious life or priesthood, but were counselled against it — even after trying it for a while. It may be God’s will for us that we remain single our whole life, and we can certainly live out this “blessed singlehood” in a holy manner.
Our vocation usually makes itself known in the first quarter of life when we are praying and deciding how to dedicate our love and energies. For some, a vocation comes later. Some people marry for the first time at an advanced age or enter seminary after a wife has died. God knows the proper time to call us and when to have that calling fulfilled.
Perhaps you have tried to discern your vocation for a while, and you’re really struggling. That can be a good thing! Why? 1.) So that we learn to trust God more, pray more. 2.) So that we make a thorough discernment. Then when we embark on our new life, we won’t be stalled or tempted to leave because we’re still not sure. We’ll know we made the right decision because we went through a solid process. Any difficulties or crosses that arise are therefore to be resolved or borne within our vocation, with God’s grace.
Since the majority vocation is marriage, and although I believe future spouses need lots of assistance, I’m focusing on discerning a vocation to religious life or priesthood.
Some Do’s and Don’t’s:
Something to be aware of as you discern: a vocation is not primarily some task or mission that God wants of us — although that’s important. We are not robots or functionaries — we are human beings, beloved children of God, and a vocation is part of our ongoing relationship with Him. And all of life is really about our total self-offering back to God — as He offered Himself totally for us — no matter what our path in life. Love for love.
(Sr. Helena Raphael Burns, FSP, is a Daughter of St. Paul. She holds a Masters in Media Literacy Education and studied screenwriting at UCLA. HellBurns.com Twitter: @srhelenaburns #medianuns)
A version of this story appeared in the January 26, 2025, issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "Discerning the ‘I do’ of a vocation".
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