Deacon Patrick Winbush, O.S.B. has been active in vocation ministry for 17 years and is still going strong. His words of wisdom for those just starting out in this ministry are: Be bold! Read more...

NOT ALL SPIRITUAL SUPERHEROES WEAR CAPES. But mine does! Teresa of Avila is a spiritual superhero for today, and she even has a cape courtesy of the Carmelite habit of 16th century Spain. But why is she a spiritual superhero? What makes her someone that Commissioner Gordon would run to the batphone and call for spiritual help? Teresa of Avila was many things—Carmelite nun, Doctor of the Church, saint, mystic, writer, reformer. Superhero is not traditionally among those labels. What does “superhero” even mean when talking about this medieval Spanish woman?

The gold standard for understanding superheroes is none other than the legendary Stan Lee—comic book creator, Marvel founder and superhero collaborator responsible for the likes of Spider Man, Black Widow, and Black Panther. Stan, as his public always referred to him, outlines some of the key characteristics of a superhero, and in doing so, gives us some clues as to why Teresa of Avila might just be the spiritual superhero vocation ministers and their supporters need today.

Uniquely gifted with superpowers

In his essay entitled, “More Than Normal, But Believable,” published in the 2013 book What is a Superhero? Stan writes, “In order to be a superhero, you need a power that is more exceptional than any power a normal human being could possess.” Well, Teresa certainly fits that bill. It’s not every human being that can levitate mystically in the kitchen.

Levitation, intellectual and imaginative visions, and ecstatic experiences were all part of Teresa’s mystical experiences. These were indeed exceptional experiences, “powers” seemingly beyond any person’s capacity. Even so, they were not her ultimate superpower.

Teresa’s superpower was in fact something very ordinary, something that each of us has the capacity for without necessitating mythological parents, radioactive spiders, or a Wakandan plant. Teresa’s superpower? Prayer.

Prayer, as Teresa describes it, is “nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.” In The Way of Perfection, she says that when we have “a clear realization and full consciousness” that we are engaging with God—whether speaking aloud or reading or using our imagination—we are in fact praying.  

Cultivating the superpower of prayer

But as we know with any superhero, superpowers aren’t one and done. They have to be cultivated. Imagine young Peter Parker days after being bit by a radioactive spider. Sure, he was given superpowers, but he had no understanding of them. He had to learn about them and to train, careful not to accidentally catch an innocent bystander in a wayward Spidey web.

Teresa was intent on better understanding her superpower so that she might grow closer to God and feel more fulfilled. But that’s not all. Teresa also knew that the superpower of praying wasn’t just for her. It was for everyone. We all have the capacity of being aware of God, of listening to and talking to God, of loving and being loved by God. It takes time to grow our capacity for prayer and to deepen our relationship with God. And so, Teresa paid close attention to and wrote about her own experience of prayer so that she might encourage others in their relationship with God. Teresa’s writings are like an instruction manual on how to train ourselves to use our “superpower” of God dwelling within us.

We all want to grow in prayer, but we don’t always have time to read the instruction manual! If you are like me, you never even touch it unless something goes awry! Plus, who has the time? The demands of our ministry, our community life, our social outreach, our friends and family, our health—all these can make it feel like not only is there no time to read about prayer, but no time to pray, period!

Too often we set aside our superpower of prayer as Teresa described it, trusting that “prayer in action” is just as good. We sometimes skip the quiet time with God and instead dive right into our many responsibilities. And of course, prayer in action is good; it is a very powerful form of prayer. But it cannot replace that quiet space Teresa reminds us about.

The more we have to do, the more, in fact, we should give to prayer. Martin Luther once said in response to his plans for the day, “Work, work from early until late. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Three hours is not easy to come by! But Luther and Teresa are trying to remind us that we have everything we need already because God dwells with and within us. Never underestimate the superpower of the gift of simply being with God.

Passionate about the good

We all know that while superpowers are really cool, there’s more to them than that. Stan Lee writes, “You need to use that power to accomplish good deeds.” Looking at Teresa’s life, we can see how she was oriented to the good, even from an early age when she and her brother ran away from home, determined to become martyrs for the sake of the gospel. But even with her desire to do good, she was also tempted by the dark side. In her autobiography, she says she struggled often, “going from pastime to pastime, from vanity to vanity, from one occasion of sin to another.”

Teresa used her superpower of prayer to keep herself oriented toward the good, which for her was to be found in God alone. “Quien a Dios tiene nada le falta. Sólo Dios basta,” as it says in her own handwriting on a bookmark found in her prayerbook— “The one who has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.” Teresa’s commitment to prayer, even when it was rough going, helped her grow in her relationship with God and to find solace in “the One whom we know loves us.” The greater she aligned her life with her experience of God, the more she was able to experience the goodness in herself and in the world around her.

Teresa’s superpower of prayer did more than help her individually; it also has helped a whole world of people longing to draw close to God. As Teresa grew in her own life of prayer, she wanted to help her Carmelite sisters and brothers in their lives as well. She was asked to write about her life and her new Carmelite foundations and especially about how to grow in relationship to God and to understand the interior experience of God as well as God’s activity in the world.

Indeed, Teresa used her superpowers to accomplish good deeds that the world continues to benefit from, people she never imagined she would reach. Many times it can be like this in our own lives, especially in the field of vocations. We connect with many people wondering about and discerning their vocation, though only a handful may ever end up entering a religious community. Yet in each email, chat, or visit we bring the best of ourselves and our charism. Even if we never hear from a person again, we can’t know the impact of our experience with them. I still have a holy card of Saint Scholastica sent to me by the vocation director of St. Benedict’s Monastery in Manitoba, Canada. It has nourished me deeply for over 25 years.

We just don’t know all the places that God can take our humble work, but we can trust that God will see that the good flourishes in the way it is needed most.

Relatable and “relatively” normal

Now that we’ve covered superpowers, let’s look at a couple other aspects of the superhero model. Stan writes that the superhero must be “as believable and realistic as possible,” someone who lives in a realistic world that people can relate to. He says the superhero “has to have friends, enemies, people he’s in love with, people he doesn’t love—just like any human being.”

For as much as Teresa is known for her levitations and visions, she is equally known for being down-to-earth, lighthearted, and humble. Teresa tells it like it is. In one moment, she can be extolling the virtues of prayer and in the next moment be very practical about how to live in community. She knew that even with our superpowers, we still have the stuff of life to attend to. She conveys this well in one instruction to her sisters: “When obedience calls you to exterior employments (as, for example, into kitchen, amidst the pots and dishes), remember that our Lord goes along with you, to help you both in your interior and exterior duties.”

She also shares regularly about her own humanity. Her writings are not just instruction manuals for prayer. Rather, they paint a portrait of the human being before God—with all our light and darkness, color, textures, bold strokes and rough edges. Teresa was definitely not a paragon of virtue, but she kept at it and allowed herself to be fully human at the same time that she strived for uniting fully with God.

We too need to keep it real and allow ourselves to be fully human even while we are serving others. Of course this is not to say that we don’t have healthy boundaries. It just means that we can be ourselves. I remember giving what I thought was an awesome vocation talk to a Theology on Tap group. It was well researched, clever and compelling. But it flopped. In the Q&A, I made some off-handed comment about playing the video game Zelda, and that’s when the attendees lit up. It’s not that we even talked about video games, it was that I had revealed something about me personally that they could relate to. It opened the door to a great conversation about vocation and life and God.

This ability to be very human and very much ourselves is important for our own selves but also for others who are trying to see if they too can be themselves and be a religious. They want to see how we’ve integrated­—not abandoned—our personalities, quirks, and passions into every dimension of religious life: community, prayer, and ministry.

Wounded superheroes

I want to highlight one other thing about superheroes being relatable and relatively normal. By the way, I say “relatively” normal because in the superhero multiverse, “normal” involves a wide spectrum, including everything from human to demigod to mutant to alien to artificial intelligence and everything in between. Oddly enough, there is no one way to be “normal”! But I digress.
Stan doesn’t directly mention this characteristic in his essay, but it is something that many fans have noticed about Stan in his creation and development of superheroes. Father Jim McDermott, S.J., associate editor at America magazine, says it well in his article remembering Stan after he died in 2018:

The thing that Stan did that was truly revolutionary was not simply that he cut his characters from the everyday stuff of our lives, but that he specifically took qualities that society has often cast as shameful or embarrassing—being an orphan, being smart, being an adolescent, being handicapped or just not being white—and ascribed those qualities to his heroes.... Stan Lee showed us nerds (and Catholics) can be heroes.

Superman’s alter ego Clark Kent is socially inept and dons stereotypical nerd eyewear. Makkari, a member of the Eternals, is a deaf woman of color. Peter Parker is an awkward teen when he gets his Spidey powers.

Part of being a superhero means owning and even elevating those parts of us that have been hurt, rejected, shamed. Our ability to do this can lead to our own healing, and it can help us be more present to others who are in need as well.

For as grounded and strong as Teresa of Avila appears in her writing, she also was someone deeply wounded by others. You can see traces of this in her characteristic self-deprecating remarks throughout her writing. Some of this is a result of her humility and some was a way to subvert church inquisitors who did not like “uppity women.” Still, her words also bear the edges of suffering.

For example, Teresa writes in her autobiography, “Blessed be Thou, O my Lord, who, out of a pool so filthy as I am, bringest forth water so clean as to be meet for Thy table! Praised be Thou, O Joy of the Angels, who hast been thus pleased to exalt so vile a worm!” In today’s world where copious amounts of self-empowerment quotes are on social media, these may be strange words to hear. Yet, Teresa is not putting herself down nor asking us to feel sorry for her. Rather, she wants to show us that God delights in us, lifts us up, sets us as an example even when we feel at our smallest—a lowly worm.

We have all felt that smallness. It might be wounds from our own history or our own feelings of inadequacy as others in our communities look to us to herald in the future of religious life. It may be that we don’t feel spiritual enough, or young and relevant enough, or that we are socially awkward, or have been hurt by our own community, or have our own struggles about the unknown future of religious life.

What would happen if we saw our “smallness” or wounds as Stan Lee saw them? Or as Teresa of Avila? Or as Jesus the Christ? What would it be like to rise to our fullest potential as the wounded superheroes that we are?

Facing our adversaries

No discussion of superheroes would be complete without mentioning the superhero antithesis: the supervillain. Call it an archenemy, a nemesis, an evil overlord, a mad scientist, whatever. When there’s a superhero, there’s also going to be a Lex Luthor, a Harley Quinn, a Green Goblin, or a Dark Phoenix—and all their legions of minions (not the yellow kind). The supervillain keeps the superhero on her boot-clad—or discalced, as the case may be—feet. The supervillain can match the superhero move for move and perhaps even appear to be more powerful!

Now this is where our comparison to Teresa might be stretched a bit. But let’s go with it. Teresa certainly did have the occasional adversary and, of course, she wrote regularly about the wiles of the devil. But her writings also reveal that her greatest nemesis was, in many ways, her own self.

She was self-aware enough to recognize how she often thwarted herself and got in the way of the good that both she and God were trying to accomplish! She worked at being herself thoroughly, and also she knew that she had to check her attitudes and behaviors when she wasn’t at her best.

Teresa’s writings include a great vignette in which she shares how she was going to receive Communion, normally a beautiful experience for her, but she got rather judgmental when the priest gave her the tiniest piece of the host. She wondered: What’s wrong with him? Is he trying to mortify me? But then she stopped herself from going down that rabbit hole, reminding herself that God was “whole and entire in the smallest particle.” She continues, “His Majesty said to me: ‘Have no fear, My daughter; for no one will be able to separate thee from Me,’ giving me to understand that the size of the Host mattered not.”

Like Teresa, we too have adversaries and adversarial situations that we must face, willingly or not, exteriorly or interiorly. We must activate our superpowers most especially in these situations and trust that though the other powers may appear stronger, nothing can overpower the love of Christ. As Paul the Apostle writes to the Christian community in Rome: “Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Rom. 8:35, 37).

We are each invited to be the “more than” that Paul writes about. Our adversarial situations may seem small and innocuous like a wafer fragment, or they may be more formidable like a room full of Kryptonite. It won’t be easy—it never is. Life is messy and uncomfortable and painful at times. But in the end we choose how we will be in the midst of it, not in spite of it.
But wait! What about the sequel?

As we near the end of our spiritual superhero saga with Teresa of Avila and a cast of characters from the multiverse, it seems important to return once again where we first started. Stan Lee gave us a good model of a superhero to work with. In the end, however, he says simply this:

Another definition of a hero is someone who is concerned about other people’s well-being and will go out of his or her way to help them—even if there is no chance of a reward. That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero.

The world is longing for this kind of “real superhero.” We see it in Teresa of Avila and in so many other spiritual superheroes past and present. Our invitation is not just to look to them for guidance, but to also take up the mantle ourselves. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and don our own spiritual capes once again, equipped with good companions, insight, and passion for the world. It’s also time to activate our superpowers on behalf of the next generation of religious to help them in their own journeys to become fully themselves and fully community.

The sequel is up to us.

Sister Julie Vieira, I.H.M. belongs to the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary based in Monroe, Michigan. She is a writer, presenter, and spiritual guide currently serving as program director of the IHM Spirituality Centers.

The National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations (NFCRV) has granted education debt assistance to six communities for 2020. Congratulations to these incoming religious!

1. Dominican Sisters of Mary Immaculate: Hien Nguyen 
2. Marist Brothers: Ryan Richter 
3. Daughters of Mary Salesians: Pamela Suresca 
4. Bernardine Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis: Mariette Jumet 
5. Carmelite Sisters: Catherine Bier 
6. Totus Tuus: Megan Christ

Read more about NFCRV.

The board for the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations conducted a Strategic Planning meeting October 18-19 at Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Saint Meinrad, Indiana.

The meeting aimed to update and identify new strategic initiatives for the future. Several board members traveled to join in person and others participated via Zoom. Father Anthony Vinson, O.S.B. and his community hosted the board. "We graciously enjoyed their hospitality," says Phil Loftus, executive director of NFCRV.

The NFCRV grant application window for 2023 opens January 5, 2023 and closes April 17, 2023.

Sister Michele Fisher, C.S.F.N.,  Brother Chris Patiño, F.S.C., Father Rocco Puopolo, S.X., and Sister Donna Del Santo, S.S.J each received the NRVC's Outstanding Recognition Award at the convocation on November 6. Each has made a substantial contribution to vocation ministry beyond their member areas, lifting up all who are involved in this ministry and contributing in a profound way to those in vocational discernment. The NRVC thanks and congratulates them!

The NRVC annual report is now available online. It captures the good work the organization was able to accomplish during the challenging months of 2021 as the world faced COVID-19 closures and more. The NRVC is proud to report the ways it responded to member needs, helping vocation ministers do their jobs in new ways while maintaining fiscal responsibility and organizational integrity.

At its September 2022 meeting, the NRVC board approved amendments to the curriculum for vocation ministers. The NRVC recommends that vocation ministers complete workshops in all the core curriculum areas before starting or early on in their vocation ministry, including orientation, ethics, behavioral assessment, role of the family, psycho-sexual integration, ecclesial competency, civil and canon law, immigration law, and safe environment protocols. Other topics are part of continuing and ongoing education recommendations. Thank  you to those who served on the Curriculum Update Task Force: Brother Nicholas Romeo, O.F.M. Conv., Fathers Radmar Jao, S.J., and Andrew Laguna, S.J., Sisters Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M., Caryn Crook, O.S.F., Mary Jo Curtsinger, C.S.J., Michele Fisher, C.S.F.N., Rosemary Fry, C.S.J.,  Colleen Mattingly, A.S.C.J., Catherine Meighan, S.S.J., Mollie Reavis, S.N.J.M., Helene Sharp, C.S.C., and Valerie Zottola, C.S.J.

Nearly 200 people took part in the November 3-6 NRVC convocation in Spokane. They represented every member area, including Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, and the United Kingdom. The NRVC expresses special gratitude to attendees, invited guests, presenters, and sponsors for taking part in keynote presentations, Conversations on the Edge with partners in ministry, the Conversation Roundtable, and the awards banquet honoring Miguel Naranjo and the Catholic Legal and Immigration Network, and four outstanding NRVC members. Participants donated $1,991 to Transitions, to assist women and children facing poverty and homelessness in the diocese of Spokane.

The three keynote presentations will be in the winter 2023 HORIZON, another good reason to renew your membership. Please note that annual subscriptions are helpful to send to all those who support vocation ministry. Consider sending a HORIZON suscription to households in your community as an affordable way for your members to learn and be inspired about vocation ministry all year long.

If you would like to suggest a theme for the next convocation—to be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 31 to November 3, 2024—contact a National Board member, as the board will choose a theme at its spring meeting.

The NRVC Summer Institute will take place in Leavenworth, Kansas at the Marillac Center July 10 - 23. Three workshops are offered, “Orientation for New Vocation Ministers,” “Ethical Issues in Vocation and Formation Ministry,” and “Behavioral Assessment 1.” Registrations for these workshops will be available on a case-by-case basis.

The upgraded HORIZON index/archives button makes it easier than ever to scroll through recent (or not so recent) editions and look for articles. Check it out today!

Remember, subscribers and NRVC members can also search for articles by topic at the HORIZON Library.

Here are three proven reasons you should invest in attending the Nov. 3-6 NRVC convocation in Spokane, Washington. Remember, the early-bird discount ends after October 7, so register now!

1. To build relationships for collaboration. This ministry hinges on working well with other people who are part of the religious vocations world. Convocation provides superior face-to-face time to meet others, build trust, and nurture these important relationships.
    
2. In-person education has advantages. Online learning has its place, but the virtual world cannot replicate all the advantages of in-person, interactive learning. Also, learning at the convocation is not limited to formal presentations.
    
3. Creativity is unleashed. Studies show in-person exchanges heighten creative thinking. This moment in religious life requires every ounce of our creativity.

Misericordia funds are available if you need assistance with the cost of the convocation.

Both individuals and organizations are invited to become sponsors of the NRVC convocation, to take place October 31 - November 4 in Minneapolis. The NRVC is grateful to the many people and groups who are already supporting this important gathering of vocation ministers. Learn about sponsorship levels, including in-kind contributions, by contacting Phil Loftus, development director, at 312-318-0180 or ploftus@nrvc.net.

Convocation registration is now open. Pre-convocation workshop registration is available, as well registration for the post-convocation pilgrimage "Sacred Sites, Sacred Stories. Visit our online store to make your selections, register, and make payments. 

I'D LIKE TO PROPOSE that we engage youth and young adults around vocation in two primary ways: integration and growth. By integration I mean that vocational language and ideas should ideally be present throughout every aspect of the life of young disciples. Vocational language and concepts can be part of their family life, their parish experience, and their school engagement (Catholic or otherwise). A vocational lens can even be present in extracurriculars. Integration means that vocation is the thread that connects those distinct realities. For young people and families who often find the different parts of their lives disconnected, the singular thread of vocation gives a powerful sense of cohesion.

For Catholic institutions, integration is key. There was a point in the history of the U.S. Catholic Church when faith integration happened naturally as a by-product of tight-knit immigrant communities. Those who attended parishes and schools while living in culturally defined neighborhoods didn’t have to work at integration. It happened naturally. Today’s Catholics swim in much different waters. There is little that cuts across their lives from school to extracurriculars to family and beyond. A vocational thread can create cohesion in the Catholic faith across the different pieces of a person’s life.

 Second, I want to look at growth into vocation. If integration is a spiral constantly coming back to the gravitational pull of vocation, then growth is about each disciple progressing forward and deepening his or her calling. Growth means identifying any barriers that keep young people from listening, understanding, reflecting, and choosing their vocation path. It begins with the conviction that all people do, in fact, have a vocation, that the vocation is multi-layered, and that people can progress toward a calling that provides them with their fullest life while meeting the needs of the world.

Family is the starting point

Now, to get practical, what does this really mean? Let’s start with integration. We first have to ask: What different communities are people part of? What communities need to integrate the language and concept of vocation? The first community is the family. Vocational language is a huge win for parents. Parents are already concerned about how to help their children be the best they can be, to maximize their talents, gifts, and abilities. They want a good life for their children. In spite of differences we may have about what leads to a good life, that desire for a good life is a starting point for parents. Vocational language calling for each person to live out who he or she is meant to be, with purpose and meaning—that is language we can use with parents.

There are moments when parents are particularly open to these conversations. The thresholds of Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation are ideal times to ask parents to engage with these bigger vocational questions. At Baptism we can introduce questions such as: What do you want for your young person as he or she gets older? What does it look like to you to be a successful parent? At First Communion, parents can begin to ask questions like: What does my child love to do? What excites my child? What parts of my child’s character (who they are versus what they can do) are we already starting to see? When youth reach middle school and high school, the typical age for Confirmation preparation, appropriate questions include: When has my child shown the ability to work or sacrifice for something? When has he or she been part of a community using personal gifts to benefit others? How can we help our child to pray about what to say yes or no to in making choices?

Even when faith is not the primary lens for a parent, rites of passage can open up vocation-related conversations. When a young person goes to school for the first time, that transition period can open up questions about how to help guide that young person who is shifting now from parents as the primary influencers to a wider community. The move to middle school is another time of trepidation for parents. As their child enters adolescence, parents can ask questions such as: How will my young person decide who to listen to as they get older? Who will they decide to trust, and how will someone earn their trust? How will who they trust affect who they become? These are questions parents can ask young people themselves, that open up the adolescent to thinking about who they want to become and how those around them will influence that direction. Later adolescence demands another level of conversation. Again, these movements prompt personal reflection and a chance for parents to interject. Parents can ask questions such as: What do you feel passionate about? What about this world would you like to see changed? How could you begin to be a part of that right now? What kind of community would you need to be a part of to be supported in that mission?

All of these questions help ground a parent and child’s relationship within a vocational conversation. They are meant to engage parents to consider how they could encourage their child in following a path beyond financial security or professional achievement. Setting the framework for a life of service and mission early on means a young adult will be more open to such a life down the road.  

Parishes can develop vocation further

When it comes to integrating a vocation culture into the parish community, we can begin with parish leaders by using their language of evangelization, community, mission, and accompaniment. All those are pressing matters for our parish leaders. Vocational language actually helps them to get at each of those areas. They want young people to think about their own encounter with Christ, what that means, and how that moves them forward, sends them on mission, and gives them purpose. The great news is that introducing vocational language to parish leaders gives them a way to address all of these different areas of concern.

How is that carried out? Parish leaders can take vocational concepts and understandings and integrate them into the things they already have going on. Many parishes already do retreats for youth and young adults. They’re already preparing people for sacramental life, be it marriage or First Communion or Confirmation. In all of these aspects of parish life, leaders can add a vocation theme without overhauling their current programs or starting anything new. They don’t have to put on a whole separate retreat just on vocations. If they’re doing a marriage preparation retreat or a Confirmation retreat, the language of vocation fits right in. What is the purpose and meaning of your marriage? What gifts do you bring to the vocation of marriage? If you’re being confirmed, what are the different ways of living out an adult faith commitment? The language of vocation is very helpful. If young people are hearing these vocational questions in youth ministry or religious education at the same time that their parents are engaging them in similar conversations, they will have an expanded ability to consider how a faith commitment affects the whole of their lives.

Another rich area for vocation language is summer or weekend service opportunities. They lend themselves easily to vocational conversations since the focus is already on how to move beyond yourself and be attentive to the other in your midst. In week-long or even one-time service experiences, youth begin to hear the stories of those they serve. They comprehend the difference between assumptions they carry into service against the reality they discover when, for instance, “homeless people” become names and experiences. This allows young people to consider how they live their life to put others at the center, rather than centering on themselves or specific accomplishments. Reflection questions on service bring these points to the forefront. How are Christians called to serve? What are your own gifts and talents, and how can you serve others with them? How is your act of giving your life to someone else embodying the gift of Jesus to the world? How could you live that ideal beyond this service experience? How can you make it part of your everyday life?

This is what is meant by integration: taking vocational concepts and introducing them to parish leaders such that they use them in every aspect of what they are already doing. The vocational culture is embedded in the approach of the parish, catechetical, or youth leader, sometimes explicitly and other times implicitly.

HELPING LAITY LEARN
THE LANGUAGE OF VOCATION

WITH ADULTS, it makes sense to start teaching about vocation by looking at their own vocation. Sometimes our parents, teachers, and young adults have not stopped to consider what they are doing as a vocation. Parents often don’t consider their role as a mother or father as a calling. We can be asking them: What has it meant to you to be a parent? What have been the joys and the struggles? Where have you found meaning in being a parent?  We can do the same thing with teachers, helping them reflect on where they find joy in what they do. How does it stir them? Why are they drawn to teaching?

Once parents and teachers and other adults ask themselves these questions about their own passions, their own callings, it often sparks something in them, leading them to ask the young people in their lives the same kinds of questions. This kind of modeling of vocational questions can be very powerful and can have a ripple effect.

Schools play an important role

The 2020 NRVC Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life reinforced again the strong correlation between Catholic school attendance and entrance to a religious community. The question for vocation ministers becomes how to engage campus ministers and teachers in the language of vocation, in vocational practices, in what they are already doing—in classrooms, service opportunities, and class retreats. Again, those are opportunities to introduce the concept and language of vocation into various aspects of the life our young people are already living.

It used to be that members of our religious communities were at the forefront of our Catholic schools and universities; they themselves would be constant reminders, models, and witnesses to religious life. They were an implicit invitation to join a community and continue the mission that young people had already experienced as students. Fewer religious are present in schools today, but in the same way that parishes can integrate vocational questions into the ministry they already do, schools, too, can knit vocation concepts into their current ministry.

Sometimes it doesn’t even require an action. The vowed religious life of sisters, brothers, and priests is a particular type of witness to young people, but so is the witness of lay teachers who have often knowingly taken a smaller salary to commit themselves to teaching in a Catholic community. The witness of lay teachers and staff can introduce young people to the reality of sacrifice along the vocational journey. It has the opportunity to move youth to see the prophetic cost of all vocations.

An advantage of the school environment is that it is easier to craft a vocation culture when youth and young adults are exposed to that ecosystem for many hours a day. The key to maximizing that potential is to reach the many adults across the school community who engage young people. Schools are predisposed to finding ways to adhere to Catholic identity without negating non-Catholic students. Vocational language and practices can be a significant asset to school leadership looking to accomplish this task.

Growth into a personal sense of calling

Now that we’ve looked at these three main areas—family, parishes, and schools—for integration of vocation language, let’s turn to growth. If the message of vocation has been implanted, then how do we move young people forward so they begin to grow and develop in their own individual calling?

At the family level, parents can begin introducing their children to the concept of vocation and the different types of vocations. Often this happens in high schools when we hold a vocation day, but it actually can be better to introduce specific types of vocations at the elementary ages. Parents can explain to their kids what  sisters, brothers, priests, and deacons are. At this stage, we want to expand their sense of the possibilities in life.  Very few children become convinced of a particular calling between grades 1 and 5. Yet they do like to pretend what it would be like to have a certain role when they grow up. The objective here is to simply expand their imagination to include many vocational roles.

Then as children grow up, we can give middle schoolers different experiences of vocation. Certainly they’ve seen marriage being lived out in their families. Even families where parents are no longer together are still situated within one type of calling. But what about the other vocations? What about the different ways that priesthood, or life as a sister or brother get lived out? Connecting middle schoolers to the variety within the different callings just as they are beginning to discover their own passions opens them to the reality that a commitment to religious life does not mean an end to other dreams. Perhaps we can let them experience a sister who teaches at a university or a brother who ministers at a soup kitchen. Then we can ask these young people what they see and feel when they spend time with religious. Yes, it is an effort to make these real-world connections, but they are invaluable.

High school youth are ready to connect themselves to the commitment and passion they see in religious and lay adults living their calling. They are ready to start tapping into their own interests and learning what they find life giving. We want high schoolers to start asking: What am I excited about? What am I concerned about? How can I live out my passion? High schoolers are beginning to narrow their interests and make choices that demand prioritization. Too often those involved in the faith life of a young person see that process as a competition in which church or youth group activities rarely win. An alternative perspective is that this sorting out of priorities and commitments is the exact moment that young people are choosing a passion, and that experience is a healthy next step in vocation discernment.

Young adults, whether in college or the workforce, are already trying to find what particular gifts they bring to their passion. They are still discovering purposes and missions to which they feel drawn, but now with more personal awareness, they’re wondering how their own unique skills will allow them to contribute. This discernment leads quite naturally into the next, which is the question of community. Where is the community that will support them and help them to live out their vocation?  Is it a marriage partner and extended family? Is it a religious institute? Is their community a collection of friends in the faith? These moments of inquiry are the points at which religious communities in particular hold a distinct advantage. Decades or even centuries of living and growing together as a community around mission provides sisters, brothers, and priests with good questions and perhaps even better practices to accompany young adults.

Vocation language and concepts are begging to be integrated into our various forms of Catholic community: family, parish, and schools. The beauty of this approach is that leaders in each of these areas can integrate vocation concepts without starting anything new but rather by consciously working at making these natural connections. Vocational language fits so much of what is already happening. Similarly, religious and lay leaders alike must commit to the long-term work of accompanying people as they grow into their God-given calling. For God does continue to call, and each one of us, with our own unique gifts and passions, continues to respond.

Craig Gould is a husband and father and director of family, youth, and young adult ministry for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland. He has also ministered in parishes, apostolic ministries, and graduate schools.

This article is based on the author’s presentation for the 2022 webinar series: “Religious Life Today: Learn it! Love it! Live it!”  Find this presentation in video form, as well as the rest of the series, at nrvc.net/webinars.

NRVC’s publications, VISION and HORIZON, recently earned nine editorial awards from the Catholic Media Association. VISION was honored for its website and twice for feature writing. HORIZON won awards for essay writing, reporting on solidarity, coverage of racial inequality, its book review section, feature writing, and general excellence. Find details and links to the winning articles here.

In July, the NRVC online Summer Institute delivered four workshops to 107 participants, including members of four new institutes that just joined the NRVC: Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Preachers of Christ and Mary, Priests of the Sacred Heart, and the Archdiocese of Port of Spain (Trinidad). Thanks to scholarships funded by the Hilton Foundation, guests attended from Giving Voice, Catholic Theological Union, and the National Conference of Vicars for Religious. The NRVC extends warm thanks to the workshop presenters: Brother Joseph Bach, O.S.F., Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M., Father Raymond P. Carey, Dr. Ted Dunn, Brother John Eustice, C.S.V., and Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D.

The NRVC is most grateful to the following vocation ministers who are now stepping down after serving as member area coordinators. They cultivated networking, education, and support for NRVC members in their geographic areas. Thank you!

Brother Chris Patiño, F.S.C. (6 years) West Coast  
Sister Maria Victoria Cutaia, O.S.B. (4 years) Heartland
Sister Mary O’Donovan, O. Carm. (4 years) Hudson Valley
Sister Stephanie Spandl, S.S.N.D. (4 years) Upper Midwest
Sister Jenny Zimmerman, SND (3 years) Lake Erie/Ohio River
Sister Judy Long, O.C.D. (2 years) Mid-Atlantic
Sister Barbara O’Kane, M.P.F. (2 years) Delaware Valley
Sister Kathleen Farrelly, O.Carm. (2 years)  Southeast

The latest edition of NRVC's award-winning VISION Vocation Guide, is now available, both in print and online. Be sure to order your copies (if you haven't already) to share with discerners. You may also order multilingual bookmarks and posters that direct people to the VISION website.

Thank you to the following NRVC members who have begun their service as member area coordinators. Their efforts to help members be connected and engaged are very much appreciated. Find a full list of member area coordinators here.

• Sister Caryn Crook, O.S.F. — Lake Erie/Ohio River
• Sister Michele Fisher, C.S.F.N. — Delaware Valley
• Sister Regina Hlavac, D.C. — Southeast
• Ms. Michelle Horton — Heartland
• Sister Carmella Luke, O.S.B. — Upper Midwest
• Father Vien Nguyen, S.D.B. — West Coast
• Sister Jean Rhoades, D.C. — Mid-Atlantic

The NRVC is offering four workshops to take place before the evening opening of the NRVC convocation on November 3 in Spokane, Washington. Don't miss the following opportunities for professional growth. Each workshop will be offered in the morning (9 a.m. to noon) and again in the afternoon (1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.).  Pictured here are presenters for "Vocation Promotion Insights."

1. Dynamic Communication Strategies,
2. Inspirational Women in the Church, 
3. Vocation Ministry: A Call to be Light and Enlightened,
4. Vocation Promotion Insights.   

Register at the NRVC online store for the conference, and pre-convocation workshops. Contact Nix conference assistants for hotel reservations; please do not contact the hotel or a booking agent.

Get ready for back to school! This 22-page booklet is perfect to give to college students attending Busy Person's Retreats. Students can select from among 17 themes, each with a variety of scripture passages and reflection questions. Stock up today for the coming school year. $2 per booklet for NRVC members. $3 non-members. Bulk pricing is available.

NRVC members now have a new resource: the online Member Guidebook, which has information on 24 aspects of the organization. From the history, mission, staff, and board to the full constitution and bylaws of the organization, the guidebook brings together membership details in one place. The guidebook can be reviewed online or downloaded as a 70-page pdf.

The NRVC extends a warm welcome to our new episcopal liaison, Bishop Austin Vetter, who is leader of the Diocese of Helena, Montana. Our episcopal liaison keeps us in communication and coordination with the bishops of the United States. We thank Archbishop Charles Thompson for his friendship and service in this role in recent years. Many of our members met Archbishop Thompson who graciously took part in several days of our November convocation in Spokane, Washington. He was recently elected as Chairman of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. 

The NRVC was part of a December meeting of men and women religious from 13 national organizations that serve religious life. Convened by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the goal of the meeting was to address the question: What will it take for all of us to serve religious life more faithfully and in bold and creative ways, given the changing landscape?  The meeting started a conversation that involved listening to each group, looking at how organizations have adjusted so far, and exploring potential ways to work together in the future to benefit religious life.

Those seeking education grants from the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations have until April 17 to apply. These grants are for college debt of people entering a religious community; the grants are a benefit exclusive to members of the National Religious Vocation Conference. Please go to vocationfund.org to start the application process. Questions may be answered at vocationfund.org or directed to Phil Loftus, executive director, at ploftus@nfcrv.org.

If  you or your religious institute will be present August 1-6 in Lisbon, Portugal for World Youth Day,  please let the National Religious Vocation Conference know so we can add you and/or your community's name to a list of NRVC members taking part. This allows pilgrims and others to network with our members. Most who visit our webpage on World Youth Day are planning to attend; many are pilgrims, youth ministers, and parents.

If you or your community will attend World Youth Day, please email Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net with 1) the full name of you and/or your religious institute and 2) whether you will have a booth at the Vocation Fair.

The NRVC board and staff will meet April 21-24, at the Carmelite Spiritual Center in Darien, Illinois. On the agenda will be the selection of new board members, a new board chair, and vice chairs. New board members will begin their terms at the autumn board meeting. With appreciation and gratitude, we thank Sister Mindy Welding, I.H.M., for serving two years as the board chair, Sister Belinda Monahan, O.S.B. for serving two years as vice chair of membership and database, and Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D. for serving five years as vice chair for finance and development. Sisters Mindy and Belinda, along with Father Adam will conclude their terms at the selection of a new board chair and vice chairs. The board will also be selecting the 2024 convocation theme and keynote speakers. 

The new study, "The Class of 2024: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood" provides an in-depth look at the men in religious institutes and dioceses  recently or about to be ordained. The survey was commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and was produced by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Among other things, the report provides details on the approximately 66 religious-institute men to be ordained in 2024. Data about religious institute ordinands is presented alongside information about diocesan ordinands. See the report here.

At its April 2023 meeting, the NRVC board made the following changes to its leadership: 

• Board chair:  Sister Nicole Trahan, F.M.I. (center)
• Vice chair of finance and development:  Mr. Len Uhal (right)
• Vice chair of membership and data (until her term ends in December 2023): Sister Belinda Monahan, O.S.B. (left)

In addition, the board accepted the resignation of Sister Marichui Bringas, C.C.V.I. (2020-2023) and appointed the following individuals to serve as board members beginning in December, 2023: 

• Brother Joseph Bach, O.S.F.
• Sister Margarita Hernandez, S.P.
• Friar Mario Serrano, O.F.M. Conv.
• Brother Edward Shields, F.S.C.
• Sister Gail Trippett, C.S.J.  

Thank you to all of these NRVC members who have stepped up to help lead our organization!

The NRVC extends warm thanks to the following people who have served as member area coordinators and are completing their terms of service on June 30, 2023.

Eight Years:

• Pacific Northwest:  Sister Christine Still, O.S.F.

Six Years:

• Heartland:  Ms. Lori Benge
• Lake Erie/Ohio River:  Sister Monica Seaton, O.S.U.
• Southwest:  Sister Bridget Waldorf, S.S.N.D.
• Upper Midwest:  Mr. Gregory Darr

Five Years:

• Southeast:  Sister Colleen Brady, O.S.F.

Four Years:

• West Coast:  Sister Nancy Uhl, S.N.D.deN.

Three Years:

• Hudson Valley:  Brother Joseph Bach, O.S.F.

Two Years:

• Pacific Northwest:  Sister Teresa Shields, S.N.J.M.

A National Eucharistic Revival is underway in the United States, and a cross-country pilgrimage leading up to a July 2024 Eucharistic Congress will take place in the summer of 2024. Learn more here about how to get involved with this initiative to invigorate Catholics about the "source and summit" of our faith.

Meet this mother, pastoral worker, teacher, and—for the last 10 years—vocation director for the Sinsinawa Dominicans. "I have been in relationship with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa my entire life as a neighbor, teacher, parish co-worker, and as a Dominican Associate." Read more...

Meet this mother, pastoral worker, teacher, and—for the last 10 years—vocation director for the Sinsinawa Dominicans. "I have been in relationship with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa my entire life as a neighbor, teacher, parish co-worker, and as a Dominican Associate." Read more...

It is not too late to join us for one or more virtual workshops this month. Of special note is the new workshop, Virtual Accompaniment and Communication with  Young Catholics taking place October 24-26. Seasoned professionals in youth and young adult ministry will lead this exploration of young Catholics and how best to communicate and engage with them.

Virtual Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors     
October 9-13, 2023, by Brother Joseph Bach, O.S.F., Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M., and Brother John Eustice, C.S.V.

Virtual Behavioral Assessment 1 workshop
October 17-19 2023, by Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D.

Virtual Accompaniment and Communication with Young Catholics 
October 24-26, 2023, by Stephen Carroll, Ph.D., Charlotte McCorquodale, Ph.D., and Darius Villalobos

In addition, the NRVC will offer Behavioral Assessment 2 in Tucson, Arizona December 2-3.

Our weekly series of online Tuesday events continues through April 18 with the following topics: 

Tuesday, April 4, "Expect the Unexpected: Stories in Vocation Ministry that Surprised You," presented by Brother Alan Parham, F.S.C.

Tuesday, April 11, "Striking a Healthy Balance in Hope: Prayer, Community, Mission, Ministry, Self," presented by Sister Michele Fisher, C.S.F.N.   

Tuesday, April 18,  "Learning the Codes: Curiosity and Cultural Diversity," presented by Sister Dina Bato, S.P.

Learn more about our members-only "Talk it up Tuesdays" here. 

The new toolbox features links to resources that can be downloaded to print as needed by NRVC members. We ask that you refrain from posting any resource on social media/websites with respect to copyright and intellectual property integrity. Resources will be added as requested and time permits.

Abundant Hope Handout

Abundant Hope Prayer Card in French

Abundant Hope Prayer Card in Spanish

Abundant Hope Prayer Service  

Application Document Checklist

Characteristics of Newer Entrants Handout

Christus Vivit Vocation Quotes

Convocation Video Reflection Guide for Fr. Ricky Manalo, C.S.P.

Convocation Video Reflection Guide for Fr. vănThanh Nguyễn, S.V.D.  

Convocation Video Reflection Guide for Sr. Barbara Reid, O.P.

Convocation Video Reflection Guide for the Roundtable Conversation

Culture of Vocation Assessment Tool Booklet

Discerning your Vocation: Religious Life and Diocesan Priesthood

Discernment Video and Song links 

Fifty Fun Facts about Religious Life Handout

Handbook on Educational Debt and Vocations to Religious Life

Incorporating Cultural Diversity into Religious Life Handout

Listening to the Call Black Religious Vocation Prayer Card

Litany for Vocations

Litany for Vocations with a reflection on the impact of clothes we wear

Parish Vocation Committee Guidelines

Pope Francis Prayer Card

Prayer...some helpful hints Booklet by Fr. Warren Sazama, SJ

RCRI ~ CLINIC Webinar - Updates to the Religious Worker Permanent Residency Program, thank you to The Resource Center for Religious Institutes for permission to share this link with NRVC members. 

Religious Life Today Booklet 

Religious Life Today Infographic

Religious Life Today Infographic in Spanish

Religious Life Today Webinars

Responsibilities of Members for Vocation Ministry Handout

Role of Family in Nurturing Vocations Handout

Role of Religious Leadership in Vocation Ministry Handout

Role of Religious Leadership in Vocation Ministry FRENCH Handout

Storymap: Religious Life Today

Storymap: Bold and Faithful, meet today's religious

Transforming Religious Communities to be Antiracist and Culturally Inviting: Welcoming the Cultural Abundance of African American and Black Catholics

VISION Vocation Guide

VISION Vocation Guide Article Index

Vocation Culture: From Reflection to Action Booklet

Vocation Culture: From Reflection to Action Booklet in Spanish

Vocation Icon Prayer Card

Vocation Prayer Card designed by the African American Vocation Committee

Vocation Vocabulary Booklet

Year of Consecrated Life Prayer Card

Year of Consecrated Life Prayer Card in Polish

Year of Consecrated Life Prayer Card in Spanish

Year of Consecrated Life Prayer Card in Vietnamese

YouTube Channel - NRVC has over 170 videos to watch

Young People, The Faith, and Vocational Discernment, XV Synod of Bishops Preparatory Document Summary

The Winter 2023 edition of HORIZON is now online, with paper copies slated to mail this week. It consists of the three keynote presentations delivered at our November 2022 convocation. The theme is "Call beyond borders." Sister Barbara Reid, O.P. addresses the topic from a scriptural lens; Father vanThanh Nguyen, S.V.D. looks at the topic from a lens of immigrants and migrants; and Father Ricky Manalo, C.S.P. lends a perspective combining culture, technology, and the Nones (those with no religious tradition).

"I'm living with, learning from, and relating to others one quarter my age," says Father John Schork, C.P. who, at age 73, serves as vocation director for his province. The job is "humbling and fun," he says. Learn more here.

This workshop is currently filled to capacity. If you would like to be on the waiting list, please email dinasp@nrvc.net

This foundational workshop is essential for all new and recently appointed vocation directors and teams. Its goal is to provide participants with the foundational skills, context, theory, challenges, and practicalities of contemporary vocation ministry. Topics will include accompaniment with inquirers, assessment of discerners; application and admission process, vocation promotion, canon law, boundaries, animating vowed membership, relevant resources, and research, along with resiliency and self-care of the vocation director.

Please note this five-day workshop begins on July 11 at 9:00 a.m. and ends on July 15 at 4:00 p.m. Central time. Overnight accommodations are included with arrivals after 3 pm on July 10 and departures before 9 am on July 16. Please note: If you are staying for the Ethics workshop, you will need to purchase an additional overnight for $115 in the online store.

Workshop fees

Workshop fees include materials, speaker stipends, facility fees, all meals, and breaks. The workshop fee also includes overnight accommodations for 6 nights, arriving after 3:00 p.m. on July 10 and checking out by 9:00 a.m. on July 16. If you do not need overnight accommodations, please contact margyelan@nrvc.net

NRVC member: $1,700                                     Non-member: $2,175

Become an NRVC member here to save on workshop fees.     

Cancellations

Cancellations for workshops must be received in writing to dinasp@nrvc.net before June 30 to receive a full refund less a $100 processing fee. After June 30, all fees are non-refundable. 

Presenters

Sister Deborah M. Borneman, SS.C.M. began working for the NRVC in 2011 and presently serves as the Director of Mission Integration. A Sister of Saints Cyril and Methodius, she previously served as vocation director for her community and on her congregational leadership team. Sr. Debbie has ministerial experience in pastoral care, youth ministry, college campus ministry, and immigration advocacy. She has presented on various topics in vocation ministry in Ireland and throughout the United States. Sr. Debbie holds a Master of Divinity degree and a Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Studies (Loyola University, Chicago).  

Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D. is a native of Flint, Michigan, and ordained for the Society of the Divine Word.  Since 2011, Fr. Adam has served as a Vocation Director for his congregation. He previously served in the Philippines, on the Provincial Council for the Chicago Province, and as Vice-Provincial. Fr. Adam holds a Master of Divinity degree (Catholic Theological Union, Chicago) and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Center for Spiritual Development, California. He currently serves on the NRVC National Board executive committee and has presented with the OP team since 2017.

Venue

Our annual Summer Institute will offer four onsite workshops at the Marillac Center, in Leavenworth, KS. The nearest airport is Kansas City (MCI) and ground transportation is available through Lyft, Uber, and Super Shuttle. Home of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, the NRVC has long enjoyed this venue for workshops due to its spacious grounds, private rooms/bathrooms, wi-fi capacity, and hospitality. Because of current COVID restrictions, the workshops are limited to 23 participants each. 

Liturgy

Eucharistic Liturgy for workshop participants will be offered each day at 8:00 a.m. in the Chapel. Each workshop includes communal prayer. 

Financial assistance available

To assist NRVC members with their professional development, the Misericordia Scholarship Fund is available. Scholarship funds can be applied to NRVC workshops; however, they do not cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, meals, or personal expenses. If you need financial assistance to attend an NRVC workshop, please apply here. 

Workshop terms and conditions

Please read our NRVC terms and conditions for all events and programs.

There were lots of concrete, common sense examples - personal experiences which will stay with me as I journey with discerners. There was such a breadth of experience and a willingness to be vulnerable that it gives me the confidence I can do this. Each presenter was relatable and offered common sense and yet also provided sound advice on paths to avoid difficulties.

–--Sr. Mary Jones, O.P.

The wealth of information was incredibly helpful, particularly the concrete examples that the presenters were willing to share. The resources on the ethics of vocation ministry were very helpful.
I also really appreciated the attention given to self-care and entering into our own vocation story as a way of better ministering to others.
--Fr. Johnathan Turba, O. Praem.

This workshop was more than I expected. It gave a lot of food for thought and also action steps to move forward with vocation promotion in my diocese. I am forever grateful for the friendship found and the great opportunities to connect with others in the pastoral vineyard. It is with great hope I launch out into the deep. Special thanks to all the presenters and staff who made this possible.

--- Rev. Kenwyn Sylvester, Archdiocese of Port of Spain

The workshop truly exceeded my expectations. I learned a great deal of new knowledge; as a result, I can now implement new resources in my work as a Vocation Minister and then be a better companion for our current and future candidates. The presenters were well prepared, they gave us precise information, and real examples to explain each topic.

–--Sr. Maria Amador, P.C.M.

Workshops are designed from the NRVC curriculum for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the complex theological, spiritual, psycho-sexual, ethical, and diversity issues often present in contemporary vocation ministry. NRVC recommends that vocation ministers participate in ongoing educational opportunities to attend to their own vocation and faith formation to further develop their professional competencies. 

Questions about Summer Institute workshops?

Please contact Sr. Dina Bato, S.P. at dinasp@nrvc.net

Due to low enrollment, this workshop is postponed until July 26-29, 2024.

This workshop provides vocation ministers and those who accompany discerners and candidates with a solid understanding of psychological well-being and psycho-sexual development to assist them in their efforts to adequately assess a candidate’s aptitude for leading a healthy and integrated celibate life. It includes the basic elements of human sexuality: the fundamental aspect of being human, the centrality of relationships and healthy intimacy, gender identity, sexual orientation, age-related developmental tasks, and the necessity of boundaries. Potentially negative impacts are also considered, e.g., technology and social media, addictive behaviors, and unhealthy sexual expression. Helping vocation ministers determine if candidates may be at high risk of potential sexual abuse of minors is also an important element in this workshop.

Presenter

Sister Lynn Levo, C.S.J., Ph.D. is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, a licensed psychologist, consultant, and lecturer. She received her Ph.D. from the University of New York at Albany, completing her clinical training at The University of Kansas School of Medicine. After serving 12 years as the Director of Education and Editor of Lukenotes at Saint Luke Institute, Silver Spring, MD, Sister Lynn is currently a consulting psychologist in private practice, offering consultations, presentations, and workshops both in the U.S. and abroad on fostering healthy integrated sexuality, celibacy, relationships, intimacy, mutuality in community, and emotional intelligence. Sister Lynn received the NRVC Outstanding Recognition Award at Convocation 2016.

Venue

Our annual Summer Institute will offer four onsite workshops at the Marillac Center, Leavenworth, KS. The nearest airport is Kansas City (MCI) and ground transportation is available through Lyft, Uber, and Super Shuttle. Home of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, the NRVC has long enjoyed this venue for workshops due to its spacious grounds, private rooms/bathrooms, wi-fi capacity, and hospitality.

Financial assistance available

To assist NRVC members with their professional development, the Misericordia Scholarship Fund is available. Scholarship funds can be applied to NRVC workshops; however, they do not cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, meals, or personal expenses. If you need financial assistance to attend an NRVC workshop, please apply here. 

Workshop terms and conditions

Please read our NRVC terms and conditions for all events and programs.

This workshop was excellent. The presenter was full of wisdom as well as authentic. She was very knowledgeable and easy to understand with her explanations, stories, and examples. Her points were clear.

–Sr. Kim Xuan Nguyen, CCVI

Every discerner I've encountered and accompanied, no matter how healthy, must address psycho-sexual matters to thrive in missionary and consecrated life. If Behavioral Assessment gives us the tools to know and understand our discerners better, "Psycho-Sexual Integration", empowers us as vocation ministers with sound lived/academic/theological understandings during the discernment process to help our discerners to thrive, whatever life path they choose. If I had to single out one thing among so many, I suppose I would name "Twelve opportunities for intimacy" -- a very enlightening overview that is useful for discerners who may assume that intimacy is just not possible without physical intimacy and/or exclusive friendships.

–Mr. Gregory Darr, Upper Midwest Member Area Coordinator

The presenter had great notes to accompany all she said, thus making it very easy to follow.
She used real-life examples to explain her points. She was compassionate and didn’t shy away from difficult topics. She knew her material well, yet she could break it down for us so we could all understand. She held our attention for three straight days - that alone is a feat!
--Sr. Colleen Mattingly, A.S.C.J.

Sr. Lynn Levo was wonderful. She was engaging, knowledgeable, and made things understandable and practical. She was open both in her sharing and in responding to our questions and input. This workshop exceeded my expectations, which were pretty high entering it! Many people told me about Sr. Lynn and they were right on. It was informative and well-organized.

–Fr. Joseph Narog, O.S.A.

Workshops are designed from the NRVC curriculum for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the complex theological, spiritual, psycho-sexual, ethical, and diversity issues often present in contemporary vocation ministry. NRVC recommends that vocation ministers participate in ongoing educational opportunities to attend to their own vocation, faith formation, and to further develop their professional competencies. 

Questions about Summer Institute workshops?

Please contact Sr. Dina Bato, S.P. at dinasp@nrvc.net

Workshop registration is closed.

This workshop is designed to assist vocation ministers, congregational leaders, and vocation team members in understanding and articulating the basic ethical values, principles, and standards of vocation ministry. Topics include the ethical principles governing agency, confidentiality, and obligations related to positions of trust; dissemination of information; the timeliness of admissions or dismissal decisions; dual relationships; document disposition; the respect for human dignity, interculturality, and other issues related to ethical rights of candidates as well as ethical rights of those in positions of authority.

Please note this two-day workshop begins on July 18 at 9:00 a.m. and ends on July 19 at 4:00 p.m. Central time. Overnight accommodations are included with arrivals after 3 pm on July 17 and departures before 9 am on July 20. Please note: If you are attending the next workshop, you do not need to check out. 

Workshop fees

Workshop fees include materials, speaker stipends, facility fees, all meals, and breaks. The workshop fee also includes overnight accommodations for 3 nights, arriving after 3:00 p.m. on July 17 and checking out by 9:00 a.m. on July 20. If you do not need overnight accommodations, please contact margyelan@nrvc.net

NRVC member: $800                                     Non-member: $1,000

Become an NRVC member here to save on workshop fees.   

Cancellations

Cancellations for workshops must be received in writing to dinasp@nrvc.net before June 30 to receive a full refund less a $100 processing fee. After June 30, all fees are non-refundable. 

Presenter

Reverend Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. is a priest of the Archdiocese of Portland, OR. He has taught at both the secondary and university levels and presently teaches at Mount Angel Seminary Graduate School of Theology in Saint Benedict, Oregon. Fr. Carey holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He has presented workshops in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. He is a recipient of the NRVC Harvest Award and a Lifetime NRVC member for his work in service of vocation ministry.

Venue

Our annual Summer Institute will offer four onsite workshops at the Marillac Center, Leavenworth, KS. The nearest airport is Kansas City (MCI) and ground transportation is available through Lyft, Uber, and Super Shuttle. Home of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, the NRVC has long enjoyed this venue for workshops due to its spacious grounds, private rooms/bathrooms, wi-fi capacity, and hospitality. Because of current COVID restrictions, the workshops are limited to 23 participants each. 

Liturgy

Eucharistic Liturgy for workshop participants will be offered each day at 8:00 a.m. in the Chapel. Each workshop includes communal prayer. 

Financial assistance available

To assist NRVC members with their professional development, the Misericordia Scholarship Fund is available. Scholarship funds can be applied to NRVC workshops; however, they do not cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, meals, or personal expenses. If you need financial assistance to attend an NRVC workshop, please apply here. 

Workshop terms and conditions

Please read our NRVC terms and conditions for all events and programs.

This workshop exceeded my expectations. I thought that it was going to be boring with information and that maybe it was not going to be helpful, but I can say that it was great. I got the tools and knowledge that I need to put into practice! God bless NRVC!

–Fr. Victor Patricio, O.M.I.

I am required to take ethics courses every two years to maintain my LSW license. I have taken a lot of ethics courses over the years. I thought this was the clearest course I have taken. Thank you!
Sr Carrie Christine Zagurskie, A.S.C.J.

I am in leadership and because of the reports we receive when people are applying for vows, I was interested in the content of this program. There are three times that we can assess suitability (before entrance, temporary vows, final vows) and I wanted more content to be better able to make the assessment.

–Sister Marie Ursino, S.H.C.J., ministering in Rome, Italy

The workshop provided a framework and language to assist in thinking about ethical issues. The many stories/ examples were helpful. I feel much clearer about ethical issues and will use this knowledge in my ministry as a formation coordinator.

–Sr. Lynn Mousel, C.H.M.

Workshops are designed from the NRVC curriculum for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the complex theological, spiritual, psycho-sexual, ethical, and diversity issues often present in contemporary vocation ministry. NRVC recommends that vocation ministers participate in ongoing educational opportunities to attend to their own vocation, faith formation, and to further develop their professional competencies. 

Questions about Summer Institute workshops?

Please contact Sr. Dina Bato, S.P. at dinasp@nrvc.net

Workshop registration is closed.

This foundational workshop teaches practical interviewing techniques in a theoretical framework of behavioral assessment. While the focus is on the initial assessment of candidates, the methodology is readily adapted to assessing candidates in other stages of formation. Interview topics include family background, educational and occupational histories, psychosexual histories and intimacy skills, faith history, Catholic practices, and other pertinent issues related to comprehensive vocation assessment. 

Please note this three-day workshop begins on July 21 at 9:00 a.m. and ends on July 23 at 4:00 p.m. Central time. Overnight accommodations are included with arrivals after 3 pm on July 20 and departures before 9 am on July 24. 

Workshop fees

Workshop fees include materials, speaker stipends, facility fees, all meals, and breaks. The workshop fee also includes overnight accommodations for 4 nights, arriving after 3:00 p.m. on July 20 and checking out by 9:00 a.m. on July 24. If you do not need overnight accommodations, please contact margyelan@nrvc.net

NRVC member: $1,100                                    Non-member: $1,390

Become an NRVC member here to save on workshop fees.   

Cancellations

Cancellations for workshops must be received in writing to dinasp@nrvc.net before June 30 to receive a full refund less a $100 processing fee.  After June 30, all fees are non-refundable. 

Presenter

Reverend Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. is a priest of the Archdiocese of Portland, OR. He has taught at both the secondary and university levels and presently teaches at Mount Angel Seminary Graduate School of Theology in Saint Benedict, Oregon. Fr. Carey holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He has presented workshops in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. He is a recipient of the NRVC Harvest Award and is recognized as a Lifetime NRVC member for his significant work in service of vocation ministry.

Venue

Our annual Summer Institute will offer four onsite workshops at the Marillac Center, in Leavenworth, KS. The nearest airport is Kansas City (MCI) and ground transportation is available through Lyft, Uber, and Super Shuttle. Home of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, the NRVC has long enjoyed this venue for workshops due to its spacious grounds, private rooms/bathrooms, wi-fi capacity, and hospitality. Because of current COVID restrictions, the workshops are limited to 23 participants each. 

Liturgy

Eucharistic Liturgy for workshop participants will be offered each day at 8:00 A.M. in the Chapel. Each workshop includes communal prayer. 

Financial assistance available

To assist NRVC members with their professional development, the Misericordia Scholarship Fund is available. Scholarship funds can be applied to NRVC workshops; however, they do not cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, meals, or personal expenses. If you need financial assistance to attend an NRVC workshop, please apply here. 

Workshop terms and conditions

Please read our NRVC terms and conditions for all events and programs.

The most helpful insight for me was the importance of focusing on behavior/data and asking questions that provoke conversation about behavior and not just thoughts or ideas about something.

--Fr. Scott Surrency, O.F.M. Cap.

Fr. Ray is direct, clear, and provides depth through his stories. He tackles tough questions. He is so clear and gives salient examples. I do not have enough superlatives to describe his attributes, skills, and knowledge.
--Sr. Marie Mackey, C.S.J.

Father Ray is an excellent presenter. I would attend any of his workshops and recommend him to others. Thank you!

---Brother Timothy Cahill, C.PP.S.

The workshop met my expectations in learning how to assess candidates to religious life and how to address sensitive areas as well as in gaining knowledge and a sense of what can raise a "red flag" in my interviews with candidates.

--Sr. Inga Kvassayova, ISMM

Workshops are designed from the NRVC curriculum for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the complex theological, spiritual, psycho-sexual, ethical, and diversity issues often present in contemporary vocation ministry. NRVC recommends that vocation ministers participate in ongoing educational opportunities to attend to their own vocation, faith formation, and to further develop their professional competencies. 

Questions about Summer Institute workshops?

Please contact Sr. Dina Bato, S.P. at dinasp@nrvc.net

Registration for this virtual workshop is open in online store.

This virtual workshop teaches practical interviewing techniques in a theoretical framework of behavioral assessment. While the focus is on the initial assessment of candidates, the methodology is readily adapted to assessing candidates in other stages of formation. Interview topics include family background, educational and occupational histories, psychosexual histories and intimacy skills, faith history, Catholic practices, and other pertinent issues related to comprehensive vocation assessment. 

Please note this three-day workshop begins on October 17 at 9:30 a.m. and ends on October 19 at 3:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) U.S.  There is a 60-minute break from noon - 1:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) U.S. Workshop folders will be mailed to participants at least two weeks before the workshop begins. 

Please note: This workshop is not recorded to allow the presenter and participants the opportunity to speak authentically in a learning community. Personal recording is prohibited. 

Workshop fees

Workshop fees include materials, speaker stipends, and postage. 

NRVC member: $ 655                                    Non-member: $ 932

Become an NRVC member here to save on workshop fees.   

Register for this workshop in our online store.    

Cancellations

Cancellations for workshops must be received in writing to dinasp@nrvc.net.  After October 1, all fees are non-refundable. 

Presenter

Reverend Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. is a priest of the Archdiocese of Portland, OR. He has taught at both the secondary and university levels and presently teaches at Mount Angel Seminary Graduate School of Theology in Saint Benedict, Oregon. Fr. Carey holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He has presented workshops in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. He is a recipient of the NRVC Harvest Award and is recognized as a Lifetime NRVC member for his significant work in service of vocation ministry.

Financial assistance available

To assist NRVC members with their professional development, the Misericordia Scholarship Fund is available. Scholarship funds can be applied to NRVC workshops; however, they do not cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, meals, or personal expenses. If you need financial assistance to attend an NRVC workshop, please apply here. 

Workshop terms and conditions

Please read our NRVC terms and conditions for all events and programs.

The most helpful insight for me was the importance of focusing on behavior/data and asking questions that provoke conversation about behavior and not just thoughts or ideas about something.

--Fr. Scott Surrency, O.F.M. Cap.

Fr. Ray is direct, clear, and provides depth through his stories. He tackles tough questions. He is so clear and gives salient examples. I do not have enough superlatives to describe his attributes, skills, and knowledge.
--Sr. Marie Mackey, C.S.J.

Father Ray is an excellent presenter. I would attend any of his workshops and recommend him to others. Thank you!
---Brother Timothy Cahill, C.PP.S.

The workshop met my expectations in learning how to assess candidates to religious life and how to address sensitive areas as well as in gaining knowledge and a sense of what can raise a "red flag" in my interviews with candidates.

--Sr. Inga Kvassayova, ISMM

Workshops are designed from the NRVC curriculum for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the complex theological, spiritual, psycho-sexual, ethical, and diversity issues often present in contemporary vocation ministry. NRVC recommends that vocation ministers participate in ongoing educational opportunities to attend to their own vocation, faith formation, and to further develop their professional competencies. 

Questions about Fall Institute workshops?

Please contact Sr. Dina Bato, S.P. at dinasp@nrvc.net

You are invited to join an online conversation on March 9, 6-7 pm CT, co-hosted by the NRVC and A Nun's Life Ministry. Entitled "Let's talk about it! Asking the questions, living into the answers," is an annual event starting with a few ice-breaker questions before moving into breakout rooms to treat more significant and meaningful questions. The intention is to find signs of hope through conversation and revitalizing interaction. All are welcome to this 60-minute lively interaction to celebrate Catholic Sisters Week. 

Register here for Zoom link to participate.

What are some of the questions posed? Here's a sampling:

• When it comes to movies, which one best describes your vocation: Sound of Music, Sister Act, or Dead Man Walking? 
• How can we become fearless of the future?
• If you were to write a book about your life, what would the title be?

To participate, please register here for the Zoom link.

For questions, please contact debbiesscm@nrvc.net

The NRVC is bringing back its popular "Talk it up Tuesdays,"  beginning Tuesday February 21. These 60-minute Zoom gatherings are designed for NRVC members to learn together, talk together, and share ideas. Topics and presenters are listed on the NRVC website here.

In January the NRVC was awarded a grant by the GHR Foundation to enhance the use of data collected in its 2020 study and to use the study’s information to articulate the viability and importance of religious life. The grant is meant to aid vocation ministers, discerners, and the larger church. Among its goals is to create a user-friendly, online map to give details about religious institutes in a given geographic area. Follow this newsletter to learn more as projects related to the grant take shape.

If you have not yet seen our convocation presentations (which had a theme of "Call Beyond Borders"), check them out now on the NRVC YouTube channel: youtube.com/NatRelVocationConf.  You might remember that the presenters were:

• Sister Barbara Reid, O.P.  "'Here I am' Responding to the call to go beyond"
• Father VanThanh Nguyen, S.V.D.  "Beyond the borders of culture: Vocation and migration
• Father Ricky Manalo, C.S.P.  "Borders, boundaries, and beyond: Culture in a 2.5 world"

Members can also download discussion guides for each presentation, available  in the members-only section of NRVC.net under Member toolbox.

The process leading up to the 2018 synod on Youth, Faith, and Vocational Discernment was full of energy. It saw young people from around the world mingling with cardinals, and bishops taking coffee with 20-somethings. This exchange of experiences and ideas led to rich reflection in Christus Vivit (Christ is Alive), the apostolic exhortation that emerged from the synod. The document covers many areas, and one of its strong themes is to encourage church ministers to be present to young people and to provide accompaniment as they navigate their path in life. HORIZON presents here excerpts from Christus Vivit that treat this theme.

YOUNG PEOPLE NEED to have their freedom respected, yet they also need to be accompanied. The family should be the first place of accompaniment. Youth ministry can present the ideal of life in Christ as the process of building a house on rock (Matt. 7:24-25). For most young people, that house, their life, will be built on marriage and married love. That is why youth ministry and the pastoral care of families should be coordinated and integrated, with the aim of ensuring a continuous and suitable accompaniment of the vocational process.

The community has an important role in the accompaniment of young people; it should feel collectively responsible for accepting, motivating, encouraging, and challenging them. All should regard young people with understanding, appreciation, and affection and avoid constantly judging them or demanding of them a perfection beyond their years.

At the synod, “many pointed to the shortage of qualified people devoted to accompaniment. Belief in the theological and pastoral value of listening entails rethinking and renewing the ways that priestly ministry is ordinarily exercised, and reviewing its priorities. The synod also recognized the need to train consecrated persons and laypeople, male and female, to accompany young people. The charism of listening that the Holy Spirit calls forth within the communities might also receive institutional recognition as a form of ecclesial service” [from the synod’s final document].

There is also a special need to accompany young men and women showing leadership potential, so that they can receive training and the necessary qualifications. The young people who met before the synod called for “programs for the formation and continued development of young leaders. Some young women feel that there is a lack of leading female role models within the church and they too wish to give their intellectual and professional gifts to the church. We also believe that seminarians and religious should have an even greater ability to accompany young leaders.”

The same young people described to us the qualities they hope to find in a mentor, and they expressed this with much clarity: “The qualities of such a mentor include being a faithful Christian who engages with the church and the world, someone who constantly seeks holiness, someone who is a confidant without judging. Similarly, someone who actively listens to the needs of young people and responds in kind; someone deeply loving and self-aware; someone who recognizes his or her limits and knows the joys and sorrows of the spiritual journey. An especially important quality in mentors is the acknowledgement of their own humanity—the fact that they are human beings who make mistakes, not perfect people but forgiven sinners. Sometimes mentors are put on a pedestal, and when they fall, it may have a devastating impact on young people’s ability to continue to engage with the church.

“Mentors should not lead young people as passive followers, but walk alongside them, allowing them to be active participants in the journey. They should respect the freedom that comes with a young person’s process of discernment and equip them with tools to do so well. A mentor should believe wholeheartedly in a young person’s ability to participate in the life of the church. A mentor should therefore nurture the seeds of faith in young people, without expecting to immediately see the fruits of the work of the Holy Spirit. This role is not and cannot be limited to priests and [those in] consecrated life, but the laity should also be empowered to take on such a role. All such mentors should benefit from being well-formed, and engage in ongoing formation” [from the document of the pre-synod gathering with young people].

The church’s educational institutions are undoubtedly a communal setting for accompaniment; they can offer guidance to many young people, especially when they “seek to welcome all young people, regardless of their religious choices, cultural origins and personal, family or social situations. In this way, the church makes a fundamental contribution to the integral education of the young in various parts of the world” [from the synod’s final document]. They would curtail this role unduly were they to lay down rigid criteria for students to enter and remain in them, since they would deprive many young people of an accompaniment that could help enrich their lives.

Dare to invite

If we are indeed convinced that the Holy Spirit continues to inspire vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, we can “once more cast out the nets” in the Lord’s name, with complete confidence. We can dare, as we should, to tell each young person to ask whether this is the path that they are meant to follow.

Occasionally, I would bring this up with young people, and they would respond almost jokingly: “No, that’s not for me!” Yet, a few years later, some of them were in the seminary. The Lord cannot fail in his promise to provide the church with shepherds, for without them she would not be able to live and carry out her mission. If it is true that some priests do not give good witness, that does not mean that the Lord stops calling. On the contrary, he doubles the stakes, for he never ceases to care for his beloved church.

There are many priests, men and women religious, lay and professional persons, and indeed qualified young people, who can help the young with their vocational discernment. When we are called upon to help others discern their path in life, what is uppermost is the ability to listen. Listening calls for three distinct and complementary kinds of sensitivity.

Three forms of sensitivity for listening

The first kind of sensitivity is directed to the individual. It is a matter of listening to someone who is sharing his very self in what he says. A sign of this willingness to listen is the time we are ready to spare for others. More than the amount of time we spend, it is about making others feel that my time is their time, that they have all the time they need to say everything they want. The other person must sense that I am listening unconditionally, without being offended or shocked, tired, or bored. We see an example of this kind of listening in the Lord; he walks alongside the disciples on the way to Emmaus, even though they are going in the wrong direction (Luke 24:13-35). When Jesus says he plans to go farther, they realize that he has given them the gift of his time, so they decide to give him theirs by offering their hospitality. Attentive and selfless listening is a sign of our respect for others, whatever their ideas or their choices in life.

The second kind of sensitivity is marked by discernment. It tries to grasp exactly where grace or temptation is present, for sometimes the things that flit across our minds are mere temptations that can distract us from our true path. I need to ask myself what is it that the other person is trying to tell me, what they want me to realize is happening in their lives. Asking such questions helps me appreciate their thinking and the effects it has on their emotions. This kind of listening seeks to discern the salutary promptings of the good Spirit who proposes to us the Lord’s truth, but also the traps laid by the evil spirit—his empty works and promises. It takes courage, warmth, and tact to help others distinguish the truth from illusions or excuses.

The third kind of sensitivity is the ability to perceive what is driving the other person. This calls for a deeper kind of listening, one able to discern the direction in which that person truly wants to move. Apart from what they are feeling or thinking right now, and whatever has happened up to this point in their lives, the real issue is what they would like to be. This may demand that they look not to their own superficial wishes and desires, but rather to what is most pleasing to the Lord, to his plans for their life. And that is seen in a deeper inclination of the heart, beyond the surface level of their likes and feelings. This kind of listening seeks to discern their ultimate intention, the intention that definitively decides the meaning of their life. Jesus knows and appreciates this ultimate intention of the heart. He is always there, ready to help each of us to recognize it. We need but say to him: “Lord, save me! Have mercy on me!”

Disappear to give the discerner freedom

In this way, discernment becomes a genuine means of spiritual combat, helping us to follow the Lord more faithfully. The desire to know our personal vocation thus takes on a supreme intensity, a different quality and higher level, one that better respects the dignity of our person and our life. In the end, good discernment is a path of freedom that brings to full fruit what is unique in each person, something so personal that only God knows it. Others cannot fully understand or predict from the outside how it will develop.

When we listen to others in this way, at a certain moment we ourselves have to disappear in order to let the other person follow the path he or she has discovered. We have to vanish as the Lord did from the sight of his disciples in Emmaus, leaving them alone with burning hearts and an irresistible desire to set out immediately (Luke 24:31-33). When they returned to the community, those disciples heard the good news that the Lord was indeed risen (Luke 24:34).

Because “time is greater than space,” [as noted in Evangelii Gaudium] we need to encourage and accompany processes, without imposing our own roadmaps. For those processes have to do with persons who remain always unique and free. There are no easy recipes, even when all the signs seem positive, since [as noted in Pastores Dabo Vobis] “positive factors themselves need to be subjected to a careful work of discernment, so that they do not become isolated and contradict one another, becoming absolutes and at odds with one another. The same is true for the negative factors, which are not to be rejected en bloc and without distinction, because in each one there may lie hidden some value which awaits liberation and restoration to its full truth.”
If you are to accompany others on this path, you must be the first to follow it, day in and day out. That is what Mary did, in her own youth, as she confronted her own questions and difficulties. May she renew your youthfulness by the power of her prayers and accompany you always by her maternal presence.

Areas to increase our presence

While Christus Vivit spells out the need for accompaniment and presence, it is also practical, with specific ideas about ways and places that the church can be present to young people.

PRAYER EXPERIENCES  Many young people have come to appreciate silence and closeness to God. Groups that gather to adore the Blessed Sacrament or to pray with the word of God have also increased. We should never underestimate the ability of young people to be open to contemplative prayer. We need only find the right ways and means to help them embark on this precious experience.

When it comes to worship and prayer, [the synod’s final document notes], “in many settings, young Catholics are asking for prayer opportunities and sacramental celebrations capable of speaking to their daily lives through a fresh, authentic, and joyful liturgy.” It is important to make the most of the great moments of the liturgical year, particularly Holy Week, Pentecost, and Christmas. But other festive occasions can provide a welcome break in their routine and help them experience the joy of faith.

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES  Christian service represents a unique opportunity for growth and openness to God’s gifts of faith and charity. Many young people are attracted by the possibility of helping others, especially children and the poor. Often this service is the first step to a discovery or rediscovery of life in Christ and the church. Many young people grow weary of our programs of doctrinal and spiritual formation, and at times demand a chance to be active participants in activities that benefit others.

THE ARTS  Nor can we overlook the importance of the arts, like theater, painting, and others. “Music is particularly important, representing as it does a real environment in which the young are constantly immersed, as well as a culture and a language capable of arousing emotion and shaping identity. The language of music also represents a pastoral resource with a particular bearing on the liturgy and its renewal” [from the synod’s final document]. Singing can be a great incentive to young people as they make their way through life. As Saint Augustine says: “Sing, but continue on your journey. Do not grow lazy, but sing to make the way more enjoyable. Sing, but keep going…. If you make progress, you will continue your journey, but be sure that your progress is in virtue, true faith, and right living. Sing then, and keep walking.”

SPORTS  “Equally significant is the emphasis that young people place on sports; the church should not underestimate the potential of sports for education and formation, but instead maintain a strong presence there. The world of sport needs to be helped to overcome some of its problematic aspects, such as the idolization of champions, subservience to commercial interests and the ideology of success at any cost” [from the synod’s final document]. At the heart of the experience of sport is “joy: the joy of exercising, of being together, of being alive and rejoicing in the gifts the Creator gives us each day” [from an address to the International Special Olympics]. Some fathers of the church used the example of the training of athletes to encourage the young to develop their strength and to overcome idleness and boredom. Saint Basil the Great, writing to young people, used the effort demanded by athletics to illustrate the value of self-sacrifice as a means of growth in virtue: “These men endure sufferings beyond number, they use many means to build their strength, they sweat constantly as they train ... in a word, they so discipline themselves that their whole life prior to the contest is but a preparation for it... How then can we, who have been promised rewards so wondrous in number and in splendor that no tongue can recount them, even think of winning them if we do nothing other than spend our lives in leisure and make but half-hearted efforts?”

NATURE  Nature holds a special attraction for many adolescents and young people who recognize our need to care for the environment. Such is the case with the scouting movement and other groups that encourage closeness to nature, camping trips, hiking, expeditions, and campaigns to improve the environment. In the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi, these experiences can be a real initiation into the school of universal fraternity and contemplative prayer.

POPULAR PIETY  Various manifestations of popular piety, especially pilgrimages, attract young people who do not readily feel at home in ecclesial structures and represent a concrete sign of their trust in God. These ways of seeking God are seen particularly in young people who are poor, but also those in other sectors of society. They should not be looked down on, but encouraged and promoted. Popular piety [as noted in the synod’s final document] “is a legitimate way of living the faith” and “an expression of the spontaneous missionary activity of the People of God.”

§ § § § §

These and various other opportunities for evangelizing the young should not make us forget that, despite the changing times and sensibilities of young people, there are gifts of God that never grow old, for they contain a power transcending all times and places. There is the word of the Lord, ever living and effective, the nourishing presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the sacrament of Reconciliation, which brings us freedom and strength. We can also mention the inexhaustible spiritual riches preserved by the church in the witness of her saints and the teaching of the great spiritual masters. Although we have to respect different stages of growth, and at times need to wait patiently for the right moment, we cannot fail to invite young people to drink from these wellsprings of new life. We have no right to deprive them of this great good.

This article is excerpted from the apostolic exhortation Christus Vivit, which may be found at vatican.va in the Apostolic Exhortation section. Reprinted with permission © Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Related article

“Accompaniment for discernment,” by Colleen Campbell and Thomas Carani, HORIZON, Winter 2020.

IN MAY 2021 HORIZON asked the members of the National Religious Vocation Conference to answer one question: What do you wish your community’s membership understood about vocation ministry?
Most responses fell into these three categories.

1) Vocation presence, awareness, and invitation is everyone’s responsibility. This was by far the most common response.

2) Vocation ministry is a sacred, complex, and time-consuming ministry that deserves to be full-time because at heart it is about the slow process of building relationships. This type of more nuanced observation about the important nature and complexities of the ministry was the second most common response.

3) Vocation ministry is an important ministry to young adults, a service to them and to the wider church. Its focus is on helping young people discern their life’s calling. Entrance to our religious community or another is not the measure of this ministry’s value. This response was the third most common in the survey.
 
Following are comments from respondents, none of whom are identified here so that readers might appreciate the larger truth in their words; many survey respondents were talking about larger issues that affect all communities, not just their own. The National Religious Vocation Conference thanks all who took part in the survey. Their dedication and wisdom shine through, along with their love for their communities and for the young people they feel privileged to accompany.

All members have a role to play

• Vocation ministry is the responsibility of all of us, not just the responsibility of the vocation minister or vocation committee.

• We truly rely on membership for relational connections, for vocation outreach. We deeply need members’ engagement and intentionality in creating a culture of vocation and invitation.

• We can go to any number of events, but when I look at who came to our online events this past year and who tends to stay most in contact, often they are women who have a connection with one of our sisters or one of our ministries, or they come to us referred by someone with one of these connections.
Sisters often feel in their retirement years that they don’t have many connections to young people anymore, but everyone has a relational network that can help build goodwill and awareness of our community and its charism. We never know when or where this will have a vocational impact!

• Ongoing recruitment is not just the responsibility of the officially assigned vocation director but must be the welcomed task of each and every member.

• All members need to be involved, especially by their faithful living of our vows and community relationships.

• It is important that everyone is welcoming.

• Every single one of us is part of the vocation ministry team. It is through unique personal witness, joined with our communal witness, that women are inspired to “come and see.”

• Each member of the community should realize that we are all called to vocation ministry. All of our preaching, relationships, ministry, way of life, attitudes, etc. contribute directly or indirectly to attracting vocations. If people do not see us as joyful and fulfilled in our own vocations, they will never be attracted to join us.

Vocation ministry is sacred, complex, and time consuming

• Vocation ministry is very time-consuming, especially following up with discerners and accompanying them on their journey.... Leadership does not understand the value of having the same sister (vocation director) consistently attend particular events. Consistency helps build relationships with the campus ministers and young adults they encounter.

• Not everyone is a good fit for our community. It is really hard when a vocation director has to say no to someone. Out of respect for the individual, the vocation director will not share personal information. This can feel very isolating, and the vocation director needs the community’s trust and support.

• It takes time, and the women who are seeking to be a sister today are of different ethnicities, races, and backgrounds than in the past.

• A lot of time and effort goes on behind the scenes that members do not know about. The conversations, the time spent, the building of relationships in the name of the community.

• We must think about vocation ministry differently than how it was done even just 25 years ago. Collaboration among communities and sensitivity toward a post-COVID world are musts.

Vocation ministry is an important ministry to young adults, a service to them and to the wider church and world

• Vocation ministry assists in vocational discernment of all kinds, and it serves the wider church, not just our congregation.

• Vocation ministry is not about recruitment but about accompaniment. It’s not about simply getting more members to join the community but assisting and supporting young people in discovering their gifts, recognizing the needs of the world around them, and determining where they can most fully and authentically share their gifts in the service of others!

• Whether or not women or men enter, the vocation minister is meant to be walking with them to find their journey with God and how they are called to build the world in love.

• Just as we dedicate our lives to ending hunger, poverty, human trafficking, illiteracy, and so many other social sins, we are also called to accompany young Catholics who are seeking a deeper relationship with God and humanity. We don’t measure our ministry at the border by the number of people guaranteed a pathway to citizenship. It’s a ministry of presence and availability. Can we not approach vocation ministry from the same perspective?

• Vocation ministry is about supporting discernment of life choices; it is enlivened by a dynamic embrace of the whole of religious life.

• Often when speaking with teens and young adults, our conversations are one of the first times they feel really comfortable talking about deep, spiritual life issues. Our society doesn’t always encourage or provide a venue for these conversations. Many in my community get this, but we all forget sometimes!

• Vocation ministry is significant to all young people, not only those who eventually choose religious life.

The NRVC recently hosted the workshop "Navigating Uncertainty with Young People through Accompaniment" for over 100 participants. A recorded 90-minute presentation by Josh Packard of the Springtide Institute (dedicated to supporting youth ministry) is available on the NRVC YouTube channel for anyone interested in knowing more about what 18-to-25 year-old-Catholics say about their spiritual needs and what they seek from the church.

The NRVC board and staff recently met with Dr. Mylon Kirsky, founder and chief operating officer of Sidebar Education Consulting Group, for an Intercultural Development Inventory to assess the group’s level of intercultural competency.  Each person received a one-on-one consultation to provide key insights and create an intercultural development plan. This initiative is part of the NRVC's strategic plan goal to "advance the field of intercultural vocation ministry" and to "engage the culturally diverse young church."

      This process is funded partially through a Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant to the NRVC to create sustainable solutions to challenges in the organizational structure and financial model needed to build for the future of NRVC.

On January 13, 8 p.m. Eastern Time, experienced diocesan vocation directors will present online "Creating a collaborative environment" for NRVC's third webinar in the series "Religious Life: Learn it! Love it! Live it!" This free, hour-long webinar will focus on working together with various sectors of the church to create a vocation culture and to invite young people to consider consecrated life. Presenting and taking live questions will be Father Guillermo Hernandez of the Diocese of Sacramento vocation office and Ana Bojorquez, of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas vocation office. Also presenting (on video) will be Bishop Gary Janak  and Sister Ana Cecilia Montalvo, F.Sp.S., both from the Archdiocese of San Antonio vocation office.

The Communicators for Women Religious is sponsoring a webinar December 7 on "Data you need to know for vocation communications," which will feature NRVC's Sister Charlene Herinckx, S.S.M.O., director of membership, and Carol Schuck Scheiber, publications editor for NRVC. The one-hour webinar, which will focus on learnings from the NRVC study in 2020, "Recent vocations to religious life," will include a presentation and Q-A. The cost is $25; registration and details are here.

The NRVC will be holding an in-person convocation November 3-6, 2022, in Spokane, Washington with a theme of “Call beyond borders.” Two keynoters will speak. One is Sister Barbara Reid, O.P., a New Testament scholar who is president of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago (CTU). The other is Father vănThanh Nguyễn, S.V.D., a professor of New Testament Studies and Francis X. Ford, M.M. chair of Catholic missiology at CTU. Additional details are at nrvc.net.

Wellsprings of support for vocations | March 3, 2022
Addressing parental concerns: Wisdom and advice | April 21, 2022
Call to Religious Life: New members stories | June 2, 2022

Share this flyer with your community and colleagues! Additional details are here. Registration ensures that you receive a link post-event to view the webinar session on-demand at a time convenient to you. The live webinar will combine pre-recorded material and a live Q&A.

The National Religious Vocation Conference, represented by the director of mission integration, Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M., is part of a committee creating an educational video about fostering a vocation culture among U.S. Hispanic Catholics. NRVC members and staff involved with the video production are Sister Elizabeth Ann Guerrero, M.C.D.P., Brother Mark Motz, S.M., Brother Chris  Patiño, F.S.C., Mrs. Carol Schuck Scheiber, and Sister Stephanie Spandl, S.S.N.D. The vocation video will be one of 28 videos to be published in 2022 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a follow-up to the V Encuentro, a synod-like process to address the needs of the U.S. Latino church.

Catholic Sisters Week is March 8-14,  and as part of this celebration of women religious, the NRVC will co-host with A Nun's Life Ministry a special online conversation on March 9, from 6-7 p.m. Central Time.  "Let's talk about it! Asking the questions, living into the answers" will begin with icebreaker questions and move into more serious topics.

Catholic Sisters Week is meant to call attention to the vibrant service and lifestyle of sisters. Find details and resources for your own commemoration here.

Thank you to our 2022 cohort--registration is closed.

This workshop is intended for new and recently appointed vocation directors. Its goal is to provide participants with the skills, context, theory, challenges and practicalities of contemporary vocation ministry. Topics will include foundational elements of vocation ministry; assessment of inquirers and discerners; application and admission process; vocation promotion, ethics and boundaries, resiliency and self-care of the vocation director.

This online workshop will keep your attention with four dynamic presenters covering over 70 topics for new vocation ministers. Participant networking is encouraged throughout the workshop with small group breakout sessions.  All workshop materials are mail to your home before the workshop begins.

Please note this five day workshop begins each day at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. Central time. There are 2 scheduled breaks along with a 60 minute lunch from noon to 1:00 p.m. (CT) to avoid screen fatigue. 

Workshop fees

NRVC member: $975                                      Non-member: $1400

Become an NRVC member here to save on workshop fees.   

Register for this workshop by clicking here to access our online store.    

Cancellations

Cancellations for workshops must be received in writing to debbiesscm@nrvc.net before June 30 to receive a full refund less a $100 processing fee. After June 30, all fees are non refundable. 

Presenters:

Brother Joseph Bach, O.S.F., is a Franciscan Brother of Brooklyn and currently ministers as Director of Vocations for his Congregation. Previously, he ministered in Education as a teacher and administrator on the elementary, secondary, and university levels. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Education from St. Xavier University, a graduate certificate in Franciscan Studies, and is currently completing a Post Master’s Certificate in Spiritual Formation at Boston College.  He also studied at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana. Brother Joseph also serves as one of the NRVC Hudson Valley Member Area Coordinators and serves on the Council of Religious for the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Sister Deborah M. Borneman, SS.C.M. began working for the NRVC in 2011 and presently serves as the Director of Mission Integration. A Sister of Saints Cyril and Methodius, she previously served 10 years as vocation director for her community and on her congregational leadership team. Sr. Debbie has previous ministerial experience in pastoral care, youth ministry, college campus ministry and immigration advocacy. She has presented on various topics in vocation ministry in Ireland and throughout the United States. Sr. Debbie holds a Master of Divinity degree and a Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Studies (Loyola University, Chicago).  

Brother John Eustice, C.S.V.  is a Viatorian brother and has been involved in vocation ministry since 2014. He has served has as Coordinator of Vocation Ministry for five years. Br. John has an undergraduate degree in education from UNLV and holds a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University, Chicago. He has served as a youth and young adult campus minister, a parish pastoral associate in Central America, and most recently, a high school administrator of mission and identity. Br. John is currently a full-time student in the Master of Divinity ordination program at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.

Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D. is a native of Flint, Michigan and ordained for the Society of the Divine Word.  Since 2011, Fr. Adam has served as a Vocation Director for his congregation. He previously served in the Philippines, on the Provincial Council for the Chicago Province and as Vice-Provincial. Fr. Adam holds a Master of Divinity degree (Catholic Theological Union, Chicago) and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Center for Spiritual Development, California. He currently serves on the NRVC National Board executive committee and has previously served on the NRVC Editorial Board and the Vocation Ambassador Design team. 

Financial assistance available

To assist NRVC members with their professional development, the Misericordia Scholarship Fund is available. Scholarship funds can be applied to NRVC workshops; however, they do not cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, meals or personal expenses. If you need financial assistance to attend an NRVC workshop, please apply here. 

Workshop terms and conditions

Please read our NRVC terms and conditions for all events and programs.

I found the whole program very helpful. I appreciated the different perspectives from the speakers and the variety of examples provided. Learning about setting boundaries and the specifics about psychological testing and assessment especially helpful. I found all the presenters competent and engaging. Thank You! I didn't have a clue as to what I didn't know - things vital to my role as vocation director. ​

–--Sister Vickie Griner, osc

I appreciated that this workshop did not so much focus on "strategies" for recruitment as it did in "building up" our identity as vocation ministers. I also appreciated our reflections on Pope Francis's Christus Vivit. The people we minister to or we are seeking really are seeking God. There is a great desire and yearning among these sheep of God's flock to find the pasture that He calls each of them to. So, in a way, vocation ministry is an answer to a deep need to discover God's call. It is not as mechanical and business-like as it is sometimes made out to be.

                                                                                       --- Br. Daniele Caglioni, A.A. 

Being a layperson and new to vocation ministry, I found all aspects of the program helpful. The materials and small group conversation gave me a better understanding of vowed life and the complex role of the vocation director. I was pleasantly surprised at how effective and enjoyable this online format can be. I’ve always preferred traditional classroom settings but after participating in this program I wouldn’t hesitate to sign up for this format again. It was so well done. This workshop definitely exceeded my expectations. Thank you! ​

–Ms. Kathryn Davis for the Congregation of Bon Secours.

Workshops are designed from the NRVC three-component curriculum for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the complex theological, spiritual, psycho-sexual, ethical, and diversity issues often present in contemporary vocation ministry. NRVC recommends that vocation ministers participate in ongoing educational opportunities to attend to their own vocation, faith formation, and to further develop their professional competencies. Please read the terms and conditions of all NRVC programs and events.

Questions about Summer Institute workshops?

Please contact Sr. Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net

To further our understanding of youth and young adult ministry leadership, the NRVC is collaborating with Ministry Training Source to support a research project that is beginning this month. The Ministry Training Source, under the leadership of Dr. Charlotte McCorquodale, is studying youth and young adult ministry leaders. Dr. McCorquodale was a presenter at a 2019 NRVC workshop on accompaniment and discernment.

The National Catholic Youth Conference, a biennial gathering of over 10,000 high school teens, parents, and youth ministers, will take place November 18-20, 2021 in Indianapolis. Sponsored by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, the theme this year will be "Ablaze–Enciende el Fuego." NRVC is not sponsoring the Nook gathering space this year. However, religious communities will be taking part, and volunteers will be needed. Learn more here.

Join us Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. ET to explore “Using all avenues to support vocation ministry.”  Two seasoned vocation directors will present on effective programs and strategies for reaching prospective candidates. Father Tom McCarthy, O.S.A. and Sister Donna Del Santo, S.S.J. are the presenters. Short presentations will be followed by a live Q&A with participants. The webinar is free, but you must register to participate or to receive a video-on-demand link following the session. Download a flyer; click here to register. Funded by the GHR Foundation.

Save the date for a January 13 evening webinar on collaboration in vocation ministry!

Note to Registrants: you will be sent a reminder email with Zoom link Thursday morning. Not registered yet? Please register now. Then tune in on Sept. 30, 2021 at 8 pm Eastern/7 pm CT/ 6 pm MT/ 5pm PT for our webinar "Fundamentals: from call to charism to community living" for insight on religious life today. The format is simple, four outstanding speakers will share their insights and then welcome questions from participants. The webinar will run one hour. It is free, but you must register to participate or to receive an on-demand link following the session. This is the first of six webinars, available thanks to the generosity of the GHR Foundation. Learn more here.

Members of NRVC have the opportunity to take part for free in a $100 online workshop on October 19, 2-3:30 p.m., entitled “Navigating Uncertainty with Young People through Accompaniment,” by Josh Packard of Springtide Research Institute. This workshop will address ways to build trust and minister to young people during this period of economic, social, and health unknowns. NRVC members can register at no cost for this virtual workshop (which includes a link to watch a pre-recorded session and a link for a live session.)  Go to the NRVC store and indicate you will pay by check not credit card. The workshop fee for non-members is $100; payment by credit card is appreciated.

In July the NRVC completed another successful Summer Institute, helping 175 people from 12 countries receive education in vocation ministry and take part in valuable ministry support and networking. The four workshops included 22 guests from the National Conference of Vicars for Religious, the Association of Latin American Missionary Sisters/Asociación de Hermanas Latinas Misioneras en America, the National Black Sisters Conference, Vocations Ireland, and the National Association for Vocation and Formation Directors in Canada. Thank you to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, whose generosity allowed the NRVC to invite guests.

The newest edition of HORIZON, which is in the mail and online, presents thoughtful analysis, reflection, and advice on skills and practices for well-being. It takes up the topic at both a communal and personal level. Among this edition’s treasures are ideas for cultivating a strong communal life by Brother Seán Sammon, F.M.S.  Brief but powerful words of hope for the future are provided by Brother Joseph Bach, O.S.F.

With National Vocation Awareness Week happening Nov. 7-13, this is the perfect time to stock up on infographic handouts. These colorful 8.5-by-11-inch sheets pack in all the most important messages from our 2020 Study Of Recent Vocations To Religious Life. Update and inspire your community and the public. Download the handout here in Spanish or English. Order them in packets of 50, printed in full color, here.

Avail yourself of NRVC’s premier resource for those considering consecrated life:  VISION Vocation Guide, online and in print. Use the weblink vocationnetwork.org. Give out bookmarks with the link. Order print copies and bookmarks here.  It’s also not too late to place an online ad!

The National Dialogue on Catholic Pastoral Ministry with Youth and Young Adults, which involved extensive gatherings of people involved in youth or young adult ministry, reaffirmed the need for broad vocation guidance and also shed light on the complex reality of  what young people are experiencing and what they ask of the church. The NRVC was extensively involved the three year process. In other news, COVID-19 appears to have slightly diminished religious and diocesan seminarian numbers in the past last year.

Consecrated life runs in the family for Sister Jill Reuber, O.S.B. She's a triplet, with one of her sisters belonging to another Benedictine community. Find out what ideas for vocations are working for Sister Jill these days as she walks with women considering life as a Ferdinand, Indiana Benedictine. Read more...

Due to the global pandemic and the uncertainty of how the virus continues to spread and affect our lives, our biennial Fall Institute will be offered live through the Zoom platform. Join us in the comfort of your home, no hassles with travel or packing, just time to enjoy learning from experienced presenters who will engage participants with a reasonable schedule integrated with screen breaks, October 5-19. Don’t postpone, register today through the NRVC store for this outstanding opportunity for learning, support, and networking. 

Behavioral Assessment 2—October 5-6, 9:30 - 3:00 CT

Behavioral Assessment 1—October 8-10, 9:30 - 3:00 CT

Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors— October 12-16, 9:30 - 3:30 CT

Navigating Uncertainty with Young People through Accompaniment—October 19

This workshop will be offered again in 2023.

This workshop conducted via Zoom will explore ethical principles governing confidentiality, agency and obligations related to positions of trust. The workshop will also address issues related to dissemination of information, the timeliness of admissions or dismissal decisions, and other issues related to ethical rights of candidates as well as ethical rights of those in positions of authority. This workshop is essential for all those who make decisions concerning the admission of candidates.

Please note this two day workshop begins each day at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m. Central time. There are 2 scheduled breaks along with a 60 minute lunch from 11:30 - 12:30 (CT) to avoid screen fatigue.  All workshop materials are mail to your home before the workshop begins.

Workshop fees

NRVC member: $450                                       $625 Non-member

Become an NRVC member here for reduced workshop rates.       

Register for this workshop by clicking here to access our online store.    

Cancellation

Cancellations for workshops must be received in writing to debbiesscm@nrvc.net before June 30 to receive a full refund less a $100 processing fee. After June 30, all fees are non refundable. 

Presenter

Reverend Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. is a priest of the Archdiocese of Portland, OR. He has taught at both the secondary and university levels, and presently teaches at Mount Angel Seminary Graduate School of Theology in Saint Benedict, Oregon. Fr. Carey holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He has presented workshops in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. He is a recipient of the NRVC Harvest Award and a Lifetime NRVC member for his work in service of vocation ministry.

The material was extensive and presented well. Learning more about gender identity, sexual energy and intimacy skills was most helpful for me professionally and in living my own vocation well.

–Brother Pat Douglas, S.J.​

I am in leadership and because of the reports we receive when people are applying for vows, I was interested in the content of this program. There are three times that we can assess suitability (before entrance, temporary vows, final vows) and I wanted more content to be better able to make the assessment.

–Sister Marie Ursino, S.H.C.J., ministering in Rome, Italy

Pragmatic content effectively delivered. This workshop opened a new and valuable perspective for me. Now I understand why the vocation team sets up structures and interactions the way it does. I am grateful we now have a common language and goal.  

–Brother Nick Gonzalez, F.S.C.

Financial assistance available

To assist NRVC members with their professional development, the Misericordia Scholarship Fund is available. Scholarship funds can be applied to NRVC workshops; however, they do not cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, meals or personal expenses. If you need financial assistance to attend an NRVC workshop, please apply here.

Workshop terms and conditions

Workshops are designed from the NRVC three-component curriculum for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the complex theological, spiritual, psycho-sexual, ethical, and diversity issues often present in contemporary vocation ministry. NRVC recommends that vocation ministers participate in ongoing educational opportunities to attend to their own vocation, faith formation, and to further develop their professional competencies. Please read the terms and conditions of all NRVC programs and events.

Questions about Summer Institute workshops?

Please contact Sr. Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net

This workshop will be offered again in 2023.

This workshop via Zoom presents practical interviewing techniques housed in a theoretical framework of behavioral assessment. While the focus of the workshop is on assessment of candidates for admission to initial formation, the methodology easily applies to assessing candidates in other stages of formation as well. Workshop participants study sample case reports and learn skills for interviewing as well as guidelines for organizing the information into useful reports. Interview topics include: family background, educational and occupational histories, psychosexual histories and intimacy skills, faith history, and other pertinent issues related to comprehensive vocation assessment.

Please note this three day workshop begins each day at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m. Central time. There are 2 scheduled breaks along with a 60 minute lunch from 11:30 - 12:30 (CT) to avoid screen fatigue. All workshop materials are mail to your home before the workshop begins.

Workshop fees

NRVC member: $625                                        $880 Non-member

Become an NRVC member here for reduced workshop rates.         

Register for this workshop by clicking here to access our online store.    

Please note: there is no guarantee workshop materials will arrive on time for any one who registers after June 30.  

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations for workshops must be received in writing to debbiesscm@nrvc.net before June 30 to receive a full refund less a $100 processing fee. After June 30, all fees are non refundable. 

Presenter

Reverend Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D. is a priest of the Archdiocese of Portland, OR. He has taught at both the secondary and university levels, and presently teaches at Mount Angel Seminary Graduate School of Theology in Saint Benedict, Oregon. Fr. Carey holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He has presented workshops in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. He is a recipient of the NRVC Harvest Award and a Lifetime NRVC member for his work in service of vocation ministry.

After this workshop, I have the confidence to use the Behavioral Assessment following FDIC and direct/indirect interviewing techniques to respect each discerner's right to minimal intrusion. Fr. Ray's knowledge and his ability to share stories that drive deeper into the information is most helpful.

--Sister Jean Rhoads, D.C.

I loved  his humor and stories that related to the content well. This workshop exceeded my expectations. Thank you!

--Father Derek Swanson, C.M.

What a privilege to learn from Fr. Ray! It was refreshing and validating,  exemplification of our values put to the service of vocation ministry. These were long, full days but I would rather be overwhelmed than underwhelmed. Everything that was covered was relevant and pertinent to discernment and assessment.

--Sister Andrea Koverman, S.C.

Financial assistance available

To assist NRVC members with their professional development, the Misericordia Scholarship Fund is available. Scholarship funds can be applied to NRVC workshops; however, they do not cover the cost of transportation, accommodations, meals or personal expenses. If you need financial assistance to attend an NRVC workshop, please apply here.

Terms and conditions

Workshops are designed from the NRVC three-component curriculum for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the complex theological, spiritual, psycho-sexual, ethical, and diversity issues often present in contemporary vocation ministry. NRVC recommends that vocation ministers participate in ongoing educational opportunities to attend to their own vocation, faith formation, and to further develop their professional competencies. Please read the terms and conditions of all NRVC programs and events.

Questions about Summer Institute workshops?

Please contact Sr. Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net

"Addressing parental concerns: wisdom and advice" is the topic of our webinar on April 21 at 7 p.m. CT. Two young religious and two parents will discuss the questions, concerns, and emotions that parents experience when a child enters religious life. Register today to join us. For those unable to attend the live webinar, register and receive an on-demand video of the session afterward. The 1-hour program will consist of four short presentations followed by live Q&A. Our remaining webinar featuring new member stories will take place June 2. This series is free of charge, thanks to the generous support of the GHR Foundation. Details and videos of previous sessions are at nrvc.net/webinars.

Five young men and women in religious life will share inspiring stories of their call and response on Thursday, June 2, 7 p.m. CT, in the webinar "Call to religious life: Newer entrants' stories." The first half of this one-hour webinar will be short presentations by the panelists, followed by live Q&A with attendees. The panelists are: Sister Cecilia Ashton, O.C.D., Sister Thanh Pham, S.S.M.O., Sister Limétèze Pierre-Gilles, S.S.N.D., Mr. Nate Tinner-Williams, pre-novitiate student with the Josephites, and Brother Rafael Vargas, S.D.B.

Register today! If you cannot make it, register to receive a link to view this event afterward. This is the capstone of our six-part series made possible by the GHR Foundation. Videos of earlier webinars are available here.

NRVC is making all the webinars in its series "Religious Life Today: Learn it! Love it! Live it!" available to the public. Here are links to all the videos to date, which are posted on the NRVC YouTube channel:

Fundamentals from call to charism to community living
Using all avenues to support vocation ministry
Creating a collaborative environment
Wellsprings of support for vocations
Addressing parental concerns: Wisdom and advice

The NRVC is searching for a dynamic, motivated, tech-savvy ministry leader to join its team as the new director of membership. The successful candidate for this full-time, Chicago-based position will intentionally engage NRVC members on a wide variety of levels. The director of membership cultivates member relationships in many ways including coordinating events, developing onboarding strategies, resolving member issues, assisting members in accessing and utilizing their NRVC member benefits, and more. Apply by May 31. Details about the position and how to apply are here.

The NRVC convocation, to take place in Spokane, Washington November 3-6, will feature inspiring keynote addresses, valuable networking, uplifting liturgies, and much more—including the roundtable discussion, "Rewind the Future." This convocation event will bring together five younger religious who served as spokespersons about religious life in a video produced in 2012 highlighting the results of our 2009 study of newer entrants. These five panelists will join Sister Miriam Ukeritis, one of the authors of another important study of religious life, the 1992 Future of Religious Orders in the United States. The group will discuss the changes they've experienced in religious life and where they find hope today. Convocation participants will then continue the conversation at their individual tables. Registration for convocation will open up later in May.

Registration is now open for the NRVC convocation in Spokane, Washington, November 3-6. With a theme of "Call Beyond Borders," our gathering will feature NRVC's trademark excellence in workshops, liturgies, keynote presentations, networking, and more. Registration for the convocation is here. Attendees  have the option to register separately for pre-event workshops and/or a post-event trip to Idaho. Rooms at our venue, the Davenport Grand Hotel, must be booked through NIX to receive our discounted rate. Travelers should book flights to Spokane Airport (GEG).  For assistance with registration, contact NRVC's Marge Argyelan at 773-490-6556.

The NRVC extends deep gratitude to three board members who are departing because of changes in ministry, residence, and/or availability. Thank you and warm wishes to:

• Sister Jean Marie Fernandez, R.G.S. who served for two years,
• Father Charles Johnson, O.P., who served for five years, and
• Sister Cheryl Wint, O.S.F., who served for one year.

In honor of their crucial service in working with international candidates, at its November convocation the NRVC gave its Harvest Award to Miguel Naranjo and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) Religious Immigration Services. The Harvest Award is given biennially to recognize outstanding service to vocation ministry. Many NRVC members have worked with Naranjo, director of CLINIC's Religious Immigration Services, during the admissions process of international candidates. CLINIC is one of the few organizations to specialize in this area of law.

Act now to register for one or more of NRVC's outstanding online Summer Institute courses. The following workshops still have space for a limited number of participants.

Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors     
July 12-16, 2022, 9:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m. Central Time

Ethical Issues in Vocation and Formation Ministry      
July 18-19 2022, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Central Time  

Behavioral Assessment 1
July 21-23, 2022, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Central Time  

Learning to Cooperate with Grace through the Inner Work of Transformation  
July 25-26, 2022, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Central Time  

Anyone can easily access online the webinars from the recently-completed series "Religious Life Today: Learn it! Love it! Live it!"  which was funded by the GHR Foundation.

•  Fundamentals: From call to charism to community living  A cross-section of religious explain the basic elements in religious life.

•  Using all avenues to support vocation ministry  Seasoned vocation directors share ways to reach out to those who might consider religious life.

•  Creating a collaborative environment Diocesan personnel share ways they work with religious communities to engage with those considering their calling.

•  Wellsprings of support for vocations A campus minister and family-youth-young adult minister tell how they cultivate vocation culture.

•  Addressing parental concerns: Wisdom and advice Two parents and two younger religious share the concerns and questions that parents have when a child enters a religious community.

•  Call to religious life: Newer entrants' stories Newer entrants recount what inspired them to join religious communities.

Don't miss this video of support for vocations and vocation ministry from Bishop Austin Vetter, the NRVC episcopal liaison. Sunday, April 30 will be World Day of Prayer for Vocations, an ideal time to draw attention to all vocations, including religious life. This day, which is also Good Shepherd Sunday, is  well-suited for celebrating in parishes, where many religious first experienced church ministry. Consider offering to speak at Masses or religious education classes, inserting a prayer or prayer card into the bulletin, posting about this day on social media, etc. Find details and resources here. 

When I began interviewing sisters for my book, Feels Like Home: A Single Woman’s Guide to Catholic Religious Life in the U.S., I thought I knew what they would say. After all, I had served nearly two decades as communications director for Benedictine sisters, worked as a consultant and writer for religious institutes across the country, maintained memberships in Communicators for Women Religious and the Catholic Media Association, and written for publications like VISION Vocation Guide and Duke Divinity Faith & Leadership. My bona fides demonstrated my expertise in the area. I would just write what I knew.

What I found out, of course, was what I did not know. I’m sharing four such discoveries with you here. Taken together, they may help seed and continue conversations within your institute as you work to create a vocation program that serves the women—and there are many!—who are discerning religious life today.

1. Discerners’ biggest fear is they will make a mistake. In fact, many do.

Women often pursue the wrong institute, at least for a time. This is not just an early discernment issue, before inquirers have begun to identify their lifestyle needs. It occurs late in the discernment process for many. Sister Stefanie MacDonald, O.S.B., now happily with the Sisters of St. Benedict of Rock Island, Illinois, discovered her mistake—and inquirers do view it as a mistake—after having lived with the wrong institute for months.

MacDonald had begun active discernment with a group of religious who had lived across the street from her family, dined at the family table, and shared holiday traditions. When she felt God calling her to be a sister, MacDonald had turned to them, believing that life as one of them would bring her the community, peace, and purpose she craved.

Working with their vocation director, MacDonald had relocated to live with the sisters who would introduce her to the life. It would be the perfect discernment opportunity. “I was happy at first,” she said. “I thought, I’m finally where I belong.” Within a few months, however, MacDonald began to find the ministry-focused apostolic lifestyle was not a good fit for her. Anguished and dispirited, she left.

“It was like living with roommates. Their ministries kept them at work till late at night. Our paths didn’t cross a lot. We didn’t pray together or eat together. I thought, religious life must not be for me.”

After several years, MacDonald felt the call again. This time she ended up with a community of Benedictines, entered, and serves as their vocation director today.

Vocation directors say the fear of making such a mistake stops many women from progressing in their discernment. They can’t face the ignominy of what they see as a public failure. Sister Lisa Mauer, O.S.B. still can feel the pain of her own such experience. “Trying to stay [with my first community] was like forcing myself into a pair of shoes that I loved but that didn’t fit. It was painful and embarrassing to leave.”

At least a quarter of the sisters interviewed for Feels Like Home began serious discernment with an institute they joined but eventually left. Ji Kyung Choi, C.B.S. was among them, finally leaving her Korean-American community just before final vows. She had to struggle with cultural and spiritual repercussions as well as pain and embarrassment.

“I had told a priest at my parish that I might be called to religious life. He put me in touch with a Korean community. I’m Korean American so it seemed natural. They accepted me without any formal discernment. I entered after just two months. It was not a good fit. They followed a pre-Vatican II way of life, which ended up pushing me away from God. I felt my spirit and soul were getting destroyed. Today, I accept that time as part of my discernment. I learned so much about what I believe and need. I learned what I’m called to do.”

MacDonald, Mauer, Choi, and several others persevered, entering communities that have been the right fit for them, while two more women accepted their chosen communities’ request to take more independent discernment time prior to entering. How many women fail to persevere because of such obstacles is anyone’s guess. But the need to help them believe there’s no shame in changing their minds, as well as the need to set expectations about the reality of discernment, is clear.

How can you help women navigate this powerful obstacle? Sister Lynn Mousel, C.H.M. suggests engaging friends and family. “Learning how to talk to friends and family is critical. Getting feedback from loved ones will help women know what’s right and what’s not for them.” Offering printed talking points, a sort of “How to talk to your friends and family about your call,” could be valuable. It would help introduce the topic of religious life, establish reasonable expectations, answer some key questions and prepare everyone—even inquirers—for the possibility that the discernment might lead to a radically different outcome than initially anticipated. [See VISION’s “How to talk to your family about your vocation.”

As for when to bring it up? Definitely not in front of a movie, Mousel notes, or as participants parallel-scroll social media. “You have to take time for the conversation intentionally. No distractions.”

2. The habit is a big deal … sometimes

Every Catholic seems to have an opinion about how sisters should dress, but the sisters I interviewed were less dogmatic than many non-vowed churchgoers. Vocation directors from non-habited institutes were quick to point out the correlation between habits and medieval garb, while those from habited institutes spoke of the habit’s witness factor.

Having a resource available to aid such discussions might be valuable, as most inquirers will have little if any knowledge of how the habit first came to be, or how or why it has evolved over the millennia. Elizabeth Kuhns tackles those questions in her book, The Habit: A History of the Clothing of Catholic Nuns:

The story begins at the dawn of Christianity, where the first consecrated women and earliest Church authorities shaped the habit’s initial forms. Evolving from ascetic ideals, it traveled through medieval cloisters and knights’ hospitals to the rugged frontier schools of the American West, taking on many shapes. [Some] were designed as monastic uniforms, specifically intended to distinguish women who had consecrated their lives to God. Other orders’ habits, such as those that copied the “widow’s weeds” or the working costumes of their times, came about from a desire to blend into society and among those whom the sisters served.

The desire to “blend into society” referenced by Kuhns remains an urgent desire among many sisters. But there were other urgent reasons to adopt different garb. Health, hygiene, and even safety were chief among them. The full habit was often made of heavy wool, and worn in all seasons. Not only was it hot in summer, it could stay wet for days after a sudden rain. Even if covered by umbrella and raincoat, the long skirt would soak the moisture up into its folds. And the headpiece—coif, wimple, and veil—often obscured the sisters’ peripheral vision, making it a hazard to drive or even walk. When Pope Pius XII suggested in 1951 sisters choose garb to be “in keeping with the demands of hygiene … counseled by reason and well-ordered charity,” many began the process of modernizing their dress.

Happily, today’s habits are mostly fashioned of more breathable, comfortable fabric, while headpieces typically permit peripheral vision.

Many of the younger monastic Benedictine sisters interviewed said they would gladly wear a modified habit, if only the elders in their community would agree. The apostolic sisters, on the other hand, often made the question of habit part of their discernment, entering an institute on that basis. The cloistered/contemplative nuns I spoke with saw the habit as appropriate for most but not all activities (such as work).

Here’s a sampling of interviewee comments:

Sister Colleen Mattingly, A.S.C.J.: “The habit is important to me. In the very, very beginning, wearing it was hard. Used to be I didn’t leave home without mascara and lipgloss! But now I don’t even think about it. Now that I’m living for the Lord—and not trying to find a marriage partner—things like hair and clothes aren’t important anymore. I’m witnessing through it. It’s a sign of something greater. But, I agree with those who say if the habit is your prime reason for entering, it won’t sustain you.”

Sister Julie Sewell, O.S.B.: “If you want the habit to be a factor in your discernment, please know it will not be enough to sustain your vocation over a lifetime. You must take other factors into consideration.”

Sister Linda Soler, O.S.B.: “I wear black and white at school. I’m open to a unified look.”

Sister Stefanie MacDonald, O.S.B.: “If our community wore a habit, I’d be wearing one.”

Sister Amanda Carrier, R.S.M.: “Habits never gave me the right feeling. There is something special about them, a witness factor, but they’re just not that important to me.”

Sister Xiomara Méndez-Hernández, O.P.: “I was very observant, but thought I’d never become a sister because they wore a habit. The reason I didn’t want to go to Catholic school was the uniform! But then I met these two Adrian Dominicans who weren’t dressed in a habit. I entered in 2008.”

3. Community isn’t what many think it is

Everyone I interviewed spoke of the value and benefit of community: apostolic, cloistered/contemplative, monastic, and missionary. Whether they live with the entire institute under one roof, or alone in their own apartment, each sister placed community at or near the top of her list of desired religious-life values.
If community means something different to each woman—and it seems to—the first step in a discussion about it might be to clarify what each of you means and recognize that each definition has value.

For monastic women, community is often both the literal place, a monastery, and the metaphorical joining together to seek God. It’s a spirituality that involves sharing everything from prayer and meals to decision-making and resources. For cloistered/contemplative monastics, community takes on an even more radical expression, as they literally remain together within their enclosure for life.

For apostolic and missionary women, community can imply many different things. For some, living with another woman or two fits the bill. For others, a sense of belonging to something greater than themselves forms the heart of the concept, making community an important value even for those who prefer to live alone.

Sister Julie Sewell, O.S.B. suggests easing into discussion by first asking a couple of simple questions: “We live in a 43-woman monastery. Sound bad? Then it’s not for you. Don’t want to live in an apartment alone, or with a small group? That’s also a clue.”

The following is a sampling of comments from my interviews with both newly professed sisters and vocation directors that shows the breadth of thought around the value and definition of community:

Sister Lynn Mousel, C.H.M.: “The concept of religious life is broader than an isolated community. You are entering religious life. It’s more than an order or congregation.”

Sister Colleen Mattingly, A.C.S.J.: “Community is number one. We try to live in groups of at least three or more.”

Sister Fran Gorsuch, C.B.S.: “Searching for community? What’s that mean? Many of us live alone. What can you bring to the definition of community?”

Sister Mary Jo Curtsinger, C.S.J: “Community for many is about a shared sense of mission and belonging.”

Sister Ana Gonzales, O.P.: “I’ve been blessed to experience community since January 2014 when I became a candidate. I love living in community. There are five of us.”

Sister Nicole Trahan, F.M.I.: “Community is a very big part of our charism. At least three sisters should live together. We are builders of community in order to change the world.”

Sister Amanda Carrier, R.S.M.: “Ministry is primary but community is very important to me. The Mercy Sisters have a sense of family in community life, even among sisters who didn’t know each other. I love how they are together.”

Monastic sisters, whether in more contemplative or more active communities, often report they were drawn to the family-like environment of communal life. Their definition of community tends to be more literal, as Sister Carmella Luke, O.S.B. notes. “I was drawn to sharing of resources, working, and living together. We make decisions as a whole community. We share, discuss, decide together.”

4. The right community feels like home

The most commonly reported clue that an institute was the right one? It feels like home.

Nearly every woman I interviewed volunteered a piercing sense of belonging when she found the institute she would ultimately enter and remain in. It’s why I named my book Feels Like Home.

While the book is written for inquirers, many issues that may prove useful to vocation directors surfaced during my research, from cultural realities (age, institute location, ethnicity, language) to the importance of an institute’s charism. Clear communication around such issues will be key to helping inquirers navigate their call—to wherever home will eventually be for them.

Susan Flansburg writes for and about Catholic sisters, as well as a range of nonprofit organizations. Her book, Feels Like Home: A Single Woman’s Guide to Catholic Religious Life in the U.S., is a guide for women who are discerning a vocation to religious life. It is currently in the final phase of editing. Questions and comments are welcome at seflans1@gmail.com.

"HERE COMES EVERYBODY!" Many will recognize this description of the Catholic Church found in Finnegans Wake, the final work of Irish writer James Joyce. It describes the church, the Body of Christ, formed of its many parts, called to life. Indeed, without the vibrant diversity of each gifted and limited person brought into oneness, life is not possible at all. Both Christian theology and modern cosmology teach us this truth.

I hope to suggest here that the work of vocation ministry today, in its varied settings, is grounded in this reality of “all and one.” It is a work of informal leadership, the primary purpose of which is to animate the gifts in individuals and in the whole to foster life in response to the love and call of God to each person and to each community.

Animate the gifts of each

Everybody! Everybody has gifts. As Brother Loughlan Sofield, S.T. pointed out in a 2015 address to the Religious Formation Conference, leadership that brings life begins with the identification, affirmation, and animation of the gifts of each person. Traditionally vocation ministers have done this as they have walked with individuals in discernment, and it is appropriate that they continue to do so. They encourage in others the most important question, “Where is God calling me?” Vocation ministers, in light of the Spirit, call out and affirm the gifts of discerners to enable them to reflect upon their particular call. In doing so, vocation ministers exercise the leadership skills of listening, reflection, values clarification, and invitation as a process of mutual discernment takes place. Focusing on, calling forth, and affirming the gifts of individuals is a critical part of this process.

Today, however, this is not enough. Younger people rarely reach a point of truly discerning a particular vocation because the language of vocation in the church is absent, misconstrued, or limited. Moreover many religious communities lack visibility; people no longer even know we exist, and we have ceased to invite others to consider our way of life. Besides, many younger people no longer go to church on a regular basis, and while they may attend Catholic educational institutions, awareness and discussion of vocation is often largely absent from school and college curricula. (See “How universities can cultivate vocations,” by Father Vincent O’Malley, C.M., 2016 HORIZON, Number 2.)

This situation now invites the vocation minister to work in a wider context and to assist in leading initiatives that help people recognize, claim, and live their gifts. For, as Brother Loughlan emphasized in his talk to formation directors, “Gift and call always go together.” In other words, gift recognition is essential to understanding and living out one’s vocation, and a vocation is about using one’s God-given gifts for the sake of the whole and for mission. I am reminded of the beautiful definition of vocation offered by writer and theologian Frederick Buechner: “Vocation is the place where our deep gladness [and I would add here, gifts] meet the world’s deep need.”

So, I suggest that vocation ministers are called today as leaders who first help create, with others, initiatives in parishes, schools, colleges, coffee shops, and youth gatherings that facilitate the claiming of gifts to introduce healthy vocation awareness. Initiatives may include worship experiences, social events, relaxed discussions, retreats, hiking days, movie evenings, creative writing and art projects, social media events, and ecological and justice programs. The goal of such initiatives is to help people identify their gifts and ways in which their gifts have relevance for their relationship with God and significance for service in the contemporary church and world.

In his book, Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer emphasizes this important first step in vocation leadership. He says: “Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of my true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice ‘out there’ calling me to be something I am not. It comes from a voice ‘in here’ calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.” Vocation leadership finds a starting point in facilitating self-discovery, giftedness, and call.

This approach presupposes that all are gifted and called. All have a vocation, and until this is fully realized, processes relating to the discernment of particular vocations are, at best, weak. Vocation ministry today entails that ministers take seriously the importance of working together to create a culture of vocation.

Vocation leadership to encourage a culture of vocation

The Third Continental Congress on Vocations to Ordained Ministry and Consecrated Life in North America, which met in Montreal in 2002, made clear the varied vocations in the church which “express in diverse ways the universal call to holiness implicit in baptism.” The congress further emphasized “a deep respect for the complementarity and interdependence of all vocations.” As community and communion of vocations, “its members need to be concerned about and committed to the flowering of all vocations in the church.” The congress thus called for the development of a culture of vocation. The importance of this direction was demonstrated in NRVC’s 2015 study conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate showing the positive impact of the family in nurturing ordained and consecrated vocations.

Despite considerable attention to the need for a culture of vocation, however, programs are not yet widely developed. Experienced vocation ministers have an exciting opportunity to capture the energy and to partner in initiatives to bring about a lively sense of vocation. This is not about a vocation minister doing it all him or herself. Rather it entails letting go of traditional models of leadership, as management consultant Margaret Wheatley, puts it, “Goodbye, command and control.” Here the vision of leadership implies a model of cooperation and empowerment.

What a vocation minister may be able to offer at a direct level to begin are general presentations and workshops on vocation. These can create a deeper vocation awareness for all. Thereafter particular leadership skills are needed:

• facilitation and dialogue for the unfolding of a vision that can be widely embraced,

• motivational skills to engage all with passion and commitment,

• listening and reflective skills to clarify the will of the group necessary for collaborative decision-making,

• invitational skills to include a wide range of people, mobilizing the gifts of all in practical plans and in future shared leadership.

Perhaps most needed are leaders who recognize that the visioning and work belong to all. They generously contribute and share their special gifts and experience; they respect others and their unique contributions; and they are appropriately aware of their own limitations such that the project truly engages vocational diversity for service in the church and world to nurture all types of vocations.

These approaches to vocation leadership are consistent with certain general theories of leadership. Adaptive leadership models suited to our changing times emphasize the importance of “giving the work back to the people” by garnering the gifts of all, encouraging personal empowerment, getting people to own greater responsibility, listening and respecting various viewpoints, even those most difficult to hear, and challenging self and others to transformation. One of my teachers during novitiate would say it is “calling one another to greatness.”

The servant leadership model articulated by Quaker Robert Greenleaf also calls for valuing the contributions of all, listening, discussing, and assisting others to achieve their potential and to assume responsibility. It is leadership in the model of Jesus who received the raw material of his followers and who formed them over time in prayer, vision, and action for the sake of the reign of God.

Leading an internal culture of vocation

Building a culture of vocation throughout the church truly enriches all vocations. But what of a culture of vocation within our religious communities? Internal vocation ministry is a vital context in which urgent and dedicated leadership is now needed.

We have long known that for a vibrant vocation ethos in religious communities, everyone (and not just the vocation minister) has a responsibility. Revitalizing an internal culture of vocation is urgent if we are to invite new membership. In this context, as in the situations described above, a vocation minister exercises leadership through the gift of animation of individuals and of charism and community.

Each member has something to bring to the vision, ethos, and work. This was movingly brought home to me when the Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Canada organized a weekend pilgrimage for young people to various community sites. The pilgrimage was entitled “Living Joy,” and 24 young women and men participated. Part of our time together was spent at one of our residences where senior sisters are living. One sister in particular, who has early stage dementia, remains true to her social personality and joy in life. She greeted the pilgrims on arrival, showed them her room, joined them for a barbecue, and generally entertained them with warmth and kindness, though her struggles with dementia were obvious. At the end of a weekend, full of prayer, presentations, ministry participation, and social gatherings, the young people were asked where they had found “living joy” during our days together. Immediately the group named their time with this particular sister. For them, she represented the joy and call of the gospel and of “living vocation.” She continues to be an inspiration for their personal discernment journeys.

Look at the bigger picture

These things become possible within a wider context. The vocation minister as leader is also called, as proponents of adaptive leadership would say, to “get on the balcony.” This calls the leader to view the larger landscape and to see emerging patterns that yield essential questions concerning the whole: What is the essence and gift of the charism of the community? What is the call to live it fully today? What are the unmet needs in the church and world that invite change and transformation in how we understand and live the charism with relevance and renewed passion?

To do this the leader builds warm and sometimes challenging individual relationships and facilitates conversation, shared reflection, and story telling. The leader recognizes his or her personal gifts and limitations and thus affirms others in their contributions. For this task the leader is gifted by “the wisdom of the ages”—all that he or she receives from the community’s history, spirit, expertise, and witness.

At a practical level, communal gift identification can be achieved through reflective questionnaires, workshops, or spirituality days designed to intentionally call forth the gifts of all to enhance community and contribute to the vocation climate.

Motivated by a need to discern and help create conditions for inviting and attracting new life, the vocation leader may initiate processes of communal discernment that seek to refine understandings of identity and role in light of call and charism. In such communal discernment, Sister Maria Cimperman, R.S.C.J. points out, “Our deepest values, hopes, priorities, and identities are named, and what is no longer the deepest value or priority or keenest identity is gently let go.” (Find Cimperman’s article, “Inviting thresholds: How communities might respond to shifting times” in 2009 HORIZON Number 2.)

Group discernment first invites the contributions of all in order to surface existing goods and build upon them together. It entails creating prayerful opportunities that inspire individuals and communities to “dream a future,” whatever that future may look like, under the guidance of the Spirit.

As Marty Linsky of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government says in Transformational Leadership: Conversations with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, “Our experience is that when you are inventing the future and searching for next practices, rather than looking for best practices, the more voices that you can bring to bear in that conversation, the more likely it is that you will be able to generate ideas and options that will be accepted broadly and deeply and will get you where you want to go.”

Of course, communal discernment of this kind already takes place at community assemblies and General Chapters. When such discernment is initiated as part of the work of vocation ministry, however, its primary intent is to energize the community and thus to create an invitational environment for new membership. Processes of communal discernment that take place at assemblies and Chapters are more broadly motivated. Nonetheless they must also maintain a mindfulness for vocation. After all, there are limits to identifying and naming inspiring directives to carry us into the future if there are no new members partnering with others to carry these out.

General Chapters are key moments

I am not denying that some communities will come to a natural end, as is the right order of things, having served well the building up of God’s work in their time. Nor am I denying that others outside the community, given their particular vocation and gifts, may also live the charism of a religious community and carry on some continuity. However, for religious to neglect explicit discussion and discernment of religious vocation at any of our major communal events, is arguably to choose, inadvertently, our own demise. This preempts the work of the Holy Spirit, closing ourselves off from outcomes best entrusted to the Spirit.

Anecdotally, it is clear, as international vocation leaders have attested, that even for communities experiencing considerable diminishment, when vocation is discussed at a General Chapter, it is taken seriously once again, even if it is ultimately for the benefit and growth of religious life in general. This observation suggests that the leadership work of the vocation minister involves positive and proactive communications with formal congregational leadership as they discern the future together with members and with Chapter preparation teams. This proactive communication allows possibilities for vocation animation to be integrally incorporated into discussions for wider well-being and mission.

Courage to face hard questions

To “stand on the balcony” observing the wider context may also be a dangerous task and one that may not be welcomed! For the view from the balcony today is revealing emerging patterns that are not necessarily in harmony with one another. Take, for example, the great desire of those presently attracted to religious congregations for community living and communal prayer. Meanwhile many existing members have come to differing views of what it means to live in community and to pray.  

The heart of the problem here may well be a question of interpretation. What existing members may think discerners are asking for is “institutional security.” Discerners and new members may actually be saying that for them, given their reality and today’s societal ethos, community is the counter-cultural witness. Community, in different forms in the past, and for many of us now, was and is the attractor to religious life.

While the length and substance of this article precludes any in-depth discussion of this particular difficulty, the existence of such challenges does invite vocation leadership to create pathways of dialogue and to act sometimes as “translators,” to bring all to threshold moments of discernment. This role of translating what newcomers are seeking may require the vocation leader to propose challenges to him or herself and to the community. Sister Constance FitzGerald, O.C.D. discussed these concerns in the video “A Future Full of Hope from the Religious Retirement Office.” FitzGerald says of the case in point, the crux is that this is “going to call for sacrifices. And sacrificing things that we may legitimately have … we are going to have to be on call to mentor … to provide a model for [new members] of how the life needs to be lived. And unless communities can offer this, they are not going to have and keep new [members].”

The leader must sometimes have the courage, integrity, and commitment to suggest sacrifice for the sake of new life. He or she may need to face frustration and receive the criticism or even anger of others. It is not an easy task, but FitzGerald knows whereof she speaks given the courageous challenge taken on by her community, the Discalced Carmelites of Baltimore, who entered into a process of discerning, letting go, sacrificing, and real change. The reward was the gift of remarkable new vocations to the community and a gift of hope.

Communicate hope

Above all at this time, vocation leaders need to communicate and engender hope through affirmation and sometimes challenge. Sessions in community that generate seeds of hope, even in difficult days, can be invaluable in creating a context for inviting new life. In saying this I am reminded of our own community’s ecology center where each fall we plant the garlic for the new season. Given the Canadian climate, it takes an act of outrageous faith annually to believe that in the spring, after being buried so long in the snow, the garlic shoots will appear. But they always do appear, and faith and hope meet once again. The vocation leader must provide such hope for the regeneration of an invitational climate so that the shoots of new life appear.

Hope is essential for creating a context that is attractive to new members. In recent years of diminishment, however, it has become a difficult virtue and context to create. So I suggest that leaders in vocation ministry, indeed all leaders formal and informal, need to look for ways to engender hope in all they do. Otherwise our lack of hope will send out negative messages and may itself become a self-fulfilling prophecy with respect to vocation. In my experience offering hospitality in our homes, opportunities for praying with our members, open houses and social events not only provide an opportunity for visibility and witness, but in turn bring hope. One of our larger communities once held a young adult open house that included contemplative prayer, a vocation DVD, discussion, and a pizza supper. It brought great vitality to all the sisters who participated, both younger and older members.

Vocation leadership that includes affirmation and development of charism and community has the capacity to re-create a sense of grateful identity and an attractive context. For while a new generation has been deeply exposed to change and instability and are, thus, flexible, it is paradoxically those same conditions that attract them to ventures and groupings that know and name clearly who they are and to what they are called. Identity, albeit an identity in transition, is critical. Reclaiming who we are and who we are becoming may well lead us to actively invite women and men to consider the possibility of a religious vocation.

Finally, which one of us, I wonder, doesn’t “come alive” when our gifts are affirmed and called upon or when we are engaged in seeking and claiming the gifts of communal identity? Through these leadership processes, vocation ministers, with others, call out a lively and engaged joy, an essential component for a community that attracts. At a 2014 gathering of religious men and women in Korea, Pope Francis said: “Joy is a gift nourished by a life of prayer, meditation on the Word of God, the celebration of the Sacraments, and life in community. When these are lacking, weaknesses and difficulties will emerge to dampen the joy we knew so well at the beginning of our journey.” Above all, together in mission and in shared leadership, we are called to witness to living joy and to be joy-makers! For, as Pope Francis continued, “Only if our witness is joyful will we attract men and women to Christ.” Leadership indeed!

A version of this article appeared in 2016 HORIZON, Spring, Number 2.

Sister Mary Rowell, C.S.J. is vocation coordinator for her community, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. She also serves as president of the National Association of Vocation and Formation Directors in Canada. In addition, she teaches theology at two universities and is on the team of the Villa St. Joseph Ecology and Spirituality Centre in Cobourg, Ontario.

Register today to take one or more Summer Institute online courses offered July 12-26. The NRVC and its experienced presenters have tailored the learning experience for your maximum professional development. Orientation Program  by a team of presenters, July 12-16  |  Ethical Issues in Vocation and Formation Ministry by Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D., July 18-19   |   Behavioral Assessment 1 by Father Raymond P. Carey, Ph.D., July 21-23  |  Learning to Cooperate with Grace through the Inner Work of Transformation  by Ted Dunn, Ph.D. , July 25-26.         

From what it's like to accompany college students to how sexuality and gender are seen by a new generation, the latest edition of HORIZON has important information and analysis for anyone serious about ministry with young adults. The electronic edition is now available online to logged-in subscribers. Non-subscribers can sample the following: "Accompanying college students," by Sister Nicole Trahan, F.M.I., an experienced campus minister and vocation director. Subscribe (or give a subscription) at nrvc.net/signup. NRVC members automatically receive a subscription;  they also get a deep discount on additional subscriptions.

Rewind the Future Roundtable Conversation at Convocation

Thirty years ago in 1992, Sr. Miriam Ukeritis, C.S.J. and Fr. David Nygren, C.M. conducted the first in-depth study of women's and men's religious institutes, the Future of Religious Orders Study. They gathered data from more than 10,000 members of women’s and men’s religious institutes to generate a picture of possible futures. This seminal research examined what changes must occur if religious life is to remain a vital gift to the Church in the next millennium. This study called for a radical response to the Gospel and a life more aligned with serving those who are poor and living on the margins.  

Ten years ago in 2012, the NRVC produced a video with eight newer entrants to religious life highlighting the key themes from the benchmark 2009 NRVC/CARA Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life among women and men who entered from 1993-2008. The video was part of a larger program called, Moving Forward in Hope: Keys to the Future, where almost 100 participants participated in a 2 day workshop to lead their own congregations in moving forward in hope. 

This lively roundtable conversation will provide time to ponder: In hindsight, what would they say today about their insights, lived experiences, and understanding of religious life? What changes have they experienced in religious life since 1992 and 2012? Are they still moving forward in hope? What do they perceive to be the keys to the future for religious life? Time will be allotted for presentation and table conversation on November 4 at Convocation to integrate the 2020 NRVC/CARA Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life. This presentation is included in the Convocation registration. 

Presenters

Father Kevin DePrinzio, O.S.A., is an Augustinian Friar of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. He entered the community in 1998 and professed solemn vows in 2003.  He has served in campus ministry at both Merrimack College and Villanova University. In addition, he was also vocation director and a member of the initial formation team for his province, while also completing a term on the board for NRVC.  Father Kevin holds a doctorate in Christian Spirituality from the Catholic University of America and currently serves as Vice President for Mission & Ministry at Villanova University.

Sister Ana Dura, C.R., is a native of Northern California, and initially served as an Occupational Therapist in the Congregation's health care ministry and in their transistional housing facility for women and children experiencing homelessness. She has served as director for the Province's vocation and formation ministry and was elected to serve on the Province leadership team. Woven throughout these ministries Sister Ana has followed a call to care for creation by initiating a community garden that has evolved into a small farm that seeks to raise awareness of our connectedness and dependence upon creation.  Currently she serves full-time in this ministry.

Sister Angela Gertsema, A.S.C.J., is originally from St. Joseph, Missouri. She joined the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2002 and professed perpetual vows in 2010. Sr. Angela has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary School Education from Iona College, a Master’s degree in Special Education from Fordham University; and a certificate in Spiritual Direction from Fairfield University. She served as an elementary school teacher, a missionary in Taiwan, and vocation director. Sr. Angela is currently a formation directress and a provincial councilor. 

Sister Sarah Kohles, O.S.F. is a Sister of St. Francis of Dubuque, entering the community in 2003 and professing perpetual vows in 2011. She earned a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Graduate Theological Union in 2019. She has served as an adjunct professor at Loras College, St. Mary's University in San Antonio, and the Franciscan School of Theology. Sister Sarah is a coeditor and contributor to In Our Own Words: Religious Life in a Change World, and a contributor and editor for the book, Creating Spaces for Women in the Catholic Church.

Sister Miriam D. Ukeritis, C.S.J. is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet.  She ministered as a member of her Province Leadership Team from 1996 to 2004 and on her Congregational Leadership Team from 2014 to 2019.  From 2003 through 2013, Sr. Miriam served as Director of Research, then as CEO, at the Southdown Institute in Ontario, Canada. Her professional background includes masters and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.  Sr. Miriam, with Fr. David Nygren, CM, engaged in research on the Future of Religious Orders in the United States in 1992. She currently ministers as co-Director of Vocations for her province and co-Director of Novices for their congregational novitiate.

Brother Patrick Winbush, O.S.B. was born in 1980 in New Jersey. After completing his freshman year at Saint Peter’s University, Brother Patrick entered the Benedictine Abbey of Newark at the age of 18. In 2005, he professed his solemn vows. Brother Patrick has served as a teacher, assistant dean of discipline, level coordinator, campus minister, and group moderator. In 2015, he was appointed Principal of Saint Mary School in Newark. Patrick has served as vocation director since 2007 and in 2012 was appointed Sub-Prior of the monastery. He is currently studying for the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary in N.J.

Terms and conditions

Please read our NRVC terms and conditions for all events and programs.

Register for Convocation, and pre-convocation workshops, in our online store.

Among NRVC's online Summer Institute offerings this year will be the workshop "Learning to Cooperate with Grace through the Inner Work of Transformation," presented July 25-26 by Ted Dunn, Ph.D. During this period of uncertainty and volatility in religious life, this workshop will focus on listening to one's inner experiences, reflecting on them, and exploring together pathways to inner transformation. Dunn is a psychologist and author of The Inner Work of Transformation. Our other Summer Institute workshops will cover orientation, behavioral assessment, and ethics.

The NRVC convocation, slated for November 3-6 in Spokane, Washington, will feature four half-day, pre-event workshops, including "Dynamic Communication Strategies." This workshop will be presented by vocation communicators Nancy Costello, Carol Schuck Scheiber, and Chris Swain. It will focus on three areas: internal communications, inquirer/discerner communications, and online/social communications. Participants will learn principles, see examples, and begin to develop strategies for their own contexts.

A second pre-event workshop, "Vocation Promotion Insights" will also be presented, with details to come on the third and fourth workshops.  Registration will begin in May.

You are invited to join an online conversation on May 15, 1:30 p.m. CT, co-hosted by the NRVC and A Nun's Life Ministry. Entitled "Let's talk about it! Asking the questions, living into the answers," the event will start with ice-breaker questions before moving into breakout rooms to treat more serious questions about contemporary religious life. The intention is to find signs of hope through conversation and revitalizing interaction. All are welcome to this 60 minute lively interaction about religious life.

What are the questions posed? Here's a sampling:

• When you’re faced with a challenge, do you think it through, work it out, ask for help, or ignore it?
• ​Are you more of a teacher, preacher, singer, or influencer? 
• What did you want to be when you grew up?

To participate, please register here for the Zoom link.

One way vocation directors exercise leadership is by stepping back and evaluating what’s happening with new membership efforts, and, when needed, naming a new vision. Father Tom McCarthy, O.S.A. presents how he teamed up with other members to take such steps. He also shares some of the practical ways his community conducts vocation ministry today. This article is based on McCarthy’s presentation for the NRVC webinar “Using all avenues to support vocation ministry.” Find the hour-long webinar, which includes two presentations and a live Q&A, at nrvc.net/webinars.

DISCERNMENT IS A WORD we vocation directors like to use. The young (and not so young) people we work with have the word drilled into them by us and every vocation brochure, magazine, and website they encounter. But do we practice discernment when it comes to our own vocation ministry? Do we first discern our personal call to this ministry and then delve into all the ramifications of it?

I say this from my own experience. In 1998 I was summoned to the provincial’s office for a Saturday meeting. As a young religious, I felt being summoned to the provincial’s office at any time was not necessarily good. I was there with four other younger friars, and we were told that one of us was going to be the new vocation director. To say I was nervous is putting it mildly. I was terrified! I had been ordained four years and was loving my ministry as chaplain in one of our high schools. I wanted to be the vocation director like I wanted to stick a needle in my eye. I did not want to do either! Vocation directors in our province tended to be friars who were yanked out of a ministry they loved and put in the vocation office at the provincial center to stare at a phone that never rang. After two years of misery, another sucker—I mean friar—was put in and the cycle continued. As I said, I was terrified. Happily, I was not appointed, and I continued my ministry at the high school.

The story might end there, but it does not. Ten years later, to the day, I volunteered to become the vocation director with two other friars and a lay staff member using a completely new model of vocation ministry. We all kept our primary ministries and formed the Vocation Team. I am happy to say that 13 years later this model is still working for us, and we are going strong.

An honest assessment

Why did this work? Because we discerned. We discerned about what we were doing and concluded it was not working. We discerned that we had a lifestyle as Augustinians that was attractive, life-giving, and worth living. We were willing to change and try something new. St. John Henry Cardinal Newman once said, “To change is to grow, and to be perfect is to change often.” (Winston Churchill made the saying even more well known.) We knew what we were doing as a province was not working, so we discerned a new way that was risky and went against all we understood about how to do vocation ministry. We risked, and it worked, and it continues to work today.

I begin with this story because I believe all of us in vocation ministry need to discern why, how, and what we do. I challenge us to discern, to look honestly at how we are doing this incredibly necessary and beautiful ministry. If we are continually discerning the best practices and are willing to change if necessary, let’s keep doing that. If we are doing things the way we did them 10, 20, 30, or more years ago, we need to openly delve into discernment and see where we need to go and what we need to change.

None of us has all the answers or the perfect way to do vocation ministry. That said, we can all learn and grow and maybe even change. I am simply sharing with you from my heart and my lived experience. Some things work and some things do not work. That is OK. The NRVC named its webinar “Using all avenues to support vocation ministry.” That means we all have something to share and we all can and must learn from each other.

Not every new idea works. When I was principal of St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, we tried something new. We were going to implement a House System. Following what other schools were doing, and inspired by the Harry Potter movies, we decided to put every student, faculty member, and staff member into one of eight different “houses.” The houses were randomly assigned with students from each class year mingled with faculty and staff members. We presented it to the whole student body as they returned to school in August. A committee of students and faculty members had worked all summer and were excited to unveil their new creation that was going to transform the school and let us get closer to each other.

Well, it was a disaster. The more we pushed it, the more they pushed back. No matter what we tried, the students rebelled and wanted to go back to the old class year system. At the end of the school year, we dissolved the houses and went back to the ways that worked.

I tell this story to show that we tried something new. We discerned that we would try something different. It did not work, but I am so glad we tried. If I were back at St. Rita, I would try it again, but, learning from our experiences, we might introduce it incrementally, starting with the freshman class and adding a class each year. Remember, we can learn, grow, and change even from failures. We need to discern, grow, and change!

Practical tips from what we’ve tried

Online upgrade

With this as a background and challenge, let us look at some things that have been effective. Our first and most powerful action has been to update and adapt our online presence in social media and on our website. We decided we needed a person who understood technology and the way younger people use social media. We started by hiring someone 10 hours a week and have moved to 20 hours a week. I cannot stress enough that your website is open 24-7-365. It is open when young people look at websites, on their time, which usually doesn’t mean office hours of nine to five. Young people take study breaks at 2:30 in the morning, and your website may be what they look at. Is it welcoming? Is it user-friendly? Is it up-to-date? Is it informative? The same goes for our presence on social media. Some platforms I have never heard of and am not using, but our vocation office better be using them.

Material on social media needs to be relevant and eye-catching. In a ridiculously small number of seconds, a person either is or is not attracted enough to view our information. If it is not attractive to young people, they will move on to the next website or social media platform. And we will be left in the dust.

QR codes

I never heard of QR codes until a few years back. But if you’ve gone to a restaurant during COVID-19, you encountered one to get your menu. Is a QR code on your posters and other print material? Young people may not take the time to type in a website but they will scan a QR code. If they do look for a website address, is it unique and easy, or is it so difficult that it takes three tries to finally get there?

Wristbands tied to website

We used to buy all kinds of trinkets as giveaways for our tables at vocation fairs. How many pens have you ever lost? How many flashlight keychains does one person really need? We have all tried these giveaways, and to a certain degree, having some is good, but don’t think they are the end-all and be-all. We have found that rubber wristbands have been the most effective. Many young people actually like them and will wear them if they are attractive. Find a short question or quote that is relevant to your community and put it on the wristband with your website. At 2:30 in the morning when they are bored with studying and take a break, they may look at the band on their wrist and go to your website.

Our bands simply say, “Restless?” and give our website. On our site we explain the prayer of Saint Augustine, “You have made us for yourself, Oh Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” We tell people to wear the band or put it somewhere they will see every day and ask if they are truly restless in their search for God in their lives. It has worked beyond belief for us. We buy the bands in various colors in bulk and pay about 12 to 20 cents each.

Stay in touch with inquirers

Another bit of practical advice comes from what we’ve learned about tracking inquirers and discerners. First, every single person gets a response, no matter how far out or undesirable. They reached out, and they deserve the courtesy of an email response. We’ve developed 34 form letter responses for inquirers, from men who are 78 and bored with life—so why not become a priest?— to those who ask if their wife can attend a discernment weekend with them. We have to say no to a lot of people, but it doesn’t take much to say no charitably.

We also keep electronic files of names because people can come back years later. We put a sentence or two about each person to jog our memories. For instance, we took note of the guy who said if he joined, he’d get three meals a day and a place to sleep. It actually happened!

Beside the turndowns are people who are viable. We send them an appropriate email from our 34 form letters. If we haven’t heard back in three weeks, we send another email saying, “You might have received a lot of material at once, we just want to check in.” If they did get a lot all at once, now they get our email separately. After another three weeks without a response, we send a third and final email. My assistant in the vocation office, Father Jack Tierney, O.S.A. found us through VISION and did not reply until the third email. It does pay off.

Visits are also critical for us. I like to visit discerners on their territory and then invite them to come to us. And we always include our lay employees and associates, asking them to get to know these discerners.

Involve your community

My final piece of advice is to not do this ministry alone. Have members of your community to support you in prayer and presence. Let’s invite young people into our homes for prayer, fellowship, and some good food. We need to be present to them and actively engage in their life journeys. They need to know we care before they will care what we know. Walk with them and enjoy getting to know their stories.

These are simply a few thoughts based on how I’ve learned and changed in this ministry. I don’t know it all, and that’s why we need to talk to and learn from each other. Young people are restless for meaning and purpose, and we in religious life have wisdom and a way of life to share. Let’s discern, go forth, and minister.

Further reading

“Our vocation culture project,” by Father Tom McCarthy, O.S.A., HORIZON, Fall 2018.

Father Tom McCarthy, O.S.A. is the vocation director for the Augustinian Midwest Province. In addition he is director of St. Rita of Cascia Shrine Chapel in Chicago and prior of the Pre-Novitiate Community of St. Clare of Montefalco Friary in Chicago. He serves, too, as a papal Missionary of Mercy.

During two decades as vocation director, Sister Donna Del Santo, S.S.J. has led her community to new places by always listening to young people and the needs they express. With a team of members she has formed over the years, the sisters continuously ask how they might respond. The result has been to open their doors ever wider, finding creative, meaningful ways to connect with young people who very much want to learn from the sisters about prayer, service, and life direction. This article is based on Del Santo’s presentation for the NRVC webinar, “Using all avenues to support vocation ministry.” Find the hour-long webinar, which includes two presentations and a live Q&A, at nrvc.net/webinars.

The following words of Father Pedro Arrupe, S.J. are core to who I am as a woman religious and core to who I am as a vocation director because this life is a wonderful love story, one in which we love and serve God, and love and serve our neighbor.

Nothing is more practical than finding God,
that is, falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination,
will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you will do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read,
who you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

 I believe what people are seeking from us is guidance on how to live a loving and meaningful life rooted in God. However, today’s youth and young adults have little opportunity to get to know us because we have fewer members than in the past, and we no longer are in the places we once served, such as schools. Thus, a big part of our work is what I call loitering with intent. We need to ask ourselves: How are we present in places where youth and young adults gather?

Team approach, in person and online

I have a team of 10 other Sisters of Saint Joseph called the Vocation Think Tank. This is a group of sisters who, one-by-one, I have taken with me to the NRVC convocation where they all got turned on to vocation ministry, and now we minister together. They are counselors, members of our leadership team, a surgeon, teachers, and spiritual directors. They, too, are in love with our life and want to share it with others.

They and other sisters spend time with young adults in a variety of settings. For example, I volunteer in campus ministry at our former college, assisting with music at Mass and going on service trips with the students. In addition, my local community invites students to our home for what we call a Mass and a Meal, working closely with the campus minister (who, by the way, is a wonderful cook. I always sign up to cook when he does!). We can have up to 20 students in our chapel for Mass, which we follow with dinner together. After suspending Mass and a Meal during COVID-19, we just resumed them in February and had a great response.

The pandemic has shown us that being present doesn’t always mean being physically in the same place. We’ve been doing Busy Person Retreats for many years on college campuses throughout our region. Under COVID-19, we discovered that doing things online expanded our reach to places too far for us to drive to. As a result, we’ve expanded our outreach to colleges further away because we can visit with our students one-on-one online. This positive experience prompted us to offer an online retreat series exclusively for young women. In spring 2021, we created an online series on the Year of Joseph. Later, in light of our Ignatian spirituality, we presented an online, four-part series called “Finding God in all things.”

We’ve had up to 28 participants in our online retreats, and only three were from our Rochester, New York area. The rest came from across the U.S. and Canada. We would never have met them if we had limited ourselves to retreats done live and in person.

Living with young people

I live in a community that has welcomed over 1,000 youth and young adults into our home over the last 25 years through the SSJ Volunteer Corps. In addition, we welcome young adults who wish to live in an intentional community, and we are now welcoming college students who are housing and food insecure to live with us. These young people come for different reasons, yet, what they hold in common is they all agree to live life with us, sharing prayer, food, chores, conversation, and more. They get to see us up close and personal—and to be quite honest, having them in community with us helps us to be the best Sisters of Saint Joseph possible because we strive to be our better selves. This endeavor is not about age, as we range from age 67 to 92, and our oldest sister is the one young people often are most attached to. First and foremost, this ministry is one of presence, encounter, and invitation into the spaces where we live and carry out our daily lives.

If we look at the summary statements from the Bishop’s Synod on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment, we will find a road map on how to reach out, support, and invite youth and young adults to our lives.
The synod made clear that we need to:

• Be a listening church.

• Recognize the gift of youth to the church and the world.

• Recognize the mystery of each person’s vocation.

• Mentor youth in the art of discernment.

• Walk together in daily life.

We will see some of these elements in the key findings of NRVC’s 2020 Study on Recent Vocations. For example, there is an endless call to women and men to say yes to religious life. Yet even before that yes, there is a call to live a meaningful, authentic life, and unless we have encounters with youth, and let them get to know us in a real way, they will never develop a call to religious life.
The respondents to the 2020 NRVC study stated they were drawn to religious life by prayer, spirituality, charism, community life, and mission. By offering young adults hospitality in our homes and ministries, they have an opportunity to experience us up close and personally.

Study respondents also stated they are looking for cultural diversity and embrace intercultural and intergenerational living. So don’t be afraid of your age; it’s the vitality of our lives they are attracted to. Additionally, we need to ask: Who is not at our table who may not look like us? How are they experiencing our welcome?

Those who consider religious life are looking for a lifestyle that is committed to simple living in solidarity with those who are poor, and, I might add, solidarity with creation. What is our community life like, and how are we living a life that speaks to this desire?

Newer members have abundant hope for religious life. How are we living our lives? Are we full of hope for this life as well?

These ideas lead us back to the question: how do we meet the desires of those who seek us because of how we embrace and live our consecrated lives?

Again, I repeat the ways we Sisters of St. Joseph have tried to connect with young people who are seeking to know their call in life:

• Loiter with intent.

• Invite our community members to NRVC workshops and events.

• Spend time with young adults.

• Welcome young people into our home for a community experience, and welcome them to join us in ministry.

• Use online tools to connect.

• Remember that this is a ministry of presence, encounter, and invitation.

Let’s return to the guidance found in the words of Father Arrupe:

Nothing is more practical than finding God,
that is, falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.
Fall in love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

Sister Donna Del Santo, S.S.J. has been a member of Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester since 1992 and has served as her congregation’s director of vocations since 2003. Much of her work has focused on creating a culture of vocation in which it is easy to ask, “What does God want, and what do the church and the world need from me?”

The two keynoters who will reflect on "Call Beyond Borders" at the NRVC convocation November 3-6 will speak from deep expertise in Scripture and the wisdom of their own lived experience as members of religious communities. 

Sister Barbara Reid, O.P. belongs to the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids and is president of Catholic Theological Union. She is also the Carroll Stuhlmueller, C.P., Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies and the author of 12 books.

Father vănThanh Nguyễn, S.V.D., is a missionary priest of the Society of the Divine Word and has served on the Catholic Theological Union faculty since 2005. He is a professor of New Testament studies and the holder of the Francis X. Ford, M.M., Chair of Catholic Missiology.

Learn more about other activities and professional development to be offered at the 2022 NRVC convocation, which will be held in Spokane, Washington.

Read more...

hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Member Area

Wyatt Olivas, a youth minister and music education student at the University of Wyoming, will join the NRVC on opening night of the convocation, October 31, to share reflections on the theme of "Walking Humbly Together." Olivas will be coming to the convocation shortly after serving as the youngest voting member of the Synod on Synodality in Rome. Olivas serves as youth minister at St. Paul’s Newman Center in Laramie, Wyoming and grew up with parents who served as parish confirmation ministers.

 Beaverton, OR

Short-term volunteer stints have proven to be a good way for Sister Jenny Wilson, R.S.M. to get to know  women who might consider religious life. Building a relationship with those in discernment is key, she says.

Wilson is a vocation minister for the New Membership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. She also serves as the Hudson Valley Member Area coordinator. She is now in her third year of vocation ministry. Previously she taught theology at Mount Mercy Academy in Buffalo, New York.  Read more...

Short-term volunteer stints have proven to be a good way for Sister Jenny Wilson, R.S.M. to get to know  women who might consider religious life. Building a relationship with people is key, she says, and the volunteer experience allows time for that.  Read more...

NRVC members gathered in early November in Minneapolis for our 19th biennial convocation, with a theme of "Walking Humbly Together."  The board and staff extend gratitude to members, liturgical leaders, music ministers, presiders, presenters, exhibitors, event sponsors, and Nix Conference and Meeting Management staff, for coming together to galvanize our 2024 theme of walking humbly together! 

Congratulations to the following people for their contributions to vocation ministry. On November 3, at the start of National Vocation Awareness Week (November 3-9), the NRVC board will bestow the following awards for outstanding service in vocation ministry.

• Mustard Seed Award University of Mary Vocations Jamboree, Saint John Paul II Center for University Ministry, Ms. Emma Thorp
• Outstanding Service Awards Mr. Greg Darr, Brother David Henley, G.H.M., Sister Lisa Laguna, D.C.
• Harvest Award National Conference of Vicars for Religious, Sister Maryann Seton Lopiccolo, S.C.
• Lifetime Member Awards Ms. Marge Argyelan, Sister Josita Colbert, S.N.D.deN.

Share convocation messages with your community

The Winter edition of HORIZON, due out in February, will carry the text of several convocation speakers. In 2025, two presentations will also be available on video. Follow this newsletter or the NRVC news column for updates.

Evaluation

Evaluations are still being accepted. Turn in yours today to help the NRVC optimize the convocation experience.

View & download convocation photos

See convocation photos on our NRVC Flickr page.

NRVC apparel

Shirts, sweaters, and more with the NRVC logo and convocation logo are available for order here. The NRVC does not profit from these sales, but it appreciates that this apparel helps promote a vocational message.

How will you and your community be celebrating Jubilee Year 2025? Pope Francis has declared 2025 a Jubilee Year with the theme "Pilgrims of Hope." Check out the NRVC site,  JubileeYear2025.org to learn more. 

Note that The Jubilee Year of Consecrated Life is a section of the site dedicated to a Jubilee that religious communities worldwide are commemorating during the 2025 Jubilee Year. On October 8-9, 2025 religious communities will celebrate a type of "jubilee within a jubilee," noting ways that religious are "Pilgrims of hope, on the way of peace."

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate recently released a study about the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement (VEYM), a popular organization among Catholic Vietnamese youth in the U.S. Learn why VEYM members often consider (and sometimes join) religious life. The full study is posted on nrvc.net.

Image from VISION's profile of NRVC member Father Duy Henry Bui Nguyen, S.C.J.

NRVC Recognition Award

At its September meeting, the NRVC board selected three members to receive the Recognition Award, which is given to members who have demonstrated outstanding service and leadership in vocation ministry:

• Mr. Greg Darr, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers vocation team member
• Brother David Henley, Glenmary Home Missioners former vocation director
• Sister Lisa Laguna, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent DePaul, Province of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton vocation director

Congratulations to each of them for their commitment and expertise in this important ministry. The awards will be given during the forthcoming NRVC convocation.

Mustard Seed Award

For the NRVC Mustard Seed Award—also to be given during the November convocation—the board selected the University of Mary Vocations Jamboree. This North Dakota annual event began in 2016. It is carried out through a partnership between the University of Mary, the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota,  Annunciation Monastery, and Assumption Abbey. The Vocations Jamboree is described by proponents as a “welcoming and dynamic vocation event.”

Details about the convocation, to take place October 31 through November 4 in Minneapolis, are at nrvc.net.

Convocation participants are asked to bring two photos or statues of their favorite patron saints for the opening prayer ritual and two mementos of people who have died. We will collectively display these items in the conference ballroom to focus our time and prayer together during the convocation.

“THERE IS NO SUCH THING as maintenance mode anymore. If you are not in mission mode, then you are in free fall mode.” I heard this said about religious life not long ago. While I do not remember much about the talk where I heard it, that sentence jumped out at me and gave me a great deal to reflect on. 

Many religious communities are currently in maintenance mode, that is, simply operating on autopilot, maintaining what has always been. Some may even be in free fall mode, not knowing what to do and spiraling out of control. Perhaps the free fall happens because of age, low energy, complacency, or simply because many are so involved in ministry that there is little time to think about what gives life to the community, what sustains our life, or how our life gives witness in a way that people will want to join us. If we are in maintenance mode, how does that impact our mission, and, more specifically, our charisms? How do we move from maintenance mode to full-on mission mode so that we do not end up in free fall? I think it has to do with the fire of our charisms.

In her address to our NRVC membership at our virtual Convocation 2020, Sister Addie Lorraine Walker, S.S.N.D., said: “When we rediscover the fire, young people will again be interested in joining us—they will flock to us!” 

The fire of our charism is what gives us reason to hope. Those that went before us responded to God so that hope was not diminished. When others look at us, what do they see? Do they see hopeful women and men who are on fire with the charism of our institute? When we look at ourselves, what do we see? I think the answer to why women and men are responding (or not) to our invitations to join us is found in the answer.

Perhaps it is too simplistic to think that our spirit is simply the answer alone. Many factors are at play. Still, there has to be a belief in the future of the community by the membership—from the sister or brother in the infirmary to the members of the leadership team. If members believe in their future, then the work of rediscovering the fire of the charism becomes easier, as does the task of moving from maintenance mode to full-mission mode and avoiding an out-of-control free fall to completion.

Reflecting on mission in light of charism, how can we be in full mission mode? The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life released a message for the World Day for Consecrated Life. It highlighted mission: 

“Mission is the oxygen of the Christian life: it invigorates and purifies it” (Pope Francis, General Audience, January 11, 2023).

To live mission in God’s way as consecrated persons, we need the breath of the Spirit, who oxygenates our consecration, who widens our tent, who does not allow the desire to go out and reach out to others to proclaim the Gospel fade or be eclipsed, who rekindles the missionary fire in us. He is the real protagonist of the mission and at the same time the one who maintains the freshness of our faith so that it does not wither away.

This day prompts us as consecrated persons to ask ourselves questions: do we powerfully and frequently invoke the Spirit and ask [the Spirit] to rekindle in our hearts a missionary fire, apostolic zeal, passion for Christ and for humanity? Are we impelled to “speak of what we have seen and heard” (1 John 1:3)? Do we feel a longing for Christ? Do we suffer and risk in harmony with his pastoral heart? Are we willing to “widen our tent,” to walk together? Above all, we ask ourselves: is it the Person of Jesus, his feelings, his compassion, that excites our hearts?

As we think about ways to involve membership in vocation promotion, we must ask ourselves if we are willing to allow the Holy Spirit rekindle the missionary fire of our charism in our hearts so that we may “speak of what we have seen and heard” (1 John 1:3), and also show it, so that others may be inspired to come and live our charism and mission with us. I believe that in order to get all of our members involved in vocation promotion, we have to ignite the fire of the original fervor of the charism that caused each of us to say YES!

Our communities have weathered many challenges and roadblocks from the time of our founding to the present. Yet we have survived because our consecrated life was born of the Spirit and we are guided by the Spirit of the Lord, and sustained, even in the midst of great hardships, by the Spirit’s steadfast hand. (Vita Consecrata 92) We survived because our members, filled with this same Spirit, continued in full mission mode with a joy that drew others to our life. 

In the words of Pope Francis, “Let us rather allow the Holy Spirit to animate us, and a sign of this is joy: the joy of observing, of walking within a rule of life; the joy of being led by the Spirit, never unyielding, never closed, always open to the voice of God that speaks, that opens, that leads us and invites us to go toward the horizon” (Pope Francis, World Day for Consecrated Life, 2014). It sometimes seems as if this joy that Pope Francis speaks about has withered and faded. Our call is to keep this joy alive by keeping the fire of our charism lit and shining brightly for all to see.

Living in mission mode takes us to the horizon of possibilities for a future filled with abundant hope. Someone once told me that for a community to have abundant hope, maybe start first with unwavering hope. Whatever words you use, the word hope is constant. This hope requires us to live in full mission mode as our rules and constitutions remind us. 

It is easy to come up with reasons why we do not promote vocations or why we feel uncomfortable talking to younger people about our life. Perhaps people feel as though no one would want to hear a story from someone old enough to be their grandmother or grandfather, great-grandmother, or in some cases, a great-great-grandmother! But that could not be farther from the truth. I have seen many older consecrated women and men completely win over a room full of high school or college students. The truth is that many are in awe of a life-long commitment to God and they want to hear the stories of our members no matter how old our sisters and brothers may be. This speaks to them of a life worth living, a life commitment that is still relevant and needed today.

As we look for ways to involve members in vocation ministry and to keep them involved, here are some ideas.

Create a Culture of Vocations 

Invite members to reflect your Rule of Life along with your constitutions using reflection questions and action steps that look at creating a culture of vocations in your congregation. The National Religious Vocation Conference has two excellent resources for this process: Culture of Vocations Assessment Tool for men, and Culture: Reflection to Action for women. These tools allow you to adapt and personalize them to reflect your own community.

Tell the story of your community 

Many times when we tell our story, our narrative is one of our members in the past. While it is important to reverence our past and share stories of those on whose shoulders we stand, it is also important to tell our current stories and celebrate our members today. To do this, I invite members to complete various sentences: “Because I am a Franciscan Friar, Sister of Charity, De LaSalle Christian Brother, etc…” “When I professed my first vows…” “When I celebrated my jubilee…” and so on. Give personal invitations to members to tell their vocation stories. The purpose is to be able to have information to tell the story of today, the current narrative. 

Declare A Year of Vocations 

Celebrate the current narrative of your congregation by using social media to share how your members completed the sentences above. Use their words, their stories, their smiles, and their laughter in quotes, pictures, and short videos to show others there is joy in our lives and specifically in our particular community. God has not given up on us and we have not given up on ourselves either. Invite leadership to mention vocations in their communications to the community, to sponsored institutions, in newsletters, in recorded messages. The more it is at the forefront of members’ minds, the more it becomes part of daily vocabulary, whether in prayer, in community, or in ministry. The goal is also to have associates, coworkers, students, board members, or anyone else with a connection to your community know that this is the Year of Vocations and we are all invited to actively participate in this most important work that continues to give life to our charism in the world. People desire to associate themselves with us—our lives, our charism, our ministry, our past and present. A year of vocations is a great way to invite them to be part of our future.

Encourage members during this year to pray, invite, and create. 

• PRAY  encourage members to be intentional in their personal and communal prayers for vocations. Some religious communities have a card with vocation intercessions for morning and evening prayer for each day of the week. Is there a congregational prayer for vocations that members can pray? 

• INVITE  NRVC has a great resource with the business cards that say, “You would make a great brother, sister, nun, or priest.” Some vocation directors have even personalized the cards, giving their community’s contact information. Ask each member to give a card to three people. This could be someone that the member interacts with who maybe has considered a church vocation, someone who has asked questions about being a religious, or someone who is active in faith activities. These cards could be a tool to generate a group of discerners.

• CREATE  Create a culture of vocations in your friaries, convents, houses, ministries, and parishes. Let others know that you are still here and your charism is still needed in our church and world. Studies show that newer members are hopeful even amid changing demographics and realities. How can each member collectively contribute to the narrative of hope and transformation? Who is willing to accompany the vocation director to events? How can our lifelong communal discernment and ongoing formation include reminders to promote our vocations and vows? Would your local community be willing to host a dinner for inquirers? 

As we say yes each day to God, we can also remind ourselves to say yes to being the light of our charism in the world—and to invite others to join us.

Hope is bold; it can look beyond personal convenience, the petty securities and compensations which limit our horizon, and it can open us up to grand ideals that make life more beautiful and worthwhile. Let us continue, then, to advance along the paths of hope!            ­—Fratelli Tutti, 55

It is easy to give up. It is a challenge to allow new ways of thinking and being to become the norm. If there is hope, if there is joy, then there is willingness to allow new life to grow from the established roots of the community. I see communities that are currently witnessing this new life. They believe enough in their charism and purpose that they are open to new life through new members. They were not threatened by it. This is a challenge not easily overcome, I know. It can be scary for members because of the change that is required. Allowing a new generation to nurture the charism of the community is causing a renewed interest and a renewed common life. Regardless, we find hope and joy in rediscovering the fire of our charism. People are taking notice! 

Related material

“Responsibilities of Community Members for Vocation Ministry,” handout at nrvc.net/products/show/104.

Brother Joseph Bach, O.F.M.Conv., is a Conventual Franciscan Friar from the Province of Our Lady of Consolation.  He has served in vocation and education ministry and now directs the Franciscan Outreach Ministry at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in San Antonio, Texas. Additionally, he is on the board of the National Religious Vocation Conference and chairs its cultural diversity committee.

I REMEMBER BEING APPOINTED promoter of vocations and simultaneously being assigned to the Provincial Care Center. This is the place where our elder brothers in assisted living find the special care they need as they complete their active ministries and take up a ministry of prayer and limited sacramental duties. Barely at the threshold of middle-age, I wondered: “Do they know something that I don’t know?! Are they trying to tell me something about this ministry and what it is going to do to me?” Later, the provincial explained that he was encouraging some younger brothers to come to the center so that the elderly friars would not feel “warehoused.” Hence at 40 years of age I became “junior” again and took up my place in the chapel with brothers double my age or more.

Now I realize the wisdom of letting people interested in our life glimpse the end at the beginning. I recall bringing a candidate to visit with the elderly friars. What the candidate, now a priest (Father DePorres Durham, O.P.), realized was that the men he was interacting with at the Provincial Care Center represented over 1,000 years of lived religious experience. He was touched by their cheerful sense of humor, perseverance, and lifelong fidelity—all of which he found contagious. He later admitted that he initially thought it was strange that his first invitation to a Dominican priory would be to visit the “retirement home.” In his words, “I just figured that you were a brand new vocation director and therefore very green.” But after spending a wonderful weekend with the faith-filled, joyful elderly religious, he thought that his vocation director was not so short-sighted after all!

In fact, my eldest brothers have now become a significant part of our vocations ministry. They are the “poster children” to those discerning for the order’s vitality, credibility, and continued flourishing.

In A Theology of Ministry, Dominican author, Thomas O’Meara, O.P. notes that: “New Testament ministry is not simply organization and work but the activity of the Spirit in coworkers.” This is a truth vocation directors need to remind themselves of again and again. From the very beginning of their term in the vocations office, they are exposed to various ministerial needs and opportunities in which they can collaborate with others. Vocation directors have the opportunity to learn right from the start what it means to be animated by the Holy Spirit so as to animate that Spirit in others for a ministry that in truth is a collective, not individual, charism. Recognizing and making vocations ministry a communal effort, in word and deed, goes to the heart of what is best in our Catholic tradition. The hearing of the call is legitimized when affirmed by the larger church community, and the invitation to answer that call follows naturally as a communal responsibility.

In everyone’s best interest

Entering into my seventh year as a vocation director, one of the most frequent and disconcerting questions other vocation directors asked me was: “How do you get your community interested in your province’s vocation ministry?” Too often the approach in some religious communities, according to those in charge of vocations, is an attitude of “total concern, no involvement” or “That’s your job.”

To my mind, communities that take themselves and their mission seriously should be eager to aid the vocation director in any way possible. If we truly don’t want to bring people in merely to turn off the lights (not the most attractive image), religious provinces and congregations have to take ownership of vocation ministry as not only a province-wide priority, but a communal stewardship they are entrusted with collectively. One person may be officially running the office with the overall responsibility for the direction of vocation ministry, but the entire community must be a part of recognizing the call in others and inviting them to courageously embrace it. To be fair, sometimes we vocation directors can treat the ministry like our own turf, and when we do, we limit its effectiveness significantly. Like other ministers, we have to step back from time to time to examine our professional posture and be sure we are leaving our egos at the door of the ministry’s needs.

“Doing more with less” makes sense here, but not from the perspective of the “less is more” adage. Rather it focuses our attention on the nontraditional “more” all around us in the natural constituencies who are stakeholders in the mission of our ministries. These people are natural partners in the effort for successful returns in our usually one-person operations. These stakeholders are first and foremost our own members, our “coworkers” in our particular corner of the vineyard. My oldest brothers at the Provincial Care Center are an example. A variety of other volunteers and lay persons are other constituents who have a stake in our work as Catholic religious, as those we directly serve or as those to whom we give an opportunity to help serve the larger mission. It may be a hackneyed metaphor at this point, but what comes to my mind with regard to effective vocations ministry is that “it takes a province.” The reality is there are people both within and beyond our communities who are true believers in our mission and who could play important roles in helping us carry out our vocations ministry, a ministry that acts for the larger mission at the heart of the church: calling all to participate in building the kingdom of God.

In Redemptoris Missio, John Paul II writes: “The Church’s mission consists in essentially offering people an opportunity not to ‘have more,’ but to ‘be more,’ by awakening their consciences to the Gospel [and thus] opening one’s eyes to the truth of one’s existence.” The same is true of vocation work; it gives everyone, not just the discerning candidate, the opportunity to “be more” in the mission to awaken consciences. A vocation ministry is never one person’s job, but the whole congregation acting as a microcosm of the church fulfilling its mission as a whole: calling, inviting, supporting those who take up the invitation. Inviting others to be coworkers with you in vocation ministry is not merely about leveraging your limited resources, but a recognition, quintessentially Catholic, that God speaks via the larger community, and likewise, the effort to invite into community should be communal.

Great! So how do we go about it? Let’s review some of the basics of vocation ministry (what I call “The Three C’s”) and then provide some suggestions for practical engagement of community members, laypersons, friends of the congregation and family.

Opportunities for action

Sometimes people ask, “Just what do vocation promoters do?” The question generally doesn’t make me nervous except when it is coming from my provincial! The daily work of a vocation office is essentially threefold, and here are the Three C’s: creating interest, cultivating interest, and closing on that interest. 

1) Creating interest

Creating interest in religious life does not mean creating a vocation! That’s the work of the Holy Spirit. What it does mean is making religious life visible as an option for living out of one’s vocation. This is true both in terms of your unique mission as an order and the structure of your vowed life that allows for the fulfillment of that mission.

Creating interest is about inviting potential candidates to come to know you through practical mediums, such as your website, your newsletter and printed information packets, VISION Vocation Guide Network, as well as through opportunities to meet with you, the promoter of vocations.

These opportunities present themselves, however, not only by e-mail, phone, and meetings with you, but in visits to your religious houses, houses of studies, or at encounters during regional vocation fairs, youth retreats, college campus ministry events, and local and national meetings of campus ministers, who often are the first to hear of a student’s vocational interest. Thus, the promoter of vocations will often attend meetings of groups that support the faith of young people in some way and that promote a climate for vocational discernment—groups such as the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) and the Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA). In all of these standard tasks of vocation directors, you can relinquish any concerns or assumptions about exclusive turf by involving a whole host of volunteers, especially community members, young and old, in formation and out of formation. Specifically this might occur if you try some of the following ideas.

Consider your other houses and ministry sites potential “branch offices” where prospective discerners could be identified and events or visits set up.

Ask those who truly believe in your community’s charism to be unofficial liaisons to the office, to meet with candidates near their geographical area, or simply be a person to personally represent your congregation. These true believers are not only from within your community but friends, benefactors, or discerners open to talking about their experience of your order’s impact on their lives.

Develop an EACH ONE REACH ONE campaign for your congregation or province and hold a raffle to include all those community members who turn in a sheet with a name and contact information of a potential candidate. Hold a campaign as well among your lay friends and volunteers.

Link your vocation website to the websites of all of your ministry sites, whether campus or parish ministries, schools or small not-for-profits where religious work.

Establish a speaker’s bureau composed of community members as well as a variety of volunteers to respond to requests for presentations at high schools and colleges, the local Knights of Columbus, Serra Clubs, and Parents Clubs.

2) Cultivating interest

Nurturing the interest that surfaces through e-mail, referrals from fellow religious or campus ministers, and phone calls or letters to the office is a matter of prompt response to inquirers, as well as attentiveness to the unique journey of the person discerning. Nurturing and nourishing anything starts with respectful and consistent attention and presence. But just as you can’t pressure a seed to grow without causing damage, you can’t and should not pressure a vocation. You can only give it all the light, food, and water it will take, as well as be available and present.

One way of cultivating interest in your community is to introduce religious life in a more direct way through semi-annual Come and See days or weekends. On these retreats, prospective candidates directly experience an  institute through a 24-hour (or longer) immersion into the community’s religious routine and ritual. They learn first-hand what religious life is like from members young and old.

Let those in formation help design and present the talks for the vocations weekend, peer talking to peer.

Consider a presentation by friends or benefactors of the congregation, highlighting the difference a young person can make today as a religious in your particular group.

Spread out individual stories and have them reflect each step of the decision-making process, i.e. “Why I applied to the Dominicans” given by someone in the application process; “Why I became a Dominican” given by a temporarily professed brother or sister; “Why I remain a Dominican,” given by a member in his or her 80s.

  Following the same logic as fundraising fundamentals, make “a move” a month for those seriously discerning your order and “a move” every several months for those interested, but in no hurry to make a decision. These “moves” can be a nice note with a book; a visit; an e-mail from someone your province has touched through ministry of one kind or another and is willing to share this with the seeker; or an invitation to attend a profession of vows ceremony. (A benefactor might underwrite the cost of attending the ceremony.)

Use calendar events such as Vocations Awareness Week and World Day of Prayer for Vocations to your full advantage. These are opportunities to showcase your congregation by having those in formation preach or give reflections at liturgy. Or you can invite volunteers within and beyond to participate in roundtables on vocations or vocation panels. Encourage friends and benefactors to hold and sponsor publicity events, and be sure to notify the local media.

3) Closing on interest

To “close” on interest in religious life after it has been created and cultivated is a matter of helping a candidate come to an informed decision one way or the other regarding the next step toward entering the community or not. This is important to communicate. I once heard it said somewhere that people who like to keep all the doors open spend their life in the hallway. You also cannot keep the door open to vocations stalled at the University of Perpetual Discernment. That drains your time and energy away from other priorities. There comes a point where people in discernment need to step up or step away, at least from active engagement until they are serious about coming to a decision.

Request a summer intern in the office from your house of formation and allow that person to follow up one-on-one with candidates. Give the intern solid speaking opportunities on behalf of vocations as well. That way you multiply the representative “voices” in your vocations ministry.

Develop a Parents Club especially for the parents of those in formation and provide a quarterly newsletter asking their support and help in “getting the word out” and sending names to you. The club could foster communication between parents and friars, especially those new to the order, share your traditions, and give parents an opportunity to better understand and participate in the work, not only of their child’s vocation but in encouraging other vocations through spiritual, moral, and financial support.

Determine what the obstacles are to a candidate’s moving forward and think broadly about who among your volunteers could be an effective bridge to a decision, whether it is to enter or not enter.

Finally, “if you build it, they will come.” In vocations ministry we deal with our own field of dreams: God’s dream realized in our congregations’ charisms and the dreams of candidates, community members, and volunteers to be part of something larger than themselves. If we build the kind of field in which everyone has a place to play and is a member of the team, they will come. All those who believe in you and what you are about will help. They will come and help you and your vocations ministry become larger than your own efforts. But the ministry has to truly welcome and be built around their participation, and they have to be invited onto the field sincerely and with real enthusiasm. At the end of the day, the call of the church is communal. Together, with a vast array of true believing volunteers, we can fulfill the promise that we are about in any vocations effort: “raising up men and women outstanding in holiness,” as this time-honored prayer from a Eucharistic preface captures so eloquently:

...all powerful and ever living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.

    You renew the church in every age by raising up men and women of outstanding holiness, living witnesses of your unchanging love.

    They inspire us by their heroic lives, and help us by their constant prayers to be the living sign of your saving power. We praise you, Lord, with all the angels and saints in their song of joy.

A version of this article appeared in HORIZON Spring 2009, Vol. 34, No. 3.

Father Andrew Carl Wisdom, O.P. is novice master for the Dominicans, Province of St. Albert the Great and  director of the Society for Vocational Support. A former vocation director, he is author of Tuning in to God’s Call (a vocational discernment book) and Make of Your Life a Gift: Letters of Gratitude.

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NRVC Member Areas

Please do not publish this information as it is for NRVC members only.

General member area information

Member Directory and interactive map

Delaware Valley

Next gathering: April 15, 2025 10:00 am via Zoom
June 13, 2025 
Candidate Assessment through the Lens of Interculturality workshop
Redeemer Health Spark Transformation Center, Huntingdon Valley, PA

Minutes from February 12, 2025

 Minutes from October 3, 2024, December 10, 2024

Minutes from January 23, 2023, March 2, 2023, June 5, 2023, August 29, 2023

Coordinators

Sister Michele Fisher, C.S.F.N. | sorellamichele@aol.com
Sister Anita Quigley, S.H.C.J. | quigley@shcj.org

Heartland

Next gathering: April 28-30, 2025 in St. Louis

Minutes from April 30-May 2, 2024

Minutes from May 11, 2023

Coordinators

Sister Réjane Cytacki, S.C.L. | rcytacki@scls.org
Ms. Michelle Horton | mhorton@sinsinawa.org

Hudson Valley

Next gathering: TBA

Minutes from May 6, 2024
Minutes from March 7, 2024
Minutes from October 28, 2023
Minutes from June 10, 2023
Minutes from April 25, 2023

Coordinators

                             Sister Gloria Agnes Ardenio, M.M. | gagnes@mksisters.org
Sister Jenny Wilson, R.S.M. | jwilson@sistersofmercy.org

Lake Erie/Ohio River

Next gathering: March 27, 2025, via Zoom

Minutes from May 9, 2024

Minutes from October 23-25, 2023

Minutes from February 23, 2023, May 8, 2023

Coordinators

 Sister Caryn Crook, O.S.F. | ccrook@sosf.org​ 
Mrs. Teri Iverson | tiverson@cppsadmin.org

Mid-Atlantic

Next event: May 8, 2025, Franciscan Friars, Washington DC
Presentation on Influences on Young Adults in Discernment

Minutes from April 30, 2024

Minutes from October 25, 2023

Minutes from May 17, 2023

Coordinators

Sister Jean Rhoades, DC | jean.rhoades@doc.org
Friar Emanuel Vasconcelos, OFM Conv. | friaremanuel@gmail.com

Midwest

Next gathering: October 18, 2025 
Candidate Assessment through the Lens of Interculturality workshop
Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Frankfort, IL

Minutes from May 13, 2024

Minutes from October 10, 2023

Minutes from May 11, 2023

Coordinators

Sister Heather Jean Foltz, O.S.B. | heatherfoltz@benedictine.com
Sister Jill Reuber, O.S.B.  | jreuber@thedome.org

New England

Next gathering: April 22-23, National Shrine of Our Lady of Lasalette, Attleboro, MA, program on Pilgrims of Hope 

Minutes from May 3, 2024

Minutes from November 28, 2023

Minutes from May 2, 2023

Coordinators

Mrs. Sandy Piwko  | sandy@assumptioncenter.org
Sister June Fitzgerald, O.P. | jfitzgerald@oppeace.org

Pacific Northwest

Next gathering: April 23-24, 2025, Beaverton, OR
retreat by Dr. Elaine Classen Park 

Minutes from April 30-May 2, 2024

Minutes from Planning Meeting, November 1, 2023

Minutes from April 21, 2023

 Coordinators

Sister Chero Chuma, C.S.J.P. | cherochuma@gmail.com
Sister Paz Vital, OSB | pvital@stplacid.org

Southeast

Next gathering: TBA

Minutes from January 23, 2025

Minutes from October 2, 2024

Minutes from November 28, 2023

Coordinators

Mrs. Renee Dee | lsvocationsoffice@gmail.com
vacant

Southwest

Next gathering: May 7, 2025,
Next gathering:: September 2, 2025 
Candidate Assessment through the Lens of Interculturality workshop
St. Mary's University, San Antonio TX

Minutes from September 17, 2024
Minutes from May 14, 2024

Minutes from March 28, 2023

Coordinators

Brother Mark Motz, SM | mmotz@marianist.us
Sister Kim Xuan Nguyen, CCVI | knguyen@ccvi-vdm.org

Upper Midwest

Next gathering: TBA

Minutes from September 24, 2024

Minutes from February 27, 2024

Minutes from October 31, 2023

Minutes from May 17, 2023

Coordinators

Sister Carmella Luke, OSB | cluke@yanktonbenedictines.org
Brother Larry Schatz, F.S.C. | lschatz@cbmidwest.org

West Coast

Next gathering: TBA

Minutes from October 3, 2024

Minutes from June 18, 2024

Minutes from November 28, 2023

Coordinators

Father Radmar Jao, SJ | UWEVocationDirector@jesuits.org
vacant

International Members

Next gathering: March 13, 2025, 9:30 am CT, AI in Vocation Ministry
and October 4, 2025, topic to be announced

Register for the Zoom link here.

Coordinators

Mrs. Margaret Cartwright  | info@vocationsireland.com
Sister Mary Rowell, CSJ | mrowell@csjcanada.org 

75 NRVC members live in Bangladesh, Belize, Canada, the Democratic Republic, Egypt, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, India, Ireland, Italy,  Kenya, Peru, Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, and Zambia. 

Register today to save $100 on attendance at our fall convocation in Minneapolis. Don’t delay—this gathering will be an inspiring, informative, enriching event for vocation ministers and those who support new membership to religious communities. To receive the $100 discount, you must register before October 1. Learn more.

Welcome to Sister Eileen McCann, C.S.J. and Brother John Skrodinsky, S.T., who are joining the NRVC board. Farewell to departing board members Nancy Costello and Sister Mary Yun, O.P. The new NRVC board members begin their terms with the September meeting. Departing members will attend their final board meeting in September. We extend thanks to all of them for their commitment to vocation ministry. 

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate recently published its annual Entrance Class Report, providing important information about those who began formation with a religious community in 2023. The report tells the demographics, reasons for entering, and more about the 153 men and 126 women who entered religious life in 2023.

A total of 99 religious institutes in the United States had at least one person enter initial formation as postulant or candidate. The majority of entrants were born in the United States, with 18 percent born in another country. About one quarter of them speak two languages fluently. Seventeen percent earned a master’s degree before entering religious life.

Starting a conversation about their vocation discernment was easy for about half of the newer entrants (63 percent for men and 42 percent for women).

Contact with institute members continues to be the most significant factor in discerning a calling to religious life. The spirituality and example of members of the institutes attracted 91 percent of newer entrants to their religious institute. Learn more here.

This month's NRVC treasure is the Bold and Faithful Storymap. If your community is not on this specialized website, please make sure it is.  Find the map here: tinyurl.com/Bold-and-Faithful-storymap. Scroll down until you get to a map. Instructions appear just below the map for adding a ministry site or community residence. You are assisting discerners and supporters of religious life by helping make this resource as comprehensive as possible.

Gerard Gallagher, executive director of the Association of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland, recently addressed the International Member Area. His talk on Christus Vivit, "Takeaways from Christus Vivit through the Lens of Vocation Ministry," can be viewed on the NRVC YouTube channel. Consider watching this 32-minute video with your community, vocation team, or discerners. Perhaps your group would want to re-read Christus Vivit prior to viewing; or review selected quotes. 

The NRVC is searching for a director of communications to join its national office leadership team. A primary aspect of the job will be to edit and produce the award-winning journal, HORIZON, as Carol Schuck Scheiber, publications editor, will be retiring in July 2025. Members and friends are encouraged to spread the word. Details about the position and how to apply are at nrvc.net.

AT THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS VOCATION CONFERENCE, we specialize in vocation ministry with confidence that God continues to call women and men to holiness. Ours is a ministry of active listening, of helping people to hear and respond to God’s endless call. Over the past two decades, I have come to believe vocation ministry is both timeless and desperately needed in a world filled with brokenness and beauty. Just as people dedicate their lives to ending food insecurity, generational poverty, human trafficking, and illiteracy, vocation ministers are missioned to accompany women and men who seek a deeper relationship with God and humanity, who are searching for meaningful service, and look to us to provide direction on how to respond to God’s call. 

Walking with discerners

Vocation ministry beckons us to hear God’s voice throughout our lives, not just once in vocation discernment. God’s call is precious and sacred in a world filled with digital devices and automated voices like Alexa and Siri. Vocation ministry asks each of us to pay attention to our own story of call to be able to invite others to follow the Risen Christ. Hearing and responding to God’s call requires a lifelong attentiveness to the voice of God. Pope Francis elaborates in Christus Vivit (257), “Your vocation inspires you to bring out the best in yourself for the glory of God and the good of others. It is not simply a matter of doing things, but of doing them with meaning and direction.” In an age of constant app alerts and instant technology, we can forget the sound of God’s timeless voice. When we get too busy, we can gradually lose our desire to dream, to hope, and to invite others to be with us. Yet, our very vocation is a living reminder to each generation to work for justice, build community, and listen to God’s dream for us, for our community, for the church, and the world. 

In our North American culture, which stresses achievement and growth, vocation ministers must counter the narrative that equates numbers of applicants with success or failure. Yet numbers can ground us to face fierce realities about changing demographics for all vocations, institutions, and organizations. The NRVC-CARA Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life asserts that religious life is a vivid story of emergence and transformation. The grace of perseverance is not a cliché. The study shows that our newest members often see the oldest members as role models. It further reveals that the diversity of women and men religious is one of the hallmarks of consecrated life. With varying spiritualities, missions, and charisms, the incentive to promote vocations is a belief that the charism of a religious institute is relevant in the 21st century and that new members want to enter religious life even as it continues to evolve.

Although the NRVC challenges the notion that the number of new members is the way a community should evaluate vocation ministry, the aggregate numbers for the United States are telling a positive story that we don’t want to miss. Since the start of the global pandemic in 2020, over 1,500 (1,554) women and men have entered religious life. The number of entrants increased from 279 in 2023 to 362 in 2024 (a 30 percent increase!). Newer entrants began initial formation in 123 religious institutes in 2024. 

In addition to the many people who have entered religious life, we can also take heart in those who have stayed with it all the way through final vows. The “Profession Class of 2024 Report” by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (the most recent available) indicates that in 2024, 194 women and men made perpetual profession, 50 more than the previous year! Since the pandemic shutdown and shelter in place in 2020, we can collectively celebrate that 860 women and men professed final vows. 

Of course, we can focus on how many religious institutes did not have someone enter, but vocation ministry reminds us to collaborate, not compete, for entrants. Most seasoned or former vocation directors can recall discerners who decided to enter a different community for a variety of reasons. Most will also recall discerners who moved forward to choose the beautiful vocation of being single or married. Accompanying discerners to make informed decisions is always a success and never a failure on the part of the vocation director and community. 

Animating the community beyond statistics

Although I’ve just presented important numerical facts, this constant counting of entrants and vowed members can easily reduce us to data points with anticipated expiration dates that miss the narrative of a lifetime commitment to vowed communal life. Religious life has been changing since it started, and transformation is never complete. We have built and closed missions; we have started ministries and let them go, and, yes, many of us have attended more funerals than professions. In workshops and publications over the past 50 years, religious are told repeatedly that religious life is diminishing, and now the narrative is that religious life is coming to completion. At the same time, these words are not used for the vocations to marriage and the priesthood, both of which are also experiencing declines. Sometimes we can get stuck using phrases that paralyze our minds and limit our invitations instead of cultivating what is possible. 

Let me compare two common phrases: The “diminishment of religious life” and the “shortage of priests.” With all due respect to our ordained priests, I have not heard the phrase, “the diminishment of the priesthood.” I hear about the “severe shortage of priests,” which implies a collective urgent request to involve everyone. In reality, the number of priests has not increased, but no one is talking about the completion of the priesthood. 

Who would ever consider telling an engaged couple to reconsider marrying because Catholic marriages are coming to completion? Catholic marriages have declined 63 percent in the past 30 years. Pope Francis wrote in Christus Vivit, (44) that “[Mary’s yes] was the “yes” of someone prepared to be committed, someone willing to take a risk, ready to stake everything she had, with no security than the certainty of knowing that she was a bearer of a promise.” Today’s applicants to religious life, like Mary, are willing to take a risk, ready to stake everything they have on a future that will be as uncertain as their friends who are walking down the aisle in a Catholic church to be married. When we see a broader picture of how words and phrases affect our mindset, isn’t a narrative of emergence and transformation more fitting for religious life? 

Member involvement—and fears that hold them back 

Vocation directors are steeped in skills of accompaniment, assessment, and application. Yet, one of the most difficult responsibilities is to animate members of the community to assist in vocation ministry. What members do matters! Members should never underestimate the power of their prayer with inquirers, the impact of their invitations, and the value of their encouragement. When a member invites a person to consider a vocation to religious life, that person is twice as likely to consider it as compared to someone who never receives such an invitation. And when three different people invite someone to consider religious life, a person is five times more likely to consider it.

Fears related to inviting and accepting new members seem to fall into the following categories.

Community age and size

In recent years, some religious have been sounding the alarm about whether it is ethical to accept new entrants based on the median age of the community, the size of the religious institute, and the ability to welcome new members. The 2024 CARA report on new entrants shows that 16 percent of major superiors say that their religious institute no longer accepts new entrants (115 out of 723).
Some say the young will not have anyone to relate to, and yet of those who entered religious life between 2003-2018, only 16 percent stated that the age of members influenced them “very much” (other factors like charism and community life were much more influential). Likewise, the majority of newer entrants are not influenced by the size of the religious institute. Only 11 percent said the size of the institute “very much” influenced their decision. (These last two points about age and size come from the 2020 NRVC-CARA Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life.)

The CARA Profession Class of 2024 report backs up this data about the size of a community not being a major factor. It indicates that among the institutes with perpetual professions in 2024, three in 10 (31 percent) have fewer than 50 professed members, four in 10 (42 percent) have 51-150 professed members, and just three in 10 (27 percent) have more than 151 professed members. 

Quality of communal life

The more disconcerting reason to not accept new entrants is inadequate community life to welcome new entrants. Vowed communal life is the distinguishing factor of our vocation. If there are not enough households with quality community life for new entrants, perhaps the priority needs to be improving community life for those living it now, rather than using that issue as the reason to no longer accept new members.

A reality check is helpful, too. Think back to your own experiences of initial formation. Was it paradise, a genuine utopia of welcome from everyone? Ask anyone who entered religious life, and you are bound to hear real and exaggerated tales of formation. While most of us either thrived or survived initial formation, we are charitable enough to forgive the people who hurt us with their unconscious biases, inappropriate behavior, or poor hospitality. All of us can also remember members who genuinely cared, faithfully nurtured, and authentically formed us despite any oddities we endured. Our communal life flaws do not have to become our reason for not accepting new members, especially given the collaborative formation programs across congregations. 

New members enter alone

Entering alone or with a few others has been common for the past 50 years. It is not a new concern. Talk to current golden jubilarians, and you may well hear stories of coming alone or being among the few who stayed. Discerners are more likely to experience jubilees than professions as an entry point for meeting members of religious institutes. They can see us as we are—smaller and older—yet can still decide to come if our door is open. The majority of new entrants are already networking across congregations at vocation discernment events before they enter. Many attend intercommunity formation programs, and they network across congregations in ministries after profession. 

Downsizing properties

Some communities feel it’s wrong to accept new members while they focus on downsizing properties. However, newer members are less stressed than their older counterparts about right-sizing buildings because most had to dispose of significant belongings like cars, homes, and financial investments before entering. Older members had to purchase items to fill their trunks at entrance, accumulated belongings over the years, and witnessed the growth of community buildings. 

We do need to resize our properties and simplify our belongings, yet we can become so preoccupied with planning for an emerging future that we can forget to be attentive to young people who are searching for a meaningful way of life. Our charism may be what they seek.

Let’s take risks for the ministry

Vocation ministry is a ministry; it is not a sales job with a quota. No one can be forced or pressured to complete an application for entrance to religious life. Canon 219 in the Code of Canon Law states, “All the Christian faithful have the right to be free from any kind of coercion in choosing a state of life.” Vocation directors understand through canon law and the NRVC Code of Ethics, that theirs is a ministry of invitation, not manipulation. 

What if the easiest answer is to no longer accept new entrants? What if you have the audacity to accept new entrants? We all know valiant community members who stay active in ministries beyond the typical retirement age because they have a passion for it, the physical ability to engage in it, and a capacity to serve. As with any serious discernment about continuing a ministry, a community considering letting go of vocation ministry and ceasing to accept new members will want to ask itself important questions. Here are four significant questions for a community in these circumstances.

1. Do you believe God is still calling women and men to holiness? If not, stop accepting new members.

2. Does your congregation believe in religious life for the future and the relevance of your charism? If not, stop accepting new members.

3. Is there at least one member willing to be a vocation minister on a part-time basis? If not, can the congregation either partner with a community that has a similar charism or hire a vocation director? If not, stop accepting new members.

4. If there is at least one member willing to be a vocation minister, or if the community can hire one or partner with another community, why not be open to new entrants? 

When communities make the decision to end vocation ministry for their religious institute, one less person is available to be present with young people. One less person with ministry skills is able to assist those discerning God’s call. As mentioned earlier in this article, counting members and ages to determine whether to accept new members is not helpful because newer entrants are less influenced by size or age than by other qualities. They are attracted to the charism, community life, prayer life, Gospel values, form of living the vows, and the vitality of members. Seeing vocation ministry as a ministry reminds us it is never about our numbers. A response to the call to religious life is neither hollow nor ridiculous. Religious life is about our continuous response to God’s endless call.

Accompany young people into the future 

Vocation ministry is focused on accompanying the next generation of Catholics in discerning their response to God’s call, regardless of the path they choose. Vocation is a mystery and a gift, for it is God who calls and we who invite. This involves risking hope because our invitations can be ignored, dismissed, and minimized in a culture that finds it difficult to pause and ponder. Perhaps vocation ministers see with a different lens because they are immersed in relationships with young people who are searching for significance, representation, and purpose. Vocation ministry invites every member to be intentional about making invitations, to participate in the events and activities of vocation ministry without expecting to acquire a list of contact information from inquirers.

In the United States, the average age a person first considers a vocation to religious life is 18. The average age of entrance—and of marriage—is 28. This means today’s discerner was born in 2007 and only knows who we are today, not who we were in 1980 or 2000. The majority of discerners take at least one year to discern; 35 percent take more than two years. During this time, who is praying for them, inviting them, encouraging them? Most come without being steeped in Catholicism or religious life, so they ask questions out of curiosity. We know that the information they seek can be easily accessed on their many devices. Toddlers are using tablets before they can say complete sentences, and they learn to swipe before they can read. For young people, conversation by phone or in person may cause anxiety, so patience is necessary. The upside is that young adults are searching to belong and be connected beyond a screen, but some struggle with the lost art of small talk and introductions.

God is still calling women and men to holiness, so how are we encouraging them before and after they enter? Over the years, without steady entrances into our communities, we can become discouraged and weary, yet none of us answered a call to complacency. Vocation ministry is less about creating programs and events than about building relationships. Vocation directors cannot be lone rangers, rather they need the community. 

The NRVC’s research indicates that newer members rank “meeting with members” of the institute as the most helpful action in their discernment process—more than talking with their pastors or using websites or social media. Likewise, the “example of members” is more influential than the ministries of the religious institutes. Certainly, advertising, social media, discernment events, and talks with parish personnel help discerners connect initially with community members, but once connections are made, positive interactions with members are essential. During initial discernment, newer entrants received the most encouragement from members of their institute, their vocation director or team, and their spiritual director. 

At the 2024 NRVC convocation, members and guests gathered from various religious institutes to share the deep rewards and inevitable difficulties in vocation ministry. Among the many conversations, one caught my attention: a vocation director congratulated someone in a different community on their recent profession, asking to see their profession ring. I smiled at their shared delight. We really do celebrate each other’s new members. Here was vocation ministry at its finest. 

Take a closer look at your profession ring. This poignant symbol reminds us of our public profession of vows. Similar to a wedding ring, a profession ring is circular, symbolizing connection, community, and unity. It has no beginning or ending but encompasses both what is ending and what is emerging. While we may retire from ministry, this unending circle suggests that our vows are meant to be lived until our last breath. 

Thus, regardless of age or year in profession, we are meant to be a living advertisement for religious life, not with a fake joy but with vitality in how we live the charism, engage in community, pray, and minister. Vocation ministers remind the world that God’s call is endless. The impact of our ministry goes beyond our religious institutes and provinces to the entire church and the life of the world. 

Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. belongs to the Sister of Saints Cyril and Methodius. She has served in vocation ministry for more than 20 years and has been part of the National Religious Vocation Conference  team since 2011. She currently serves as NRVC’s  director of mission integration.
 

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We are excited to announce that our Summer Institute participants have chosen a Convocation logo to beautifully complement our inspiring theme selected by the National Board: Bearers of Hope/Portadores de Esperanza/Sứ Giả Hy Vọng. Join us as we celebrate this spirit of hope together! Mark your calendars to attend Convocation in Orlando, Florida, next year, November 19-23, 2026!

Plans are underway to select presenters, and many levels of sponsorship are available. We kindly encourage you to consider supporting the NRVC as we continue to create a culture of encounter and accompaniment that showcases the vitality of religious life throughout the year.

We welcome your support and questions by contacting Sister Debbie at debbiesscm@nrvc.net.

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YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY CARRY a quiet but undeniable longing: they want to be heard. The world around them is loud—filled with screens demanding their attention, institutions that have let them down, and a culture moving too fast to notice their stories. They aren’t asking for quick fixes or perfect answers. They want someone to sit with them, take them seriously, and listen as they wrestle with doubts and share their dreams.

This longing is not a challenge to ministry—it is the starting point. The church, particularly through the lens of synodality, has made clear that listening isn’t just part of its mission. It is the mission. Pope Francis describes synodality as a way of walking together in dialogue, with an openness to hear how the Holy Spirit speaks through each person. Listening isn’t just where the journey starts; it is the path itself, and this is particularly true for ministry with young people. 

This vision lies at the heart of Listen, Teach, Send (LTS), the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ new framework for youth and young adult ministry. The authors of LTS didn’t make listening the first step by accident—they made it the foundation. If we don’t listen, nothing else we do will matter. Before we teach, before we send, we have to stop and listen.

We have spent years exploring the transformative power of listening in ministry and founded Future of Faith to help dig even deeper into the connection between listening and faith formation. Our research reveals a single truth: listening is not just a step in the process—it is the process itself. It isn’t the way to gain trust to tell the truth. It is the way the truth is revealed to people in their own hearts. 

Last year, we set out to try to understand the exact role that listening plays in a young person’s faith formation. In research that is central to our mission at Future of Faith, we began by surveying over 1,000 people using a nationally representative sample, and what we found was astonishing. 

We’ll explore some of the findings from that study below, but pause here and consider these top-level effects of listening for young people 18-25:

•    85 percent agreed that when someone listens attentively, it makes them more likely to engage in meaningful conversations in the future.
•    77 percent agreed that when someone listens without judgment, they feel more connected.
•    70 percent said that when they feel listened to in a conversation about faith or spirituality, it makes them more likely to be open about those topics in the future.
•    72 percent indicated that being listened to helps them process doubt, disillusionment, and grief.
•    68 percent said being listened to deepens their faith.

When young people feel heard, they open the doors to their hearts, making space for authentic relationships and spiritual growth. It is not a stretch to conclude that listening changes everything.

Unfortunately, church and religious settings are not where young people feel listened to. When we asked them to list their top places where they feel heard, only 26% of self-identified religious teenagers selected “faith community (e.g., church)” as among their top three.  

This mismatch between the importance of listening and the frequency with which it occurs in religious settings means that Listen, Teach, Send couldn’t be more timely and vital for the future of the church and, more importantly, for the future of our young people.

During our time at the National Catholic Educational Association, Lincoln Snyder, former president and CEO, often reminded us, “You cannot catechize somebody who hasn’t been evangelized.” This is where we find ourselves with many young people today. The church has strong systems for catechesis, but many young people have not been introduced to the foundations of faith. They grow up in households embedded in a culture that is often disconnected from the transformative power of religion and belief. Many of them only know religion based on what they see on social media, movies, and television. They have never experienced the transformative love of Jesus. Listening is our starting point for everything. It is the way we evangelize—by meeting young people where they are and accompanying them in love.   

The decline of institutional trust and the need for new pathways

Young adults are navigating a world where trust in traditional institutions—including religious ones—has significantly eroded, with most, including religion, at or near all-time lows. Surveys reveal that younger generations are far less likely than previous ones to trust established institutions and their leaders, citing reasons such as perceived hypocrisy, scandals, and a culture of institutional failures. The church is no exception to this trend, as many young people see it as disconnected from their lived experiences.

While institutional trust has declined, relational trust remains a powerful force. Young people may hesitate to trust the church as an institution, but they often place immense trust in individuals who take the time to know them personally. In our study, over 68% of young adults (18-25 years old) have high levels of trust in people they know personally and low levels of trust for large organizations (20%) and their leaders (31%). This shift from institutional authority to relational credibility presents a challenge for churches and other religious groups.

Many of the standard ways of doing ministry were developed on the assumption that people trusted religious organizations and leaders. This was true as recently as the 1950s and 1960s, when institutional trust was high. In that environment, it made sense to lead with institutional markers such as titles, expertise, large campuses, and central authority.  

In our modern, low-trust world, these approaches are not as effective.  The more we lean into our institutional identities and markers, the less influence we gain among people skeptical of us and the institutions we work in. To regain trust with generations where it has been lost or was never present, we need to lean more into relational approaches rooted in the transformative power of listening.

For young people, trust does not come from titles or roles. It is earned in the quiet moments of being with another person, fully present and fully attentive. Today’s young adults trust relationships far more than institutions. They look for leaders who care about them as people, not projects.   

This approach mirrors the ministry of Jesus, who did not demand trust based on his authority but earned it through personal encounters. From healing the blind man to dining with Zacchaeus, Jesus built trust by listening to people’s deepest needs and showing them that they mattered. Just as God listens to our prayers and accompanies us through joys and struggles, the social science indicates that ministers in the modern era would do well to embody that same patience and presence. Listening becomes an act of participating in God’s work. 

A theology of listening

Listening might sound simple, but its effects are profound. Pope Francis describes listening as “an act of love,” a posture that transforms the listener and the one being heard. The theological roots of this approach run deep. In every young person, we see the Imago Dei—the image of God. Listening becomes a sacred act of recognizing their inherent dignity and worth. It’s no wonder, then, that listening resonates so strongly with today’s young people when so many “voices” in their lives try to convince them of their worthlessness daily. 

Although we are social scientists at Future of Faith, we believe that starting from this fundamental theological position of Imago Dei is critical. If we begin with the assumption that every opportunity to interact with a young person is a chance to encounter the presence of the divine, then it makes it much easier to be interested when your kid talks to you about Minecraft for 20 minutes straight (okay, we may be speaking from personal experience here!). The theological posture of Imago Dei reminds us of how transformative it can be simply to sit and listen to the divine in one another. This foundation is at the core of the synodal process. Synodality calls the church to rediscover its role as a community that listens. As articulated in the preparatory documents for the Synod on Synodality, “Listening is the first step, but it requires having an open mind and heart, without prejudice.” LTS echoes this, urging ministers to embrace listening as a transformative act of evangelization and accompaniment. This call for listening relies on the basic agreement that other people are worth listening to, and Imago Dei helps to remind us of this basic truth.  

Sacred listening: a path forward

However, despite calls from religious leaders, helpful theological positions, and fancy surveys, true listening is not easy. At Future of Faith, we have come to understand that listening is a skill, not a passive act, and that when done correctly and with intention, it can be sacred work. 

With this in mind, we have developed an approach to listening that is both rooted in a particular interaction and scalable to support entire ministries of listening. We call this Sacred Listening. Sacred Listening builds on three core principles: intentional presence, alignment with the speaker’s needs, and pattern recognition. These practices create a space where people feel safe enough to share, trust enough to explore, and are seen enough to believe in their own worth.

Sacred Listening begins with intentional presence, the act of showing up fully for the person in front of you, free from distractions or preconceived solutions. In a culture saturated with noise and constant demands for attention, this kind of deep presence feels countercultural—almost radical. Yet, for a young person longing to be seen and understood, it is transformative. Sacred Listening requires putting aside the urge to fix or judge and simply being with the other person in their story.  

The second principle, alignment, means that the person listening must orient themselves in a way that makes the speaker feel heard. Deep empathy is required to understand that what makes you feel heard might not be true for everyone across cultures and backgrounds. Our survey with young adults, however, points to some behaviors which are deeply resonant with young people and make them feel like you are listening...or not.  Interrupting, appearing distracted (e.g., checking your phone), and jumping to conclusions were all signals that most of our respondents said made them feel unheard. On the other hand, demonstrating empathy by listening to understand, withholding judgment, and asking follow-up questions all communicate to most people that you are listening and paying attention to them.  

The third core element, pattern recognition, helps listeners discern recurring themes in conversations. These patterns often reveal not only individual concerns but also broader movements of the Holy Spirit within a person’s life. Sacred Listening is not just about the immediate encounter; it equips listeners to notice deeper spiritual currents. For example, patterns of doubt might reveal a young person wrestling with questions of identity, belonging, or purpose. It is sociological and sacred work to track your conversations and interactions with young people, look prayerfully and empirically for the patterns that emerge, and respond accordingly.  This is also the key to making relational approaches to ministry sustainable for large groups of people in your care. 

Pope Francis reinforces this approach in Evangelii Gaudium, where he writes, “The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open…Frequently, we act as arbiters of grace rather than its facilitators.  But the church is not a tollhouse.” This openness, he insists, begins with listening. It invites dialogue and ensures that those who feel distant from the church are welcomed with love and understanding. Sacred Listening models this openness, creating spaces where every voice is honored as a reflection of the divine.

This shift from transaction to transformation mirrors the way Jesus engaged with those he encountered. Think of the Samaritan woman at the well, whose entire life was changed not because Jesus gave her quick solutions, but because he truly listened and spoke to her deepest thirst. Sacred Listening invites ministers to emulate this approach, entering into conversations with a posture of openness, curiosity, and reverence for the sacredness of the other person’s journey.

Finally, Sacred Listening is not only about hearing words but about creating a sanctuary for vulnerability. Young adults today live in a culture that often prizes performance and perfection over authenticity. Sacred Listening offers them a space where they can be honest about their doubts, grief, and hopes. When a young person shares, “I feel like I don’t belong,” or “I’m scared I’ll make the wrong choice,” the act of listening—without judgment or agenda—becomes a way of embodying God’s unconditional love. This love, reflected in the listener’s attentiveness, has the power to heal wounds and ignite faith. In other words, listening is not simply something you do to understand the other person better, though it is useful for that. Our research is uncovering what we have been hearing anecdotally for years, namely, that listening is, in and of itself, a way to deepen another’s faith and bring them closer to the divine. It is not a means to an end—it is the end itself for so many young people.  

Addressing challenges in vocation in in in in vocation ministry

Listening can be uncomfortable. It asks ministers to set aside their agendas and step into the uncertainty of someone else’s story. Yet it is precisely this discomfort that creates space for transformation.

Our survey revealed that young people often feel silenced by authority figures who dominate conversations, offer unsolicited advice or judgment, or constantly correct. These barriers are opportunities for ministers to reimagine their role—not as lecturers but as companions. As true accompanists. One of the biggest challenges in our work with young people is to sit and listen even when a young person reveals alarming things about their behavior or beliefs.  The inclination is to step in and correct, but if the trust is not earned through listening, then the correction is felt as judgment and as an indication that you are not willing to get to know them and their realities. 

Our research shows that if you lead by listening, you will earn the right to be heard. Alexandria, a 24-year-old we interviewed, said, “If I know that someone listens to me, then at the very least, I can reciprocate that.”

Even with a strong relationship with Jesus, a 20-year-old might still mistrust institutions. Invite them to shape, not just join. Affirm their faith, listen with genuine curiosity, and share leadership. Transparency builds trust, revealing how God works through imperfect structures. Make space for real stories, consistent follow-through, and continued presence. Skepticism of institutions does not necessarily indicate a disinclination toward service.

Pope Francis reminds us that true accompaniment doesn’t mean sitting and listening without direction or condoning every thought or behavior of another person. Rather, a person must be accompanied into a relationship with Jesus. The question of how long that takes will be different for every person and rely much more on the Holy Spirit than on social science. Sacred Listening takes the simple act of being present and elevates it into a sacred encounter. This is the promise of Listen, Teach, Send. It is an invitation to step into ministry with open ears and open hearts, trusting that the God who listens to us will work through us. It is a call to accompany young people on their journeys, not as fixers, but as companions who listen with love and help guide the way.  

Megan Bissell is the co-founder and executive director of Future of Faith, as well as an applied sociologist and researcher. Josh Packard is the co-founder of Future of Faith and an expert in the spiritual lives of American youth and religious trends in the United States.  

Since vocation ministers work closely with youth and young adults, it helps them to understand the direction that American bishops are encouraging in ministry with young people. In 2024, the bishops released the 48-page pastoral document, “Listen, Teach, Send: A National Pastoral Framework for Ministries with Youth and with Young Adults.” Two of those involved in shaping the framework offer an overview of its approach to youth and young adult ministry. 

Several realities spurred the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to craft a new framework for youth and young adult ministry. Among them were the declining number of young people considering consecrated religious life and the sacraments of holy orders and marriage. The increasing rates of institutional disaffiliation and a mental health crisis affecting millions of youth and young adults also fueled the bishops’ initial discernment in this area. The USCCB felt the time had come to respond to these realities in a proactive and pastoral way. The process leading to the eventual passage of “Listen, Teach, Send” (LTS) was couched in intentional listening to women and men who have a heart for youth and young adults (including vocation ministers) and young people themselves. These groups communicated a mixture of frustration and struggle fused with joy and hope (not unlike the experience of the disciples on the way to Emmaus). In response to what they heard, the U.S. bishops crafted a framework “as a summons to local faith communities across the country to renew their efforts.”

The audience for LTS is wider than previous pastoral statements from the bishops around youth, collegians, and young adults. Lay people, consecrated religious, and ordained pastoral ministers in Catholic parishes, college campuses, dioceses/eparchies, and organizations are certainly intended readers, but so are parents and families of young people, peer ministers within the youth or young adult demographic, and any Catholic leader whose ministry or work intersects with young people. The bishops were mindful that this should include vocation directors and ministers, whose efforts regularly involve conversations, pastoral care, and accompaniment of those between 13 and 39. 

This is the opportunity the bishops put before all who read and reflect on the framework: carefully and prayerfully consider how you listen, teach, and send forth each youth or young adult the Lord places before you at any given moment. 

So that this framework is not a theoretical ideal or the property of a select few professional ministers, we begin this summons in the home and with our loved ones. We are not imagining an abstract concept, group, or data demographic; rather, we have in mind the young women and men we know or interact with on a regular basis. Each of them has a unique name, face, and identity: beloved by God and integral to the mission of the Catholic Church. 

As you read this article, we encourage you to pause for a few moments to reflect on the name, face, or identity of a youth or young adult whom you know or encountered recently. Start there and dive in.

Listening

When we listen to another, do we receive their words in our ears, or do we stop, pause in reflective silence, and strive to understand the story or perspective that person wants to offer us? This is a key challenge that the bishops offer us: to approach all youth and young adults with a listening heart. The first step in engaging a young person is authentic listening. Anticipating concerns about the overuse of the word “listening” in recent years, the bishops broke open the experience in four intersecting ways: encounter, presence, understanding, and healing. 

For vocation ministers, the encounter and full presence can occur the instant an individual steps into your community, office, or activity. Even more so, recognizing that many youth and young adults are not walking in our direction, listening exercises also mean going out to them and taking note of their lived realities. The U.S. bishops echoed Pope Francis in noticing that a growing number of young people are struggling, suffering, and navigating difficulties. How, then, can we more intentionally encounter young people “with loving and generous pastoral concern” before we ever mention work with vocations? How can we stop and listen to them without interjecting, fixing, or filling the silence? Many times, young people just want to be heard. When a youth or young adult knows you are simply there because you care, it can help establish trust that is foundational for further formation and engagement in the faith. 

In LTS, the bishops challenge us to still our incessant need to react or respond immediately. This can allow for a better understanding of the young person in our midst–across the generational, cultural, or experiential lines that may exist. Such acts allow us to witness the uniqueness of each person by directing our focus on the individual before us. We can appreciate his or her story because it is indicative of the human story, which we also share.

Finally, knowing someone’s story can (and often does) reveal deeper pains or hidden wounds, which can hinder a relationship with Christ or the community. The vocational journey of a young woman or man could be rooted in a sensitive element of her or his story. If it is not addressed or if there is no movement toward healing brokenness, a young person’s wounds could fester and grow, potentially eclipsing a mature and fruitful relationship with Christ and the People of God. A vocation minister has a prime opportunity to accompany youth or young adults in their midst through grief or anguish; not to fix or resolve the pain, but to become a trusted and concerned companion. How can you be that person? How can your community’s charism or spirituality offer hope for a youth or young adult who may be struggling, isolated, or uncertain?

In all this, practice patience and gentleness. The listening process takes time and effort, as trust needs to be built up slowly. However, it can yield a strong and fruitful bond when the young person recognizes he or she is listened to and cared for as a son or daughter of God. 

Teaching

How many of us recall with fondness a teacher or mentor in the faith who saw us as we were and welcomed us? We reflect kindly on many teachers and mentors we have had in the faith throughout the years who saw us and welcomed us into a deeper relationship with Christ, modeling virtue and joy. Their examples of virtue, and especially their patience with us, as we grew in deeper understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, formed a foundation for our faith to blossom. These teachers and mentors guided us towards a stronger relationship with Christ by sharing the truth, beauty, and goodness of the faith and inviting us to ponder the meaning of these things for our own lives and our relationships with Christ and others.  

As vocation directors, you are spending much time investing in men and women who are discerning the call of the Lord in their lives. The relational aspects of your ministry are rooted in the same relational aspects of Christ’s ministry. Your accompaniment of these young men and women serves as an intentional teaching dialogue on the ways that God is working in their lives. You have been invited to patiently walk alongside others and share the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christ and the Catholic faith with them. The question of, “How am I inviting people to enter more deeply into a personal relationship with Christ to hear His calling for their lives?” can at times feel urgent. However, in looking to the example of Christ from Scripture, you can be encouraged that He is also there accompanying you as you journey with others. 

The bishops provide insights and encouragement for this teaching role of accompanying others in the faith, and specifically, in your work as vocation directors. In your ministries, there is a beautiful opportunity to provide formation that anchors young people discerning consecrated and religious life in the teachings of the church and to see these young people as collaborators in this work. In LTS, the bishops remind us that the development of the kerygma and a growing atmosphere of community life and fraternal love are foundations for this work to flourish.  It is beneficial to have strategic conversations with members of your religious communities, fellow priests, seminarians, sisters, or brothers in formation about how you live out community life and fraternal love and share the kerygma. 

Consider spending time in prayer and conversation, asking the following questions. Does our community live in such a way that the love of Christ is known and reflected to one another? Would young people be attracted to our community life? What liturgical and sacramental celebrations are part of our community life? How do we invite young people to participate in our family of faith as priests, sisters, brothers, consecrated men and women, etc.? These are important areas to reflect on with others so that your accompaniment of young people discerning God’s will can find a home that engages their gifts and talents in service to the larger church. 

Sending

Is your heart burning to serve Christ in your ministry as a vocation director? What a joy and a gift it is to share the love of Christ with others in your daily work. You have been called to this ministry at this time for a particular purpose in service to the Lord. How do you share the Good News of Christ in your work as vocation directors with young people? How do you witness to Christ in your daily conversations and routines? We can become so focused on all the things that need to be done in our ministries that we don’t spend time reflecting on how we live as we do these things. Are young people attracted to the joy that is shared in your ministry?

The bishops provide guidance on how to send out the young people we accompany on mission to the larger world. They remind us that we do not need to keep young people in long training programs for many years before we encourage them to proclaim the love of God. We can overcomplicate daily tasks and unintentionally add complexity to the processes of discernment and formation. 

Take a moment to reflect on the message from the bishops and how it is manifested in your ministry and community life. The bishops specifically mention this, saying, “Pastoral leaders, vocation ministers, and families can invite young people to consider all the ways God may be calling them in life.” 

In doing so, you can be a witness for young people to the dynamic joy of being sent on mission. Consider spending time in prayer and conversation, asking the following questions. How do we encourage the young people who are discerning God’s will for their lives to have an enthusiastic spirit? How do we serve the Lord with charity and justice in our particular state of life? How do we encourage the men and women who are discerning God’s will to take the lead in serving our local communities? What opportunities do we provide for young people to discern serving and leading in the church as a consecrated or religious man or woman? Do we share the stories of our founders, foundresses, and saints from our religious communities and dioceses as beautiful witnesses for our young people? How do we witness through our partnerships with various ministries with young people? 

§§§§

Vocation directors are invaluable collaborators with families and the church’s ministries with young people. As the bishops noted, those who accompany youth and young adults are most effective when they work in collaboration with the entire community. The church in this way works together across an interconnected network of ministerial fields for the good of the mission entrusted to us by Christ. As such, the church moves forward in these ministries as a “community on a journey.”

Like so many others in this community, you are a tremendous gift to all members of the Body of Christ, especially young people who are discerning God’s call. Thank you for your faithfulness as vocation ministers accompanying youth, young adults, and their families. To continue the journey ahead, we encourage you to build in time for your own reflection, conversation, and reevaluation to prayerfully engage with youth and young adults. You are living out a beautiful calling in service to the Lord, modeling for young people what it means to be sent out enthusiastically on a holy mission by pointing to Christ, who listens, teaches, and sends each of us with a love beyond compare. 

For a PDF (English and Spanish) of Listen, Teach, Send: A National Pastoral Framework for Ministries with Youth and Young Adults, as well as supplemental resources and media tools,  go to: tinyurl.com/ypw6t6zu

Paul E. Jarzembowski is the associate director for the laity at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and a Bernardin Scholar in Practical Theology. Maria R. Parker is the assistant director for the laity at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. She is dedicated to helping  youth ministers.

This workshop will be offered May 11-12, 2026, registration will open in 2026.

This workshop builds on the skills acquired in Behavioral Assessment I and is designed as a seminar. Because it is intended for those with experience conducting assessment interviews, all participants must have completed Behavioral Assessment 1. Workshop participants are asked to come prepared with topics, discussion questions, or case studies to consider during this workshop. 

This workshop will be offered May 11-12, 2026, registration will open in 2026.

Workshop Description

This workshop builds on the skills acquired in Behavioral Assessment I and is designed as a seminar. Because it is intended for those with experience conducting assessment interviews, all participants must have completed Behavioral Assessment 1. Workshop participants are asked to come prepared with topics, discussion questions, or case studies to consider during this workshop. 

Arrival and departure dates/times

Please note this two-day workshop begins on May 11, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. and ends on May 12, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. Central time. Overnight accommodation is included with arrivals after 3:00 p.m. on May 10, 2026, and departures before 10:00 a.m. on May 13, 2026. 

Workshop fe

From a spiritual care point of view

Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asks Mary at the tomb. These words seem pertinent now, considering the challenges many religious communities are facing. The realities of smaller communities, relinquished ministries, and painful losses of beloved members are there. And yet, we can hear Jesus asking us, “Why are you weeping?” It is a reminder that Christ Jesus is our Lord, and he has the future in his good hands. 

Most of us tend to grieve the way life was. We want back that person, that community, that ministry, that projected future. Even the person with an addiction wonders what life will be like in recovery without the addiction, which was like a friend, and without the people who were involved in the addictive behaviors. Will life really be better without the substance that helped soothe depression, anxiety, perfectionism, or another condition?

Change is difficult for a lot of us. We fear the unknown, and no matter how well we strategize, the future is ultimately unknown. We must plan ahead, and religious communities are very good at that. It is the emotional upheaval of grief and loss that can cause sadness, isolating behaviors, hopelessness, or languishing. Jesus asks, “Why are you weeping?” He does not command, “Stop weeping.”

“Grief must be expressed,” says David Kessler, author of Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. The healthy griever finds avenues for expressing grief, sharing it, and learning from it. This might be through counseling, in a grief support group, by writing a letter to a soul-friend, in prayer and journaling, or through many other options. We find resilience in a community of grievers because loss can function as a great people-connector. With others who have endured a loss, we can experience our grief in a safe place and recognize that we are not the only ones feeling as we do, even if we have our own unique experiences.

Grief is part of the human experience. It is a powerful emotion and a mystery. We never get to the bottom of it. Grief can be faced, coped with, and suffered through. There can be new life on the other side of it. Grief cannot be ignored, delayed, or abbreviated. If it is, it can become a dangerous emotion surfacing at unexpected times and in unrecognizable ways, such as angry outbursts, depression, or addiction. These can disrupt caring relationships, backfiring on the griever who needs those compassionate relationships more than ever.

Grief takes time. It has its own calendar. We must be attentive to our grief and not be told we should be over it. And yet, we need to listen if someone close suggests that we might see a counselor for our grief. It can become depression if we are not careful. Everyone grieves differently, and it takes different amounts of time for the acute grieving process to move forward. 

Jesus asked Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?” and he also asks, “Whom are you seeking?” We could ask ourselves, “Whom or what am I seeking?” Are we being invited to seek God and God alone? Is it helpful to seek the way life was? In his book, The Five Things We Cannot Change and the Happiness We Find by Embracing Them, David Richo names the first of what he calls the five givens of life: everything changes and ends. Life changes. We cannot stop that. 

In our Christian contemplation, we might ask ourselves if God is inviting us to something new. We might ask God for eyes to see new life and hearts to appreciate it fully. Those in vocation ministry have the opportunity to meet young people who are sorting out their life direction. As young people work through how to offer their lives to God—wherever that takes them—can vocation ministers relish the “something new” that is emerging? Can they value and celebrate their role in young people’s lives? Can communities join them in affirming the gifts of new life received in accompanying the young (and sometimes the not-so-young)?

These questions change the perspective. We might focus our energies in the grieving process on what God is creating in us. There might be suffering; it might be very painful, and yet, there might be some new life that comes from the separation, loss, or death. Is that not resurrection? Could it be that letting go of prior ministries, properties, and ways of being can let a new generation in religious life create new ways for our charisms to be alive in the world? Vocation ministers can keep these questions before their communities and encourage them to look at the broad picture of religious life. 

This is part of the great mystery that grief is. It is a precious, faith-strengthening, and yes, life-giving mystery. Not one we wanted, and perhaps not one we chose, but still life-giving. God sends surprises to help us through. Along the path, there can be new insight, new purpose, new meaning, and gratitude. We may find deep gratitude for what was and hopefulness about what is to come—all of it part of being alive, vital, and human. Jesus calls our name as he called Mary, and we can recognize him and help write the new chapter of our story. 

—Nancy Santamaria

From a theological and personal view

In the current context of religious communities in the United States, there are unmistakable absences of what was known, beloved, and cherished. Many works, ministries, traditions, and—most importantly—beloved persons have now passed on. These absences are felt by those in religious life not only physically and institutionally, but also spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically. Faith assures us that resurrection is part of our story as Christians. But being human requires us to acknowledge that the death is a death. We can only keep vigil with each other in the space between these two understandings.

Before I share my own experience of faith and loss, allow me to reflect theologically on death and the very foundation of Christianity. Christianity’s origin is intimately bound up with the death of Jesus of Nazareth, and thus, with grief and loss. The potential of this rich insight for our Christian, human lives has been regrettably weakened by the legacy of Enlightenment-era modern thinkers who pathologized the grief response of early Jesus followers to create a reductionist version of Christian origins. This view of grief created a discomfort around our faith tradition’s primal relationship to the human experience of loss, and perhaps led to shyness or even avoidance of the centrality of grief in the birth of the Christian experience.

Yet, it is undeniable that in Roman Catholicism especially, grief is integral to many of the tradition’s most cherished aesthetic treasures: Michelangelo’s Pieta, Palestrina’s “Lamentations of Jeremiah,” and the Passion Façade of La Sagrada Familia, to name just a few. The contemporary reimagining of traditional devotions—such as a Stations of the Cross for the Earth and Stations for the University of Central America martyrs—were born from a proper theological instinct: that the wider Body of Christ is inscribed in the self-same Paschal Mystery of Jesus, which is itself sealed into creation. 

Of course, there remains the danger of phrases like Paschal Mystery becoming pseudo-entities, cut off from our very human lives. However, death and dying are not only aesthetic elements of Christian art. Instead, they point back to the disorientation and disillusionment of loss, and they must remain so if the Eucharistic celebrations are to be true liturgies of the people. For we congregate, pray, and minister in a world saturated in loss, a world we are integrally part of, and it is as part of this world that we make our “spiritual sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15).

Absence is an enduring feature of this world, and accordingly, it is part of the context for the presence of God. Thus, for the French sacramental theologian Louis-Marie Chauvet and the American biblical scholar and theologian Carey Walsh, absence and presence are two sides of the same coin, inseparably linked. Sacramental presence, Chauvet suggests, is mediated through Christ’s absence, and he points to the Emmaus story as an illustration (Luke 24:13-35). It is only because of this absence that sacramental presence is made possible, and one might dare say, humanly credible.

“But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go,” Jesus says (John 16:7). We could put this another way: grief and loss bear divine and human presence. There is no direct, immediate realization of presence, but only one where we must struggle with the strangeness of that presence as mediated through absence. “He has been raised; he is not here,” says the angel (Mark 16:6). Other scriptural texts come alive under this hermeneutic. Did Jesus not say he would be found in the suffering and the stranger (Matt. 25:31-46)? Did Jesus not disappear from the disciples after they consumed him? (Luke 24:31) Were the disciples not admonished by the angel for looking at the sky for Jesus’ return? (Acts 1:11). Or what of Saint Teresa of Avila and her lovely poem that begins, “Christ has no body now but yours”?

In my own experience, I spent hours upon hours, year upon year, in the pew gazing at the Crucified One before Mass. While visiting loved ones in the cemetery as a child—always on a gray, overcast day it seemed—I was confronted by large, melancholic depictions of Calvary. Jesus on the Cross. Mary, the Beloved Disciple, and the women surrounding him. Mourning and weeping. At times, as a child, this was too much for me to take in; yet I was drawn to it. Mysterium tremendum et fascinans.

 This is the Catholicism of the “Stabat Mater,” the hymn to the suffering Virgin Mother. Some argue that this Catholic theological aesthetic privileges death rather than resurrection. Yet, it formed me interiorly to receive events of loss and absence in my life. I would not have known then that the long time my mother would have us in church before Mass each Sunday, with quiet time to behold images of Christ’s body, would inculcate this sensitivity. I am aware each time I sit in a church before a crucifix to be present to death in its many iterations, and not only physical death.

This perspective itself becomes complicated, for if I presume that the grief and darkness bear a gift, I am by that fact shielding myself from the tomb, which reveals itself as a womb only in that mysterious convergence of time, desire, and healing. 

The Triduum of our lives knows no shortcuts. 

—Erik Ranstrom

From the view of someone enriched by religious

Throughout my life, I have had the honor and privilege to be impacted by vowed religious. Before I left for college, I sat down with Father Harold, a priest at my home parish who was a dear friend of my family. I was apprehensive about moving away from home and being in full control of my spiritual life for the first time. I was born and raised Catholic, and going to Mass on Sunday was never a question for me. This was a ritual I was determined to keep up, but I was nervous about getting caught up in the college scene and letting my faith fall to the back burner. His advice to me that day was to receive the Eucharist as much as I possibly could, and the rest would follow. 

Taking that advice to heart, I went off to college and started going to daily Mass. That is where I met Father Philip, the university chaplain. He met me where I was and made the chapel feel like it was my second home. He gave me space to ask questions, seek healing for parts of myself I didn’t realize I had buried, and helped me find the true grace in the sacrament of Confession.

I then started getting more involved in campus ministry and got to live out my faith by serving at soup kitchens, going on mission trips, and becoming the head sacristan of the university. I developed a deeper relationship with the sisters and lay campus ministers, and their impact truly made me the person I am today. Through their guidance and encouragement, I went on a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi to follow the lives of Saint Francis and Saint Clare, and it was there that I had a true spiritual awakening and experienced a desire to pursue my vocation in ministry. 

I have been blessed with incredible role models of faith to turn to throughout my life, and I am eternally grateful for the ways they exemplify God’s love and mercy to me each day. The quotation popularly attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words,” is a Franciscan value that I keep in the forefront of my mind. For me, Franciscans have been the Gospel personified. They have been a constant presence, inviting me to enter more deeply into relationship with God by attending Mass and having open and honest conversations about faith. Franciscans made me feel part of the community.

 I am a product of what is possible when extraordinary collaboration among priests, religious, and laity is encouraged. I hope to be part of that continued collaboration of faith for all those I encounter. 

I know fear and grief can be wrapped up in the changes and loss that religious communities are experiencing today. Our church is changing, and that can be scary, especially for those who have dedicated their entire lives to service and the church. As a laywoman who has been shaped by those in religious life, I hope this message can provide hope: your legacy lives on in me and in all those you’ve touched.            

—Jillian Tutak

Nancy Santamaria is a spiritual care advisor at Saint John Vianney Center. She holds a master’s in holistic spirituality and in art. 

Erik Ranstrom is the manager of spiritual care at Saint John Vianney Center. He holds a Ph.D. in theology.

Jillian Tutak is a spiritual care advisor at Saint John Vianney Center. She holds a master’s degree in theology and ministry.

After seven years as development director for the NRVC, starting July 1, Mr. Phil Loftus is leaving the NRVC to continue his full-time role as executive director with the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations. Thank you, Phil, and we wish you well as you continue to build a robust future for religious life. Moving forward, the NRVC leadership team will fulfill development responsibilities. 

Sharpen your communication skills at the workshop "2025 Vocation Promotion for Today’s Discerners," to be held July 19 and 20 in Leavenworth, Kansas. Three vocation ministers with communications expertise will lead this hands-on exploration of strategic planning for communications, social media development, creation of messages for young adults, selection of communication outlets, and more. Register now to receive an early-bird discount. 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has assembled information about the forthcoming Jubilee of Consecrated Life, to take place throughout the global church October 8-9. We are grateful that the bishops named the NRVC as a key resource, along with our publications, VISION and HORIZON.  The bishops' information packet has an overview of the jubilee, suggestions for ways religious communities can celebrate it, reflections, and more.

Consider using the Jubilee Prayer to enrich your Lenten prayer life and ministry. The prayer is available at NRVC's Jubilee site, along with the logo you may wish to copy and use along with it.  

Videos of two convocation presentations, along with viewer guides, are now available online. Consider sharing the following talks with your members to help engage them in vocation ministry. Viewer guides are a member-only benefit of the NRVC and are available in the Member Toolbox. Both presentations were also published in the Winter 2025 HORIZON.

• Sister Patricia Chappell, SNDdeN "Embracing Transformational Values" video
• Brother Chris Patiño, F.S.C. "Leaven of Hope" video

The NRVC has made available a number of articles from VISION, HORIZON, and other sources on themes of the 2025 Jubilee Year. Consider using these articles with young people or community members to deepen their understanding of the Jubilee themes, including forgiveness, prayer, peace, migration, and more. Find them here.

Being connected to others doing similar ministry is a big reason that Friar Emanuel Vasconcelos, O.F.M.Conv. is part of the NRVC. He is vocation director for the Franciscan Friars Conventual, Our Lady of the Angels Province. He is also a Mid-Atlantic Member Area Coordinator, along with Sister Jean Rhoades, D.C. Read more...

NRVC personnel and membership are part of an online youth ministry training series starting May 8 for those ministering to young people as they graduate high school. At the invitation of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministers, the 

NRVC personnel and six members are part of a digital conversation series starting May 8 called "Momentum IX: Life After High School." The National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministers (NFCYM) invited the NRVC to participate in this series for ministers who accompany young people during transitions following high school. The following NRVC members pre-recorded two video panel discussions led by Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M., director of mission integration: Friar Andre Miller, O.F.M.Conv.; Brother Luis Ramos, F.M.S., Father Joshua Warshak, O.SS.T.; Sister Laura Suhr, O.S.B., Sister Karina Montes, S.C., and Sister Symphonie GIao-Huong Ngo, C.C.V.I.

To take part in "Momentum IX: Life After High School," register here. To receive $10 off of the $25 price, use the discount code NRVC. 

At its April meeting the NRVC board elected the following members to its executive committee: Friar Mario Serrano, O.F.M.Conv., board chair; Sister Eileen McCann, C.S.J., vice chair; and Brother John Skrodinsky, S.T., vice chair. Deep thanks to Mr. Len Uhal for his service on the board, including as vice chair; he will attend his final board meeting in September. 

via Zoom

It is not common for a Catholic sister to be a men's football coach, but vocation director Sister Lisa Maurer, O.S.B. has, in fact, been both things at once.

Her coaching days go back about a decade, and today her ministry has her involved in something closer to life coaching. She is the vocation director for St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth, Minnesota. Nonetheless, Sister Lisa continues to play sports and follow her favorite teams.

The Catholic Media Association gave eight awards to VISION Vocation Guide and HORIZON vocation ministry journal at its June 2023 awards ceremony. Click here for details. Many thanks to our talented writers, editors, translators, and graphic designers for their outstanding work!

NRVC Member Areas

Please do not publish this information as it is for members only.

General member area information

Member Directory and interactive map

Delaware Valley

Next meeting: November 4, 2023, Holy Redeemer Farm, Huntington Valley, PA
Fall Back Young Adult Retreat Day

December 5, 1:00 - 2:30 pm via Zoom

Minutes from January 23, 2023, March 2, 2023, June 5, 2023, August 29, 2023

Minutes from May 18, 2022, November 21, 2022

Minutes from April 27, 2021, Minutes from January 19, 2021

Coordinators

Sister Michele Fisher, C.S.F.N. | sorellamichele@aol.com
vacant position

Heartland

Next meeting: TBA

Minutes from May 11, 2023

Minutes from October 13, 2022

Minutes from April 22, 2021

Coordinators

Sister Réjane Cytacki, S.C.L. | rcytacki@scls.org
Ms. Michelle Horton | mhorton@sinsinawa.org

Hudson Valley

Next meeting: Next meeting: October 23 and 28, 10 - 11:30 am via Zoom

Minutes from June 10, 2023
Minutes from April 25, 2023
Minutes from June 22, 2022

                              Coordinators

Sr. Maria Amador, P.C.M.  | info@sisterspcm.org
Sister Gloria Agnes Ardenio, M.M. | gagnes@mksisters.org 

Lake Erie/Ohio River

Next meeting: October 23-25, 2023, Villa Maria, PA

For more information, see this flyer.

Minutes from February 23, 2023, May 8, 2023

Minutes from October 28, 2021, Minutes from April 22, 2021

Coordinators

 Sr. Caryn Crook, O.S.F. | ccrook@sosf.org​ 
vacant position

Mid-Atlantic

Next meeting: October 25, noon - 3 pm, hybrid in Washington DC

Agenda

Minutes from May 17, 2023

Minutes from May 18, 2022

Minutes from December 6, 2021, Minutes from May 4, 2021, 
Minutes from February 24, 2021

Coordinators

Sister Kathy Persson, O.S.B. | kpersson@osbva.org
Sr. Jean Rhoades, DC | jean.rhoades@doc.org

Midwest

Next meeting: Oct. 9-11, 2023, in Frankfort, IL

Presentation on Depression and Anxiety in New Members

For more information, click here.

Minutes from May 11, 2023

Minutes from May 16, 2022

Minutes from October 19, 2021

Coordinators

Sister Kathleen Branham, O.S.F. | kbranham@oldenburgosf.com
Sister Jill Reuber, O.S.B.  | jreuber@thedome.org

New England

Next meeting: November 28, 3 pm, via Zoom

Minutes from May 2, 2023

Minutes from March 31, 2022

Minutes from October 14, 2021, Minutes from March 18, 2021

Coordinators

Mrs. Sandy Piwko  | sandy@assumptioncenter.org
Sister June Fitzgerald, O.P. | jfitzgerald@oppeace.org

Pacific Northwest

Next event: October 21, Collaborative Virtual Discernment Retreat for Women

Event Flyer

Minutes from April 21, 2023

Minutes from May 7, 2022

Minutes from April 30, 2021

 Coordinators

Sister Chero Chuma, C.S.J.P. | cherochuma@csjp.org
vacant position

Southeast

Next meeting: November 28, 3 pm via Zoom

Minutes from September 2020

Coordinators

Mrs. Renee Dee | lsvocationsoffice@gmail.com
Sister Regina Hlavac, DC | regina.hlavac@doc.org

Southwest

Next meeting: TBA

Minutes from March 28, 2023

Minutes from May, 4, 2022

Minutes from December 21, 2021, Minutes from September 21, 2021, Minutes from May 4, 2021, Minutes from February 2, 2021

Coordinators

Brother Mark Motz, SM | mmotz@marianist.us
vacant position

Upper Midwest

Next meeting: October 31, 9:30 - 11 am CT

Minutes from May 17, 2023

Minutes from October 10, 2022

Minutes from May 3, 2021

Coordinators

Sr. Carmella Luke, OSB | cluke@yanktonbenedictines.org
Brother Larry Schatz, F.S.C. | lschatz@cbmidwest.org

West Coast

Next meeting: TBA

Minutes from October 25, 2022
Minutes from March 8, 2022, May 26, 2022

Minutes from December 2, 2021, Minutes from April 21, 2021, 
Minutes from February 9, 2021

Coordinators

Father Radmar Jao, SJ | UWEVocationDirector@jesuits.org
Father Vien Nguyen, SDB | vocations@salesiansf.org

International Members

Next meeting: TBA via Zoom

Coordinators

Mrs. Margaret Cartwright  | vocationsireland1@gmail.com
Sister Mary Rowell, CSJ | mrowell@csjcanada.org 

Over 100 NRVC members live in Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Brazil, Canada, the Democratic Republic, Egypt, France, Ghana, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy,  Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, Zambia and Zimbabwe.  

"Walking humbly with God," will be the theme of the 2024 convocation of the NRVC, to take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota October 31 - November 3.  In addition, Member Area Coordinators recently chose the logo design for the convocation.

As plans move forward, religious communities are invited to become sponsors to help ensure an outstanding and affordable event for every vocation minister. To learn more about sponsorship, contact Phil Loftus, NRVC's development director, at ploftus@nrvc.net.

The Annual Global Celebration of Youth and Young Adults will take place on the Solemnity of Christ the King, November 25-26. Catholic communities around the world are invited to celebrate and reflect on young people. The U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops has published a National Pastoral Resource Guidebook for the Global Celebration of Young People, in English and Español to provide background, prayers, suggestions, and more for this event. 

NRVC has many resources to assist parishes, youth ministers, campus ministers, and vocation teams in promoting religious vocations.
 

• Bold and Faithful: Meet Today's Religious storymap
• Abundant Hope videos
• VISION Vocation Guide
• and many more found in our store

National Vocation Awareness Week is November 5-11. The NRVC encourages members and friends to take advantage of this week to celebrate and promote both religious life and the foundational calling to discipleship that every Christian has. We've produced two new videos that anyone can repost. They feature our Member Area Coordinators reflecting on the gifts religious life brings to the world and the gifts religious life brings to them.  For our other ideas and resources for National Vocation Awareness Week, click here. To see resources for this occasion from the USCCB Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life & Vocations, click here.

As you prepare for Advent and your 2024 NRVC Membership, please accept with our compliments our Walking Humbly Through Advent calendar.

We welcome our journey together!

When the NRVC board meets in Tucson, Arizona December 4-8, it will welcome five new members and thank three members who will meet for the last time. The NRVC extends deep thanks to outgoing members:

• Sister Belinda Monahan, O.S.B.
• Father Adam MacDonald, S.V.D.
• Sister Mindy Welding, I.H.M.

The NRVC is grateful to the following incoming board members:

• Brother Joseph Bach, O.F.M. Conv.
• Sister Margarita Hernandez, S.P.
• Friar Mario Serrano, O.F.M. Conv.
• Brother Edward Shields, F.S.C.
• Sister Gail Trippett, C.S.J.

Renée Dee says the best compliment she's received lately was hearing: "We haven't talked this much about vocations in years!" As national vocation director for the La Salette Missionaries, she is focusing on developing a culture of vocations throughout the community's parishes, schools, and ministries. Read more...

The National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations (NFCRV) is accepting applications for grants to pay education debt of candidates to religious life. The applications must be submitted online by April 12, and only members of the National Religious Vocation Conference may apply. 

Since it was founded in 2014, the NFCRV has assisted 51 candidates to religious institutes. Details and application forms are at vocationfund.org. Please direct questions to executive director Phil Loftus at ploftus@nfcrv.org or 312-318-0180.

The NRVC is seeking a new director of database administration because of the retirement of Marge Argyelan on June 30. This full-time position emphasizes ministry-oriented strategic thinking, as the new director will be part of a leadership team that serves as the organization's executive director. The NRVC hopes to fill this position early in 2024 to allow time for the incoming person to train with the current director.  A job description and application details are at nrvc.net.

There is still time to join the over 40 religious institutes of the NRVC that have signed up to be part of the November 16-18 National Catholic Youth Conference being held in Indianapolis, Indiana. This biennial gathering involves young people in prayer, community, evangelization, catechesis, and service. Over 10,000 people are expected. NRVC members can give witness to religious life while volunteering and exhibiting. Learn more, including which communities will be part of this event. For details about getting involved, contact Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net

Development of ecclesial vocations is one of nine priorities highlighted in the Hispanic/Latino Pastoral Plan recently released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The document, also in Spanish, calls an increase of such vocations "essential for the Church to carry out its mission."

The V Encuentro developed a low-cost, practical ministry-training series to help with pastoral efforts among Latinos, including vocation outreach. NRVC leaders helped shape the vocation segments.

The roundtable discussion about growth and development in religious life, "Rewind the future"—which took place at NRVC's 2022 convocation—is now on the NRVC YouTube channel. Six men and women religious previously featured in vocation resources talk for 60 minutes about their experiences in and hopes about consecrated life. This resource could be a discussion starter for communities or an education tool for discerners. NRVC members can download a "Convocation Video Reflection Guide for the Roundtable Conversation" at the Member Toolbox.

IT SEEMS TO ME that the Synod on Synodality has something to teach religious communities that are encouraging new membership. The synod—with its concept of “synodality”—is showing all who care about religious life an approach, attitude, and culture that makes sense for religious institutes that continue to invite new life.

 Religious life in North America is in a challenging moment. In the last three recorded years, 2019 to 2021, over 1,000 people entered initial formation in U.S. religious institutes. The significance of those new members cannot be underestimated. Despite hand-wringing in popular media, Catholic media, and even among Catholics and religious themselves, religious life is alive. However, the large, older generation of religious is over age 75 now, and those demographics of many elders and few under age 40, feel unsettling, even for the most dedicated religious and friends of consecrated life. And, of course, those inside and outside religious life know that these demographic realities mean many shifts in ministries, properties, etc. We also must remember that the demographic reality in the United States—across the board—now skews older, to greater and lesser degrees.

In the face of this complex reality—new life and a large older cohort—a cornerstone of Catholic belief remains: the Spirit is alive under every circumstance, urging us to be good disciples. Perhaps the Spirit’s sign of the way forward for consecrated life is revealed in the very nature of the Synod on Synodality, which began in 2021 and culminates in October 2024. The form of the synod and the type of Catholic culture it is meant to foster may have messages for religious communities concerned about attracting new members. Perhaps the synod is reminding religious of what they already know and might sometimes take for granted in the way they live, lead, and invite. Let’s look at how synodality provides insights for vocation ministry.

Listening

The synod preparation incorporated a consciously grassroots form, allowing Catholics at many levels to participate. Religious institutes are organized in a form that likewise allows for grassroots involvement. Chapters, assemblies, convocations, and other forms of coming together to check the pulse of the community are common in religious life.
I have noted over 25 years of observing religious life from the outside that institutes with a healthy vocation ministry consciously listen to and involve both their members and young people—including listening to and involving members in questions of new membership.

These communities believe in their future, prioritize vocations, put resources into new membership, and work toward it. They are open to involvement in the lives of young Catholics, and they are open to inviting young Catholics to connect with them. There are no guarantees, but synodal, grassroots, respectful listening/conversing is an excellent starting point for any initiative, including efforts to invite new entrants.

The deep, respectful listening that occurred in many places in preparation for phase two of the synod is healthy and helpful at many levels. Many lay Catholics felt heard, and they sometimes completed the synodal listening process with a renewed sense of belonging to a community that cared to listen to them.

It stands to reason that listening is foundational in Christian communities, including religious institutes. Professed religious tend to understand well the necessity of listening since the vow of obedience is central to their lives. The word obedience comes from the Latin ob audire, which means to listen intently. This listening involves attentiveness to God, major superiors, and to one another in community. Listening takes an incredible amount of time in a loud, fast-paced world demanding our attention. Some of the best listeners in religious communities are the elders, and they may enjoy the role of encouraging younger members. Conscious listening to members in many forums and for many reasons can help build a positive community, a community a person wants to come home to.

Synodal listening builds up the loving bonds that attract others. This is not listening as an exercise that is required of everyone, such as an administrator calling a mandatory meeting of employees who are expected to play along with corporate’s latest initiative. This is the kind of listening that a mom, dad, sibling, spouse, aunt, uncle, or friend does out of love, out of a desire to invest in the relationship, out of a commitment to be family, to maintain a marriage, to enjoy a friendship, to know one’s children, nieces, and nephews. That’s the kind of synodal listening that seems like a good thing in a Catholic ministry, board of directors, parish council, or religious institute.

 Vocation ministry itself is based on synodal-style listening, whereby candidates and the vocation director listen to each other and the Spirit to discern God’s call.

Discernment

Another key aspect of synodality is discernment. Synodality is a new word for Catholicism, and the concepts and behaviors it embraces will take time to parse out, be put into action, and form new structures and ways of being. Discernment, on the other hand, is an old church concept and practice. Many people in religious life see discernment as a lifelong practice for personal and communal decision making. The synodal processes of listening, discerning, and acting are symbiotic. Each process  impacts the others, and each one is ongoing. Synodality encourages discernment, which takes time and follows listening—that is, listening to movements of the heart, stirrings of the Spirit, analysis of needs, understanding of strengths, and, of course, the voice of God present in all these things, as well as in the quiet of one’s heart.

Synodal discernment can, at times, be overlooked if decisions are made in haste. At a time when many religious institutes are discerning their future, members and leaders may need to remember to not miss the moment before them. Living in the precious present can be neglected when schedules become crowded. Discernment begs Catholics and religious to collectively slow down, to be as intentional in building community as they are in right-sizing buildings.

Religious who are concerned about new membership can walk the synodal path of discernment. They can individually and communally discern how best to invite and welcome new members.

Co-responsibility

Closely linked to the possibly inefficient, possibly slow processes of listening and discernment is the process of involving others, with all stakeholders taking “co-responsibility.” It won’t do to simply talk, listen, and spin ideas, as beautiful as those things are. There is a time to listen lovingly and generate ideas and build bonds. And there is a time to take one’s discernment and put it into action. In the language of the synod, there is a time to take “co-responsibility.” These actions—conversing, discerning and acting—flow seamlessly back and forth.

Taking responsibility for the mission is a major part of the synod. In fact, leaders say that the synod is meant to foster a Catholic Church lifestyle of co-responsibility. Governance in religious life is meant to build on co-responsibility, as professed members vote for their congregational leaders and work in tandem for the mission.

For communities concerned about vocations, perhaps co-responsibility involves acknowledging the need for and accepting responsibility for spending time with young people and others open to religious life. These activities are a critical part of vocation ministry, and they have enduring value for young people, apart from possible “fruit” in the form of new membership. Ministries directed at the young who are making vocational decisions are often ministries of presence. Ministries of presence are not measured in quantifiable results. What vocation directors frequently seek are community members who will take time to be present among young people, simply for the sake of being present and allowing relationships to develop.

Ministries of presence may lead some to question the value of the time involved. While some religious may wonder if it is even worth it to show up if no one enters the community, religious might instead ask what their presence means to those they spend time with. Religious have sometimes been surprised to learn what a difference their presence makes to young people and their parents. Co-responsibility beckons religious to recognize exactly how valuable time is to young people who are searching for direction in their lives, who desire to be around caring, wise adults, and who can also teach religious themselves how to be in the moment. What vocation directors frequently seek are community members who will take time to be present among young people, to engage in the art of conversation, to build intergenerational relationships—simply for the sake of being a caring presence and developing relationships.

When it comes to vocation ministry, synodal co-responsibility might take various forms: attending Mass at a campus parish, supporting a weekend retreat, sending hand-written cards to confirmandi, offering skills as a musician or graphics artist—the list is long and will vary by community.

An ongoing presence is more important than one-time contact. An example of co-responsibility in the form of presence is Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, B.V.M., who at 103 years of age, has been showing up on the Loyola University-Chicago campus for decades. Because vocation directors cannot be everywhere, they value community members who keep showing up at specific schools, parishes, and places young Catholics gather. Even members who are unaccustomed to contact with young people can likely shoulder some sort of responsibility.

The time involved with vocation ministry might come at a price. When members invest their time in building up their religious community, they may have to give up other opportunities. The price may be having to reign in a busy ministry schedule in order to make time. It might mean turning down a tantalizing activity. Like the dad who sacrifices evenings and weekends to coach track so his daughter can have a track team at her school, co-responsibility might have a cost. But the dad does it out of love, and the burden will seem light when he and his daughter come to know each other in new ways and grow in love. So too for the community members who sacrifice so they can take part in nurturing new life.

Taking time for others is the essence of religious life. While balance is critically important to avoid burnout or fatigue, as a friend in religious life tells me, the vows are meant to be lived for the life of the world, not for one’s own self-actualization.

Synodal co-responsibility, then, goes beyond, “I’ll pray for you.” Vocation ministers need and want prayer, as do members immersed in any active ministry. Mutual prayer is a given in religious life. The synodal way is for all parties to take co-responsibility for fulfilling the church’s mission. And what is a more foundational mission than putting in time so that one’s marriage, family, or religious community can thrive? Synod leaders say no matter what role one plays (lay, cleric, consecrated) a synodal church shares a mission to follow Jesus Christ and build the kingdom of God. This vision for the church is aspirational, but we’re on our way—or we hope so. We are not there yet.

Openness to the Spirit

As tempting as it is to give in to cynicism or despair about the utility of building a better church community, parish community, or religious community, the Spirit prompts us. Leaving room for the Holy Spirit to work is a key part of being a synodal church. If we still believe in the Holy Spirit, we may need to give over space so the Spirit can enter in. Perhaps we simply stay neutral if that’s the best we can do. Or maybe we lend a helping hand or reconsider our despair—just in case something good can come of it.

Here’s an example from the work world. Once I was assigned to work with someone I thought had corrupted his role and really should be done with work in his chosen field. I was disgusted and expected failure. As I didn’t have much choice, I went through the motions until one day, I realized my cynical attitude was wrong. Maybe I needed to give him a chance, as my assumptions were not entirely accurate. This slow change in my attitude taught me to leave room for grace. It was not a church setting, but the Spirit still showed up when I least expected it, and I believe that is a truth worth applying to the church and religious life in this moment of dynamic change. What may religious have to rethink about vocation ministry? Have religious collectively abandoned a vision that sees vocation ministry as a ministry?

I have my concerns about the Catholic Church. Reading the results of the synodal process of participation opened my eyes to the fact that the issues I’m sad or angry about are things that dismay millions of other Catholics. There are tensions and lots of them. And some days I don’t have the patience or desire to persist. But that is where the community kicks in, and I think the same could be true for others who grow weary with their own church community, including those in religious institutes. We need to support each other. Remember how Moses’ arms grew tired in the battle with Amalek (Exod. 17)? If he kept his arms raised, Israel prevailed, but if he lowered his arms, Israel began to lose the battle. Moses needed Aaron and Hur to stand with him and hold his arms up high when they felt heavy, which was probably about five minutes after he started!    

Communion, support, and the Spirit

This kind of support for each other as we figure out how to be a better church, how to be a more authentic, welcoming, inviting religious community, is also part of the synod. One pillar of the synodal process is communion, and communion is nothing if we cannot support one another when we are weary. Vocation ministry is similar to child rearing: it takes a village. The whole village (or at least a critical mass) has to leave room for the Spirit, for hope for the future. Villagers—community members—are asked to care about the young people, the new generation, who are both the today and the tomorrow.

This invites each of us to realize that for each new person we meet, there is a two-way encounter. It means that our efforts are focused on recognizing that each new person who has never met us before comes with their own hopes, fears, and dreams. In a two-way encounter, our own hearts may be stretched and renewed.

Synodality calls for respectful listening and conversation. It calls for forging a vision together. It calls for co-responsibility to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ. Every Catholic must decide for herself or himself what that means in their own context.

Religious communities, as essential parts of the Catholic Church, likewise are called to consider this idea of synodality. What are its invitations? How could it shape the way communities function? Can the culture of synodality affect how religious think about vocation ministry and how they build the future?

The leaders of the Synod on Synodality remind Catholics that the synod is a spiritual process. “If the Spirit is not present, there will be no synod,” Pope Francis has said. In the same way, religious communities can invoke the Spirit—the Holy Spirit and the spirit of their founders and foundresses—as they follow the synodal path.

Carol Schuck Scheiber is the editor of HORIZON and the managing editor
of VISION for the National Religious Vocation Conference. She has worked with
the NRVC for more than 25 years.

Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. contributed to this article. She is the director of mission integration.

AS WE DISCUSS the seven keys to Christ-centered collaboration, we want to encourage you to begin your initiatives with collaboration in mind from the very beginning. In that way, you can proceed in an inclusive and communal fashion that engages those who want to be involved—those who recognize the need to act, who are prepared to analyze the situation, discern how best to act, and who are ready to collectively move forward. Ideally the collaborative approach is the starting point.

While starting with collaboration is the ideal, sometimes people encounter resistance to collaboration and resistance to the possibility of change associated with it. Often such pushback comes from a lack of familiarity with one another, fear of the unknown, or simply from the comfort people have with how things are now. So we need to keep in mind that there can be resistance to collaboration.

Sometimes when we look at change, a single person might try to impact a situation. A person might try to change things on their own by making decisions and then trying to get others to agree and work with them on a particular effort. That approach describes collaboration for something, which focuses on the task.

Another approach involves gathering influential people and those with a stake in the outcome of a project. That describes collaboration with, where the emphasis is on who is around the table helping make decisions. In both approaches, if we think about collaboration from the beginning of a project, it becomes a more wholistic method for working together. A third way engages all those who want to play a part, especially those impacted by the decisions to be made. Let’s unpack some keys to this third approach.

1) Christ

The first key to collaboration is, of course, Christ, the one whom we, the baptized, want to place at the center of our lives, the one in whom we live and move and have our being. Christ is the center of all we do, and he is the one who sends us out and accompanies us. Being centered on Christ helps us to recognize that we are part of his body, the church. We are not just individuals on our own journeys, separate from one another.

As a project begins, we might ask ourselves whose mission we are on together. Certainly, we are on the mission of Christ. That is apparent in the gospels and also in the history and teachings of the church. We need an ongoing encounter with Christ in order to move forward in service to him, together with one another.

2) Cenacle

We might think of the Cenacle as a particular way we experience this idea of collaboration. In the image of the Cenacle by El Greco on this page we see Mary, the Holy Spirit (in the form of a dove), and the disciples and apostles gathered together. All are in the presence of the Spirit. It is that communal experience of prayer, discernment, and action that should root our collaboration. It is the upper room experience where we receive the Spirit and are sent out with the gifts we have been given. Collaboration is meant to be done in unity with the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes, the differences between people and between communities prove uncomfortable. But it is the Holy Spirit who transforms the experience of fragmentation and even conflict into an experience of unity. We might look at how we promote inclusion when we try to incorporate the full diversity of the church into our efforts. If we become too self-focused in that process, we can lose the larger picture. If we’re overly focused on representing each difference, we can end up magnifying what divides us. Pluralism and diversity are great things, but when we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit can transform our diversity into a unitive experience.

3) Communio

The third key for Christ-centered collaboration is communio. The icon [on page 12] is by the Russian iconographer Andrei Rublev and it depicts the Terebinth at Mamre. It shows the angels who visited Abraham in the form of travelers seeking food. Christians have always seen these angels as a theophany, a visible manifestation of God, and a prefiguring of the Trinity collaborating together. And so, we too collaborate with the Trinity. We see this relationship of love among God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit that is poured out in the incarnation. Christ has come into the world, and the Word is made flesh. We are drawn into relationship with each other with and through Christ. The Trinity draws us into relationship. Living in cooperation with the Trinity, everything we do reflects this communion. Everything we do is a communion. As Christians we are in communion with one another. Saint Paul refers to the communion among the Trinity in his words to the early church: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Cor. 13:14). We are called to communion, and that calling is core to our collaboration.

4) Cooperation

Let’s turn now to cooperation, our fourth key to Christ-centered collaboration. There can be a certain functionality to cooperation. I (Father Frank) have traveled and worked in a variety of ministerial settings that represent a wide ecclesiological spectrum of our church, and I wonder if we honestly take time to truly know one another and seek avenues of cooperation. Or do we prefer to work strictly with people who are just like us? Are we willing to cooperate and work with those whose vision of the church is different? Do we take time to understand their perspective?

Jesus calls us to go to the margins, and Pope Francis has emphasized this. We’re encouraged to be with people who are not necessarily like us, to share our gifts and to be open to the gifts of the other. I (Barbara) once worked to help create a leadership institute for campus ministry, and one of my best experiences of collaboration in ministry was when the national team came together to develop that project. We had six campus ministers from all over the country, each with a student leader from their campus. In our work to prepare the institute—which was essentially a leadership-in-ministry training program for students and campus ministers—we brought our best efforts to the table. We brought our best thinking, our best experiences, and these enriched our work. We shared and critiqued each other’s ideas toward a constructive end. Through that openness, trust, and willingness to accept and give criticism, we were able to achieve a good result.

Another perspective on cooperation comes from Pope Francis, who talks about the disease of poor coordination, that once members of a church group lose communion and cooperation among themselves, the body loses its harmonious function, its equilibrium. It then becomes an orchestra that produces noise. There’s not a harmony among the members of the group creating an effective, enjoyable experience. Harmony comes from cooperation.

5) Communication

Communication is another important key to collaboration centered on Christ. We’re talking about communication that is more than a dialogue between two people, rather a trialogue, communication that includes God. We don’t necessarily recognize that God is in the midst of our communication. In collaboration we’re meant to stop, recognize God’s presence, and bring it into our discernment. Sometimes we begin a meeting with a prayer, but then that’s it. God doesn’t really come into the picture unless we stop for a moment and recognize that is the case.

Again, Pope Francis provides insights on this topic. He talks about the “disease of excessive planning and functionalism.” In a 2014 address to the Roman Curia, he wrote : “When the apostle plans everything down to the last detail and believes that with perfect planning things will fall into place, he becomes an accountant or an office manager. Things need to be prepared well, but without ever falling into the temptation of trying to contain and direct the freedom of the Holy Spirit, which is always greater and more flexible than any human planning.” Pope Francis invites us to recognize that the Holy Spirit is active in our time together. We can make our plans, but many times we have to risk in order to move forward, going beyond “business as usual.”

6) Compassion

When we take risks in our efforts at collaboration, we do so in a spirit of compassion. You may recall the times that Pope Francis washed the feet of prisoners during Holy Week. In 2016, the Jubilee of Mercy called us to remember how to live mercy in our daily lives, and that call continues. We are called to witness the compassion of Christ to one another. We’re called to live as Jesus proclaimed after washing the feet of his apostles: “As I have done for you, you should also do” (John 13:15).” What we do as ministers of the church is not about us; it’s about Christ and his mission.

Consider those tender moments. There are days when it takes all we have to simply be in the room at a particular meeting, let alone continue with some collaborative effort. There are difficult days. We might not have much to say at a meeting because we’re struggling with a personal issue. We might not be comfortable sharing our thoughts but instead turn to a friend or confidante to talk about them. It is amazing the number of people we encounter in our day-to-day lives who just below the surface struggle and suffer. On any given day, their burden can be particularly difficult. The key is compassion, our willingness to accept and embrace that people carry grief or anger or anxiety or any number of other burdens. How we share compassion with one another is very important in pastoral work, including how we treat our fellow ministers.

Now there are still those who come to the church with a desire for power—and that can disrupt our efforts at collaboration—but that power is not really our focal point when we are working together. We may find it strange but it happens often: we can move the focus away from power and back to our ministry priorities when we operate out of a sense of compassion, when we ask how we can assist each other in sharing a sense of God’s mercy. How do we live compassion?

7) Co-responsibility

Our final key to Christ-centered collaboration is co-responsibility, the idea that we are all co-responsible for the mission of Christ. That concept, while preached from the Second Vatican Council onward, has not necessarily permeated the church community. We have been invited in recent years by Popes Benedict and Francis to engage even further in carrying out the mission of Christ. But there is a reluctance among many of the baptized to do so. Partially it may stem from an unwillingness to follow these keys as a way to greater co-responsibility.

 We are all called to co-responsibility for the mission of Christ and the church, starting with our encounter with Christ, who accompanies us, draws us into communion with one another and then sends us out. That sending out involves everyone, not just a certain few.

Co-responsibility does not diminish the diversity of roles. Not everybody has the same role; in reality people have different roles. There are many roles but one mission. Whose mission? Christ’s mission. What mission? The evangelization, by the baptized, of all people. Pope Francis tells us we are all called by the Holy Spirit who enriches the entire evangelizing church with different charisms. These gifts are meant to build and renew the church. All the baptized in their diversity of roles and gifts and charisms are drawn into collaboration with one another and aided by the development of co-responsibility.

§ § § §

We encourage church ministers to choose the path of collaboration from the very beginning of their projects and to recognize the role of the seven keys we’ve outlined here. Healthy church collaboration is founded on three fundamental aspects: a Cenacle spirituality, a communion or communio ecclesiology, and a cooperation that includes communication and compassion. These elements, when combined, integrate the spiritual, the ecclesial, and the human dimensions in mission, resulting in a wholistic and pastoral way of being church that is truly Christ-centered. These six keys are critical to the final key, which is co-responsibility.

This framework fosters collaborative and co-responsible action that advances the work of the church. Remember, the mission of the church isn’t simply the work of the baptized, it is also the work of the Holy Spirit. We’re doing this together. A small portion of the baptized are going to be involved as full-time ministers in the church as laity, priests, or consecrated persons. But these are not the majority of the church. The majority of the church are the baptized who are sent. Equipped with these seven keys for Christ-centered collaboration, all the baptized can be co-responsible for the mission of Christ in the world.

This article is drawn from a presentation originally given by Father Frank Donio, S.A.C. at a J.S. Paluch Vocation Seminar and later presented by him and Barbara McCrabb as a webinar of the Catholic Apostolate Center. View it at: catholicapostolatecenter.org/collaboration-in-ministry.

Father Frank Donio, S.A.C. is the executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men and is the founding director of the Catholic Apostolate Center. He also serves on the leadership team of the Immaculate Conception Province of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottines). Barbara McCrabb is the Assistant Director for Higher Education in the Secretariat of Catholic Education at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

My experience of working with religious communities

By Father Memo Hernandez

I AM HONORED TO SHARE my experience of working together in collaboration with religious sisters and brothers as a diocesan priest. But before that, I want to say that the presence of religious men and women in my life journey has been crucial for me to become the Christian man and priest that I am.

The first memory I have of a person dedicated to God, is the memory of religious sisters that ran the Catholic school I attended back in Mexico during my school years. Their joyful presence and homemade sweets remain in my mind as a very positive memory.

Then, in my years of faith formation at my home parish, the constant presence of a group of religious sisters was key in my faith. However, I became more aware of religious life and the work they did for the church when I was in high school.

It so happened that I studied in an institution run by Marist priests and brothers, and at the same time a group of missionary religious priests called Missionaries of the Holy Spirit came to help the pastor at my parish. They worked as youth and young adult ministers. So I had the opportunity to see how these men dedicated to God brought so much energy and joy to the people around them.

I can say that my whole life has been accompanied by the presence of religious men and women. I knew that religious people had something special to offer to the church and to me. I knew that they carried a unique strength and courage that I didn’t see in many diocesan priests.

As a young man, my idea of church and parish life was a community formed of priests, religious men and women, and the people of God—each person in those three groups doing God’s will and answering God’s call to holiness and evangelization.

When the time came for me to discern the call the Lord had for me, the three vocations (priest, religious, and married layman) each held beautiful possibilities for me. I had the chance to explore each one of them. In the end, God put me on the diocesan priest path, even though it was the life-form I thought would be the least likely for me.

This personal experience, plus the knowledge that I acquired through theological studies, convinced me that it is indispensable for the healthy life of the people of God and the parish, to work, pray, and hang out in a fraternal atmosphere with religious communities. And that is what I did when I became a pastor.

At St. Rose parish in South Sacramento, California I had the privilege to work directly with four religious communities. Two of them worked as teachers in the parish school, the Sisters of Our Lady of Notre Dame and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. A sister from the Catechist Sisters of the Crucified Jesus served as the Spanish director of religious education. Lastly, the Missionaries of Charity served as a spiritual presence, organizing summer camps for children and being spiritual guides. In addition to these four religious communities working at the parish, every day I presided at the 6:30 a.m. Mass for a community of Vietnamese sisters, whose prayerful attitude attracted many people.

The Sunday Mass attendance at my parish averaged close to 3,000 people. For this medium-sized parish, the presence of religious organizations was powerful.
I constantly invited religious orders to come and share their talents with us by guiding retreats or giving talks. This was the case, for instance, with the Verbum Dei Community sisters. And in regards to the celebration of the Sacraments, it was great to count on the support of ordained religious priests.

Regarding the latter, I need to say that the male congregations in my diocese have offered me not only a helpful hand in the ministry, but also an honest and sincere friendship. I sometimes go out with some of them  for a meal and a beer.

As a pastor, I wanted my people to have the experience of knowing that the church has different members who are dedicated to serving the whole family of faith; and each one of them is needed for the well-being of everyone. We can function as a real body when all the parts are working together and are united by the link of love for God and commitment to God’s people. This makes us truly the Body of Christ.

Now as a vocation director for the Diocese of Sacramento, I have the joy of working with religious institutes in the diocese in order to promote vocations. For instance, I organize events in which religious sisters and priests are invited to be present and speak about their charism.

Even though my focus is to promote and accompany men who are called to the diocesan priesthood, the Lord gives me the opportunity to meet young people who discover in their discernment process that God is calling them to belong to a religious community. For me it is a great joy whenever I am able to introduce a young man or woman to a religious community. It makes me feel I am fulfilling my job in the charism that I have received as a diocesan priest: to be a shepherd for all and accompany them in their life journey.

How our diocese collaborates to build a vocation culture

By Bishop Gary Janak, Sister Ana Cecilia Montalvo, F.Sp.S., and Ana Bojorquez

The vocation office of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas has a rich history of collaborating with parishioners and the roughly 80 religious communities of men and women that serve here. Like the readers of HORIZON, those of us who staff the vocation office greatly understand the need for such collaboration. The archdiocese is not in competition with religious communities. Rather, we work together with them to assist the people who are being called to serve as ordained and consecrated leaders. In recent months the need for this type of collaboration has been highlighted even more by Pope Francis in his call for us to be a synodal church, seeking to listen more effectively to the Holy Spirit and to one another.

Religious help organize projects

Our vocation office has two auxiliary groups that help to build the culture of vocations: a Vocation Committee and a group called Lay Vocation Promoters. Presently the Vocation Committee consists of 27 different religious congregations and more than 50 vocation directors and vocation promoters. This large representation did not come about overnight. Three religious sisters founded this group in 1978 in an effort to reach out to a broad audience and to have an official recognition by the archdiocese of varied vocation efforts.

These sisters desired a relationship with the archdiocesan vocation office. That fact inspired the vocation director at that time to hire a Catholic sister as an associate vocation director, a practice that has continued until today.

Ever since the Vocation Committee was founded, the collaboration with our local religious communities has played a very important role in fostering priestly and consecrated life vocations here. It is worth noting that collaboration in ministry is emerging as a favored style in religious life. The NRVC 2020 study refers more than once to the fact that newer members of religious orders see collaborative ministry as the path forward in consecrated life.

It is also important to note that our Vocation Committee is multicultural. The fact that it is formed by sisters and brothers of different cultural backgrounds offers the people of God a picture of our Catholic Church that is universal, embracing all cultures.

At a practical level, the committee meets every other month to plan, evaluate, and vision vocation promotion in our archdiocese. These meetings help us cultivate a network among ourselves, share best practices and new ideas, and together create discernment opportunities and resources for our youth.

We work together on projects such as:

•    Parish vocation presentations
•    Catholic schools visits
•    Youth group visits
•    Service and presence at different youth and young adult events
•    Vocation displays at different archdiocesan conferences
•    Vocation radio program in Spanish
•    Life Awareness Discernment Retreat
•    Discernment opportunities for women
•    Discernment opportunities for men

Other supports for a vocation culture

In addition to working with religious communities on the Vocation Committee, we also use our vocation office social media to publicize events, photos, promotional videos, and other information about our different religious communities. Our Facebook page (facebook.com/SAVocations) has more than 3,000 followers, and we’re also present on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and more. In addition, the communications department of the archdiocese supports us by posting, livestreaming, recording and promoting all our initiatives.

Besides a robust presence on social media, another important part of our vocation culture is to ensure that our resources and events are bilingual in English and Spanish. We want to address the people of God in their own language, and we know that the San Antonio Archdiocese has a significant number of Spanish speakers, including some young men and women who prefer Spanish when talking about their vocation.

When it comes to events, one of our largest gatherings each year is the Life Awareness retreat, a three-day weekend retreat for those considering religious life. The  Vocation Committee organizes it. Another important event each year is the Advent Gathering, where religious sisters, brothers, priests, seminarians, and laity come together to pray, share a meal, and have fun. Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller—himself a member of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit—and our two auxiliary bishops usually join us as well.

In recent years, we’ve seen young men and women enter our seminary and some seven different religious communities. Oftentimes these young people first meet their community through one of our discernment events, particularly through the Life Awareness retreats.

In vocation ministry we often hear “everything is about relationships,” and this is true. The relationship of the vocation office with our shepherds, our archbishop and auxiliary bishops, is strong. They support our many efforts to cultivate vocations.

Another relationship that our staff nurtures is with the Office for Consecrated Life, directed by Sister Elizabeth Ann Vasquez, S.S.C.J. Our two offices support each other in the different initiatives that each one sponsors. Sister Vasquez attends some of our vocation events, and we include her in the agenda to give a message to our youth. Additionally, someone from our staff is always present at events organized by the Office for Consecrated Life.

Building a culture of vocations in our archdiocese, has been a process, a process that involves not just the vocation office but all the different departments, parishes, and ministers. This is our dream: that through this collaborative work all the baptized may be aware of their own vocation and their responsibility to foster vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.

Lay Vocation Promoters reach parishes

The other major auxiliary group that helps us further our dream of full vocation awareness is our Lay Vocation Promoters (LVPs), made up of lay men and women of all ages who are dedicated to promoting and fostering vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. The LVPs started in 2012, originally as a Serra Club, and we now have more than 50 members representing more than 30 parishes.

Our LVPs promote priestly and consecrated vocations through prayer, service, and support of the archdiocesan vocation office. They work with parishes throughout the archdiocese to establish and support vocation committees.

LVP members understand that ecclesial vocations begin in families and that our San Antonio  parents require bilingual tools and support from the parish and the different religious communities to help them discuss, pray for, and encourage vocation discernment among their children. Our archdiocese has been blessed with about 80 different religious communities. Therefore, it is essential that lay people support the many initiatives and programs sponsored by these communities and our vocation office. In addition, we take time to nurture and grow in our own lay vocations through speakers, programs, and days of reflection. The vocation office also offers monthly formation days to all the LVPs.

True vocations to the priesthood and religious life will occur when all the people of God realize their vital role in modeling their faith and inviting young people to follow. These many forms of collaboration—among religious communities, laity, diocesan departments, and vocation office staff members—are the way we spread a vocation culture, an invitation to all Catholics. How else will our youth be able to hear the call of the Lord or the challenge of our Blessed Mother to, “Do whatever He tells you”? (John 2:5).

Father Memo Hernandez is the director of vocations for the Diocese of Sacramento.

Bishop Gary Janak, Sister Ana Cecilia Montalvo, F.Sp.S., and Ana Bojorquez work together to promote Catholic vocations within the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

This article is based on the webinar  by these individuals, “Creating a collaborative environment.” The webinar was one of a series of six sponsored in 2021-22 by the National Religious Vocation Conference with support from the GHR Foundation. This webinar and the full series, “Religious Life Today: Learn it! Love it! Live it!” are at youtube.com/NatRelVocationConf.

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS of using the valuable resource, God, grant me a discerning heart (published and distributed by the National Religious Vocation Conference), I began to innovate with adaptations, techniques, and accompanying resources. The following ideas helped me and—even more important—they helped the candidates I was meeting with. This article is my attempt to gather up what I’ve learned from my own experience and also tap into the wisdom of six other vocation directors, three women and three men. I present these ideas with the hope that they might aid others who practice this ministry of vocational accompaniment. The effort to listen to God’s call is supremely important, and it is our privilege as vocation directors to be part of this sacred journey with people in discernment.

Time, place, and frequency

Of course, many meetings with discerners over the pandemic years were online. Although we have discovered this style of conversation can be helpful, most of us in vocation ministry are relieved to again meet in person. Most of us pace our frequency of meetings according to where discerners are in their own busy lives. Sessions vary, from monthly to bi-weekly. One vocation director commented that the frequency tells him how eager the person is to discover and make a decision. All of us expect discerners to do their own reflection ahead of time on the chosen topic and to share the fruits of that reflection once they arrive at the session.

Using art to enhance the process

Art in any form calls on a different sense of ourselves and of life. This is especially true of someone with artistic skills, but creating simple artwork can be useful to any discerner, along with the assurance that no one will judge the art. The point of creating a drawing is simply to help the person think differently. Here’s how one vocation director uses art. While reading through a scripture reference, the discerner chooses a word or phrase that stands out as she reads it. Much like lectio divina is a process called visio divina, by which the person writes down that chosen word or phrase and then draws around it or decorates it. The process of drawing allows a discerner to linger with the Word and allows the Spirit room to take the reflection further into their heart.

This technique may not resonate with every person considering religious life, but it can be a fruitful exercise, opening up new insights and emotions.

“Zentangles” are another simple artistic expression. They can be drawn while praying the rosary or another prayer. It is a relaxing and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns, or “tangles.” By combining dots, lines, simple curves, an individual creates shapes known as Zentangles. This kind of art is unplanned but happens within an easy, structured framework so discerners can focus on each stroke and not worry about the result. The discerner doesn’t need to know what a tangle is going to look like in order to draw it. The result is a delightful surprise, much like the outcome of one’s discernment.

Sometimes using a relevant page in an out-of-date reflection booklet, such as Give Us This Day (Liturgical Press) lets a person circle words that stand out, or draw or doodle around the letters. Another idea is to choose words from fable books. One vocation director copies a page from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams and uses the page with a discerner in the same fashion.

Following the advice of poet Mary Oliver, “Instructions for Living a Life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it,” at the end of the day, a discerner can recall where they noticed or experienced God acting that day and write about the observation in a journal.

Many communities have members who have created art, such as paintings, sculptures, tile work, creative writing, or music. These, too, can be used with discerners to see through the eyes of the artist how God is working in the world and is available to each of us as we discern our next steps in life.

 Images and stories can help us as vocation directors to accept discerners where they are, but not leave them there. Christus Vivit (the document from the 2018 Synod on Young People, Faith, and Vocational Discernment) mentions the stories of what was happening in Jerusalem when Jesus encountered disciples on the road to Emmaus. Discerners’ reflections on images, whether they are verbal or visual images, can move their awareness a step further as they approach the insights they need.

For this kind of reflection process a vocation director might say, “Imagine how Mary was different after God visited her and called her.” (Pause.) “Now imagine how any person is different after they sense a call from God.” (Pause.) “How do you sense you might be called to more than your current involvements in your everyday life?”

 One vocation director says, “I’m always ready to plug in the booklet, God, grant me a discerning heart where it fits into the process. Since I don’t consider myself all that creative, it offers me a steady guide on where to move next with a discerner. I feel free to skip around in the booklet depending on what the discerner needs.”

Picking and choosing topics

Instead of going through the booklet page by page, several vocation directors are selective about which pages to use. Some copy a relevant page and give it to a discerner struggling with or curious about some aspect of his or her life. Another director chooses one of the topics, its quotes and questions as the theme for a college reflection day. Another leads small groups that reflect and share together their responses to the questions.

Several vocation teams brought forward scripture stories about call for discerners to use in personal prayer. Discerners who have never been part of a campus ministry setting sometimes ask questions about how to choose which scripture to use. For this the NRVC office and website store have prayer cards with quotes and scripture references to stories of calling in the Bible. These prayer cards (called “I hope you come to find” cards) are ideal to use in conjunction with God, grant me a discerning heart.

Other vocation ministers find that some discerners need instruction about what is meant by the question “What speaks to you in this scripture?” Discerners seem to find it helpful to learn that not everyone is touched in the same way by scripture quotes. The director can ask, “What it is about this scripture that speaks to you, touches you, or means something to you?” Questions from discerners can convey a willingness to risk being touched by the scripture and be a sign of the person’s inner development through prayer and silence. Keeping the conversation going requires attentive listening and creative questions from the vocation director.

Adapting familiar skills in new ways

Another vocation director says God, grant me a discerning heart is a handbook to use with all discerners. A life-long nurse used to keeping meticulous medical records, he encourages discerners to write down their responses to the questions and reflections. When he meets with a young man, they discuss the questions, and the person in discernment leaves his written reflection behind, eventually creating a portfolio that can be used if he applies for entrance. This director finds that having the discerners’ written response takes their time together to a deeper level and makes the accompaniment relationship that much more profound.

New, but related

Another vocation director has developed short reflection questions, pertinent scripture passages, and a lectio divina process as a way to accompany discerners. He acknowledges that many topics are the same as in the booklet but treated in a way he can use more effectively. He begins with personal and family information, follows with an introduction to discernment and what spiritual direction should be, and then uses the first six of his 12 modules.

If all signs indicate moving forward after session six, the discerner is encouraged to begin the application process. The way he uses the final six modules depends on the relationship he has established between himself and the discerner. This vocation director also holds key discussions based on readings from the community’s founder and spirituality.

With each module, this vocation director invites the discerner’s questions and asks the man what his preparation for the session was like. Did any scripture reference seem vital to the process? He continues to ask about the experiences the discerner has had of the community. What attracts him? What concerns came up that surprised him? This vocation director has found it important to bring to each session fresh questions so the discerner doesn’t arrive overly prepared.

Relationship with the church

Another fruitful area of discussion is what meaning church has for candidates. This includes discussion of ways candidates interact with their local parish community and questions about the influence of the parish community. Some discerners have not been exposed to much understanding about the church beyond the concept of church as people of God. This is especially true since most adults considering religious life were born well after the close of Vatican II in 1965. One vocation director primes the pump for these conversations using magazine articles: “Pope Francis’ critics are dividing the church and families—including mine” (from America) and “Two very different parishes point to divisions in the church” (from U.S. Catholic).

These and other articles can be used for discussion. Much depends on a discerner’s background and involvement with the institutional church. The vocation director will also want to point out how his or her particular congregation lives and ministers within the church. It may benefit discerners to clarify the distinction between the church and its practices and the current political discussions in the media about church teachings. The vocation director can model a way to respond to differences in beliefs and expressions, noting the emphasis on certain teachings at different times in history and among different members of congregations.

Decision-making, challenging skills

One vocation director comments: “Discernment is often between a choice that is good and another choice that is good. That’s why discerners are left wondering which good calls them more.” Here is where it helps if the discerner knows his or her gifts and sees where they can best be used. It’s also valuable to know why the discerner is drawn to some things and not others. Paying attention to what attracts them is an asset in this process, as discerners benefit from feedback on what they are saying.

The vocation director often acts as a coach on the skills of decision-making; how to narrow the options and what to look for in the process. As mentors we tune into what truly matters to the individual. We also bring these parts of ourselves into the relationship. When we know our own strengths and motivations, we can support our discerners in knowing theirs.

Interactions, conversations, questions

When discerners ask us questions, do we have answers for them? It’s usually not hard to respond to questions about our congregation’s incorporation process, and it can help to give candidates something in writing about this process and then walk through it with them.

Deeper questions can challenge even experienced vocation directors: Will I know what God wants? Can I join a religious community even if my parents don’t approve? One vocation director says that she wants to respond at some level to every question, but then she also worries whether the discerner understands the answers she gives. She finds it hard to sense whether they grasp some concepts. It takes reflection on the vocation director’s part afterward to determine whether more conversation will make things clearer.

Another vocation director struggles with how to make questions not sound clinical but instead seem conversational. Discerners will perceive our own genuineness, both in how we phrase our responses and in our timing. For instance, when in the process do you ask, “What do you like about serving in the soup kitchen / being on parish council / reading at Mass?” “If you have discretionary funds, give an example of how you tend to use them.” “Describe your favorite way to pray.”

One more option

One director uses the booklet with a young man who had originally discerned very quickly to enter the community, then left. A few months later, he returned asking to be re-admitted. The vocation director wisely decided to use God, grant me a discerning heart in a series of bi-monthly sessions to slow him down and help him take time to consider the decision more fully. This approach was effective in keeping him from entering since his call seemed to be to another way of life. Sometimes our work with candidates leads them to not choose our way of life, and that’s important too.

I hope these ideas spark your own imagination and help you to develop new approaches for accompanying those in discernment. Life decisions are critical, sacred moments for every Christian.

Sister Tarianne DeYonker, O.P. is a member of the Adrian Dominican Vocation Team and lives in Adrian, Michigan. She also offers creative writing workshops.

Related articles

“Accompaniment for discernment,” by Colleen Campbell and Thomas Carani, HORIZON, Winter 2020.

“Ignatian discernment: insights for you and those you serve,” by Father Timothy Gallagher O.M.V., HORIZON Summer 2018.

This article is based on the handout, “Role of Religious Leadership in Vocation Ministry.”  The suggestions are based on the 2020 Study of New Vocations to Religious Life conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate for the National Religious Vocation Conference. Find the study and many related resources at nrvc.net.

WHILE EVERY VOCATION is grounded in a unique call and response, some general guidelines for successful new membership promotion can be gleaned from research, including the 2020 Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life. This study was carried out for the National Religious Vocation Conference by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. Based on this study and other data, the NRVC recommends that those in consecrated life leadership take the
following steps.

 1. Prioritize vocation ministry and formation as essential to the community

Religious institutes that make vocation ministry a priority and believe in their role in creating a future in their congregations attract and retain new members. Ways to do this include:

• Have a deep commitment to inviting, incorporating and supporting new members in the congregation. Believe in the vitality of the institute’s charism and foster this belief among the membership. Recognize that the best way to support the vocation of a new member is to ensure that it is strengthened by a solid formation experience.

• Stay abreast of current vocation trends, especially the fact that there are still Catholics discerning and entering religious life. The 2020 study showed that most religious institutes promote vocations, accept new members, and have serious discerners.

• Celebrate major vocation promotion days: World Day for Consecrated Life (February 2), World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Good Shepherd Sunday), National Vocation Awareness Week (first full week in November), National Catholic Sisters Week (March 8-14) and Religious Brothers Day (May 1).

• Encourage professed members to participate in discernment events to build relationships with inquirers to religious life. The example of members is more influential than the ministries of the institute in attracting new members. Likewise, 95 percent of new members report that meeting with members of the institute was the most helpful piece in discerning a call to religious life.

2.  Appoint highly capable people to vocation ministry

Religious institutes with a full-time vocation director and support from clerical and communications personnel have a higher number of new members than those with fewer human resources dedicated to the ministry.

•  Ensure that inquirers and discerners receive the highest standard of care from capable people appointed to this important congregational ministry. Vocation ministers are entrusted with the privileged and sacred responsibility of accompanying inquirers and assessing candidates as they discern their baptismal call.

•  Choose vocation team members who are outgoing, resilient, and responsible. Women’s institutes are more likely than men’s to include a member of the leadership team or a council liaison on the vocation team.

•  Appoint perpetually professed members as vocation directors, as it can be difficult for someone who is still being evaluated in initial formation to be assessing the suitability of discerners. Naturally, those in temporary profession may still be part of a vocation team and attend NRVC workshops.

•  Select a vocation director who focuses on possibilities, who is a collaborator (not a competitor), a person of prayer, both personally and communally. The average length of service for vocation directors is seven years.

3.  Provide your vocation director and team with education, resources, and accountability

Communities whose leadership team meets regularly with the vocation director tend to receive more new members.

•  Ensure opportunities for peer supervision and spiritual direction for vocation directors and teams. Vocation ministry requires continuous commitment to ethical and professional standards. Vocation directors with sufficient resources usually remain in the ministry longer.
• Encourage vocation ministers to tend to their own vocations, further develop professional competencies, and participate in continuing education.

• Allocate adequate resources for vocation ministry, including time, budget, clerical support, and a network of spiritual, emotional, and professional support.

• Outline a clear set of responsibilities for vocation ministers written in a job description with established channels of accountability to religious leadership. An annual performance review assists vocation ministers in achieving goals. It is smart to name goals beyond simply the number of applicants, such as specific outreach activities, communications, and spiritual accompaniment.
4.  Facilitate a corporate responsibility for promoting the future
All religious institutes with new members have vocation information on their website or a distinct website specifically for vocations. These communities use social media and print materials to promote new membership.

• Ask every member to promote vocations directly. People are twice as likely to consider a vocation to religious life when invited by another person. The effect is additive. People who are encouraged by three persons are five times more likely to consider a vocation than someone who was not encouraged by anyone.

• Encourage vowed members to be present among youth and young adults. The average age a person first considers religious life is 19. The average age of entrance to religious life is 28. Encouragement from members of their institutes was highly valued by new members when they first considered entering religious life.

• Sponsor vocation discernment events. Host discernment retreats, such as Come and Sees, online discernment experiences, and opportunities to mingle at prayer, meals, and community gatherings. Communities that sponsor vocation discernment programs directed at college students and young adults are more likely to have new members than those who do not. Post events on NRVC’s VISION Vocation Calendar at: vocationnetwork.org/en/events.

• Consider a team approach. Expand a single NRVC membership to a license for up to five members so that all five members receive the HORIZON vocation journal, monthly newsletters and updates, and membership discounts on resources and workshops. Attend the biennial NRVC convocation with your vocation team or send others to support the vocation director at NRVC member area events.

5.  Apply what you learn from research and analysis about religious life vocations

• Reserve time on leadership agendas and congregational assembly days for vocation information.

• Access studies about vocations to religious life and related reports and analyses at NRVC.net.

• Refer regularly to the NRVC’s Vocation Directors Manual, which contains over 700 articles on topics essential to vocation ministry. It can be accessed by NRVC members at https://nrvc.net/ vocation_directors_manual.

• View continuously updated VISION Vocation Network discerner demographics and engagement statistics at:
vocationnetwork.org/en/statistics/response_statistics. NRVC’s print VISION Vocation Guide and its website, vocationnetwork.org, both allow religious communities to connect with new discerners.  

Related articles

“How we organized a day of discussion for leadership and vocation directors,” by Vocation Ministers of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, HORIZON, Fall, 2008.

“Leadership makes the difference,” by Sister Mary Rowell, C.S.J., HORIZON, Spring 2022.

"Put your chapter to work for vocations," by Brother Paul Michalenko S.T., HORIZON, Spring, 2021.

“Involve your whole community,” by Father Andrew Carl Wisdom, O.P., HORIZON, Spring, 2009.

Staff and members of the NRVC thank the following new Member Area Coordinators (MAC). They are joining a dedicated group of coordinators who oversee local activities and who will gather this September to, among other things, further develop their cultural understanding and humility. This intercultural effort will be guided by Dr. Mylon Kirksy through the generosity of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The new MACs are:

• Sister Gloria Ardenio Agnes, M.M., Hudson Valley, with Sister Maria Amador, P.C.M.
• Sister Chero Chuma, C.S.J.P., Pacific Northwest, with a MAC to be determined.
• Sister Réjane Cytacki, S.C.L. , Heartland, with Mrs. Michelle Horton.
• Ms. Renee Dee, Southeast, with Sister Regina Hlavac, DC.
• Father Radmar Jao, S.J. , West Coast, with Father Vien Nguyen, S.D.B.
• Brother Larry Schatz, F.S.C., Upper Midwest, with Sister Carmy Luke, O.S.B.

If you live in the following areas, please consider becoming a Member Area Coordinator:  Delaware Valley, Lake Erie/Ohio River, Pacific Northwest, and Southwest. Contact Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. for details:  debbiesscm@nrvc.net.  Learn more...

Together, over three years, 100 NRVC members shared the experience of participating in a virtual Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors (OP) in the midst of a global pandemic. It was a new learning environment for all of us navigating through Zoom. Then, they were commissioned as vocation directors to minister in new and unique ways because of COVID protocols. At the same time, over the past three years, almost 1,000 women and men entered religious life, and over 500 made perpetual profession. This points to the ongoing need to accompany inquirers, assess discerners, and animate your congregations to pray for, invite, and encourage all those discerning their vocation to respond to God’s endless call.

This fall, the NRVC is trying something new by inviting the '20, '21, and '22 cohorts to the OP Drop-in Days while a new group of vocation directors takes the entire 5-day workshop. Is there a topic(s) that you may want to revisit or learn more about? Would you like to hear updated information or network with other newer vocation directors? All workshops are from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm U.S. Central Daylight Time, come for the entire day or just the topic.

Rather than charging a set fee, it is up to you how much you want to donate towards your OP drop-in day (for reference, all NRVC workshops are $185 per day). The amount is up to you, we just ask that you drop in for just one day. We are going to evaluate this experience afterward to consider offering it again in the future. 

For the Fall OP schedule and for more information on how to register, please contact debbiesscm@nrvc.net

Sister Rejane Cytacki, S.C.L. thinks big when it comes to vocation ministry. She converses with women from around the world who are interested in “a nun’s life,” which is also the name for the longstanding ministry that she heads up, A Nun’s Life Ministry. She is also part of a five-person vocation ministry team for her community, the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, based in Kansas. Read more...

Do you have a podcast, video, event, or resource to share with those exploring religious life?  NRVC's recently released storymap, Bold and Faithful: Meet Today's Religious, welcomes potential material. Please send your contribution to Patrice Tuohy of VISION Vocation Network at pjtuohy@truequestweb.com.

We continue to encourage you to spread the word about the storymap, especially in connection to National Vocation Awareness Week, November 5-11. Consider:

• Posting about it on social media.
• Publishing the link tinyurl.com/MeetTodaysReligious or QR code in employee bulletins, school newsletters, parish bulletins, etc.
• Sharing the storymap link or QR code with discerners.

IT HAS BEEN FOUR LONG YEARS since I last watched the sun come up and the tide roll in along the Atlantic coast. It is indeed one of my “happy” places, and my heart and spirit sing when I am in the company of this great blue cathedral. Being in this place, on this piece of holy ground, helps me to breathe and to clear my head and my heart of both the good and the bad, the joys and the sufferings, the questions, concerns, and creative ideas. We all need time and space to do this very essential act.

As I write during my time along the coast, some members of the National Religious Vocation Conference have just completed workshops to begin vocation ministry. Others are across the ocean accompanying young people at World Youth Day in Lisbon; others are making their annual retreat and planning the coming year. At the same time, some are feeling overwhelmed with increasing responsibilities and multiple ministry roles. Some are struggling to discern the future of their institutes and whether to invite new membership. Some are feeling the pain of emotional, spiritual, and physical burnout and the lack of peers with whom to connect to rekindle the fire inside. Wherever you find yourself on this spectrum, I hope my thoughts about maintaining balance in the midst of vocation ministry will speak to you.

Love yourself

A foundational step toward equilibrium is a question. Ask yourself: Do I love myself enough to ___? Fill in the blank with what you most need, be it extra sleep, time with a friend, or a day of prayer. Showing ourselves the necessary and life-altering love and tenderness that is God’s gift to us is not selfish or ego-serving. Rather, it is essential for our continued growth in wholeness, which is ultimately, holiness. As earthen vessels, our potter-God wants to mold and shape us to be the Christ-bearers we are meant to be. How do we lean into this God who is holding us gently as we turn and move through the seasons of our lives?

I get the feeling that many of us have a love-hate relationship with the “B” word: balance. It’s such an easy thing to say, yet so difficult to achieve. Perhaps we are going about it the wrong way. Author Jana Kingsford suggests, “Balance isn’t something you find, it’s something you create.” We spend a lot of time seeking solutions, as if the secrets and mysteries of healthy balance are outside of us. If we can begin by seeing ourselves as the protagonists in our own stories and in our own efforts to live happy, passionate, harmonious lives, we may rekindle a friendship with this word.

Motivational speaker and writer Danielle Orner reminds us, “Life is a balance between what we can control and what we cannot; learn to live between effort and surrender!” What wonderful wisdom. Daily, we face situations and circumstances that lie beyond our control, yet others are very much in the realm of things we can act upon. Being willing to wade through the murky waters, only seeing the next right step, is a good way to approach our daily realities.

Part of the key to keeping balance is knowing when we’ve lost it. If you’ve ever had the fun of watching a squirrel attempt to keep his footing while hanging upside down on your bird feeder, you know that squirrels seem to beat all odds, but every now and then they slip and take a tumble. Amazingly, they know how to gracefully stick a landing! Can you think of these little creatures when you feel like you are slipping out of balance? Remember that it’s not about falling but about how you land and get back up again.

Strengthen your core by taking inventory

Yesterday morning, as I enjoyed watching the sun rise over the Atlantic from my perch high up on a pier, I noticed a man paddle boarding. From far away, he appeared to be simply standing on the water and moving with the tide. As he got closer to me, I saw how perfectly he was balanced on his board with a paddle in one hand, keeping rhythm with the waves, seeming to skim the surface and float above the water. As he passed close to the pier, he looked up, and we shared a smile. This little glimmer reminded me of two important facts. The first, which I learned after months of physical therapy, is that if you want better balance, you have to strengthen your core. Yes, that means discovering and working muscles you never knew you had. Second, as learned from the great Albert Einstein, “To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

On a purely human level, we know that our most basic needs are for nourishment, shelter, sleep, and movement, but equally essential are the needs for bonding, relationship, and love. Moving higher on the list are needs for purpose, meaning, direction, and generativity. These needs constitute our “core,” and giving them proper attention enables us to live a vibrant, dynamic, passionate life. What are some of these core areas that need to be strengthened and nurtured in you at this time? Where do you feel a tightness or resistance? Taking time to do an inventory might help you understand what you need to do to move toward greater harmony and balance.

As you look at your core, you might discover some areas of stagnation, feeling stuck or mired in a particular pattern of behavior or thinking. Perhaps it’s a feeling of helplessness at not being able to meet expectations or to use the gifts and talents you possess to minister as you feel called. What do you need in order to keep moving? Ironically, it might mean stepping back, resting, and taking time out for your spiritual and emotional health. 

This stepping back is an essential movement that many of us in vocation ministry don’t nurture until we feel exhausted and burned out. Movement is not equal to busyness. Movement is a much gentler way to keep us in life’s flow, to keep us connected to the movements and rhythms of God’s Spirit in our lives. Even if the movement comes in the smallest of steps, it’s still movement. Having someone in your life to help you to keep moving is a great blessing, whether it is a good spiritual director, counselor, peer minister, or soul friend. If you are blessed to have this kind of person in your life, take a minute to write him or her an old-fashioned thank you note. Expressing gratitude for goodness received is one of the best fuels to rekindle your inner flame.

Rooted in hope

Besides emphasizing movement, a focus on hope is also essential for balance. Hope is a little orphan with curly red hair singing, “The sun’ll come out ... tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow ... there’ll be sun.” Hope is a caterpillar that asks, “How do I become a butterfly?” And a butterfly who responds, “When you want to fly so much that you’re willing to give up being a caterpillar!” 

Wikipedia tells us that hope is an “optimistic state of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes” and Merriam-Webster tells us that hope means “to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true.” Scripture tells us that hope is a strong and confident expectation; a trust in what is yet unseen.

Striking a balance in hope is honoring the process as much as the outcome, seeing each step along the way as the way, and believing that the providence of God is always greater than our limited vistas. With this in mind, I used the letters in the word hope to share some of the elements I find helpful in striking a healthy balance in prayer, community and family, ministry, mission, and self-care. Those elements are home, help and humor, order, outlook, peace, and expect. 

Tend to your home

Striking a healthy balance in hope begins at home. Where is your home? I am not only referring to your physical address on the GPS, but what constitutes home for you in an expansive sense of the word? When I was in full-time vocation ministry, I was grateful to live in a large community with sisters of diverse ages and ministries and with living space for me to host small groups for retreats and activities. Hospitality was one of the defining characteristics of our home, whether it was welcoming friends and family members of our sisters, housing employees from our hospital during weather emergencies, or making room for giggling groups of high school girls for an after-school evening with the sisters. Creating and respecting healthy boundaries; inviting others into activity and prayer; and showing genuine empathy, care, and support to one another and to others made this a sacred place for me that I will forever treasure. 

Even when my ministry kept me on the road, I knew that upon my arrival back home, I would be warmly welcomed and expected to pick up where I left off. The anchor of a life-giving, nurturing home life sustained me through many joys and challenges, losses, disappointments, and successes. What is the quality of your home life? Is the time you spend there quality time where you participate actively in the life of those with whom you live? Does the quality of your home life nourish you for ministry?

Help and humor

Help and humor are essential in striking a balance in hope as a vocation minister. When I start to feel locked in on my needs, wants, ways, and desires, I realize it’s time to get out of myself and to look around for opportunities to help others. For me, helping others in small, often unnoticed ways helps me to re-focus and widen my lens. Helping others helps us to gain necessary perspective and can re-energize our efforts for things that are more challenging and time-consuming.

 Helping can take many forms, but one in particular that I’ve found especially meaningful is visiting with my sisters in our infirmary, listening to what’s on their minds and hearts and being refreshed by their wisdom and authenticity. When I am with them, there is usually a lot of laughter, even in the midst of their aches, pains, and burdens. Humor is a most beneficial medicine, and we would all do well to take a daily dose of it. A good belly laugh actually burns calories and releases endorphins, making for good feelings and positive vibes. It’s even more valuable when shared with a friend. Surrounding yourself, whenever possible, with light-hearted people who can laugh at their own foibles and imperfections and spread joy by their very presence can turn around even the worst of days.

Order

I often joke about being a pile versus file kind of person, and it works well for me, but there are times when even with the greatest amount of resilience, I can’t take another minute of my piles. Whether it’s rearranging the spice rack or balancing the house checking account, putting things back in order is a non-negotiable. Keep order in your living and working spaces, not with museum-like rigidity but to foster an atmosphere that is peaceful and inviting when you or others are in that space. 

When you feel frustrated and don’t have energy for the task at hand, go and “make order” somewhere—weed the garden, clean out a closet, or reorganize your workspace. Making physical order helps forge a way for us to make spiritual and emotional order as well, leaving us feeling more connected and balanced.

Ordering the hours of our day also helps us to stay in rhythm. The song “In Every Age” by Janet Sullivan Whitaker includes the line, “Teach us to make use of the time we have; teach us to be patient, even as we wait.” These words are like medicine for me when I start to feel like there aren’t enough hours in a day to accomplish all the tasks. We all have the same 24 hours. Try to keep certain daily or regular routines, especially prayer and worship, sitting at a table to eat, planning time for fun, going to bed and getting up at a consistent time, and pre-determining the amount of screen time you can handle in a day. All of this contributes to a healthy balance.

Outlook 

So much of our self-concept centers around our outlook. How I understand myself is often a reflection of how I see the world around me and vice versa. Do you sometimes see through a narrow lens, one that sees scarcity, impossibility, and diminishment? Other times can you see through a wide lens that sees abundance, possibilities, and opportunities for growth? Which is the lens that you most consistently look through? If your outlook leans toward the narrow lens, what can you do to expand your view?

Peace

Striking a healthy balance in hope requires peace of mind, body, and spirit. Remember, Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, “Peace be with you!” Who breathes peace on you? Do you breathe peace to your world? Peace isn’t simply a passive virtue that helps you maintain stability, but it is a generative gift that sustains you in difficult times and allows you to support and encourage others.

Expect

As you look at your life, are you checking your expectations? Are they realistic? Too high? Too low? Here are two challenges to consider. First, expect that no matter what comes your way, there will always be an open door or window—maybe even just a crawl space—for possibilities to bear fruit and bring joy. Second, expect that there will be chaos; that’s what the universe was born from! Let these two expectations permeate your mindset and learn to live within the necessary tension, suspending judgment long enough to really listen to your life speaking.

Expectation also has to do with how you think about your ministry. When ministry seems overwhelming and all-consuming or unfulfilling and lifeless, it’s good to remember that you are more than your ministry. As Pope Francis proclaims: “I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world.” Opportunities to be mission abound in the most ordinary experiences of our daily lives. There is never a moment when we are not in mission. Claiming this reality for ourselves gives us permission to see everything we’re about as sacred mission, as a bush afire. If you are struggling to see successes in your ministry and are beginning to lose hope, wake up to the mission that you are by simply being a child of God. 

In Evangelii Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) Pope Francis reminds us: “We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing, and freeing.” These words are full of hope and can restore us to healthy balance. Remember, no matter what your ministry, you are always in mission. Go, be mission: in prayer, in community, in relationships, in service, and in caring for yourself. 

Sister Michele Vincent Fisher, C.S.F.N. belongs to the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. She is the continuing formation minister for her province, a member of the vocation team, coordinator of the Delaware Valley Member Area for the NRVC, and a board member of the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations.

"KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON” is one of those slogans that lingers because it can be applied to so many situations. The phrase originated in the spring of 1939 in Britain as the country anticipated the dark days of World War II. The government designed the famous poster and printed more than two million copies, but according to Brittany Fowler, author of a history of the phrase for Business Insider magazine, “not one of them was posted, as officials had last-minute doubts about whether the content was too patronizing or obvious.”

Most of the posters were destroyed, but more than 60 years later, one of them surfaced when a bookseller found it hidden in a book he bought at an auction. He put it up over the cash register at his bookstore and customers began asking where they could purchase the poster. The shop owner started printing copies, and a craze was born. 

The phrase has been adopted, adapted, and some might say exhausted over the years. But its truth is timeless because it captures an essential quality of faithfulness, steadfastness, and resolve in difficult situations. 

So how do we apply this truth to vocation ministry? I’ve spent time as a vocation director myself, and I’ve given my share of retreats for worn-out ministers. Putting together the wisdom I’ve acquired from these experiences, I offer six ideas to encourage thriving among vocation ministers and other wanderers, wayfarers, and dreamers of God’s realm. I hope these thoughts will help us to keep the faith and carry on when the road seems treacherous and we discover more dead ends than expressways, more roadblocks than rest stops.

1. Live in the now

Thomas Merton once mused, “Time is given to us not to keep a faith we once had but to achieve a faith we need now.” Time passes quickly, and with so much suffering in the world, we are often advised to “keep the faith.” But what faith are we keeping? Is it the faith that served us as children when we were spoon fed without questioning? Is it the faith that leaves little room for doubt and often fails to give others the benefit of the doubt? 

What kind of faith do I need now? The older I get, the more doubt crowds in. I need a faith that leaves room for doubt and gives others the benefits of my own doubt, understanding that the opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty. I need a faith that helps in those times when fear threatens to get the best of me. 

The kind of faith we need today is one that reminds us that no matter the bitter disappointment or the beauty too stunning to describe, life goes on. Perhaps the work of faith is to simply know and believe that life goes on. 

I once heard an episode of National Public Radio’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. The guest was the late Norman Lear, who is credited with changing television from a “Father knows best” attitude to “Father knows least” through the character of Archie Bunker on All in the Family in the 1970s. The host asked Lear about his longevity. At the time, Lear was in his 90s and still working, still creating. Lear said essentially that he is guided by two words, “over” and “next.” The image he suggested is hanging a hammock between two poles marked “over” and “next.” So how does he remain creative? When one project is finished, whether it is a success or a failure, he moves on to the next. He doesn’t dwell on what happened before; it’s over. It’s on to what’s next.

Then there is the image of the hammock. To some it might be a symbol of a lazy summer’s day. But it also speaks to the creative process. Taking time to listen, to rest one’s mind, to calm one’s heart, to allow the new to emerge in the gentle rocking back and forth allows one to stay focused, stay faithful, remain calm, before carrying on to the next project, the next person, the next possibility.

When we apply this to religious life, and particularly vocation ministry, if we dwell only on our losses, we’ll get stuck. We must allow time for quiet to invite the Spirit to stir our creativity. And then we move on to what or who is next.

2. Keep your eyes on the road

The New York Times publishes a column on leadership called “Corner Office,” which carries interviews with CEOs of successful companies. In one such column, the CEO of a software company says he learned many life lessons from his rowing coach in college who gave him this image: “When you are driving and rain is pouring down, with the windshield wipers going, you can either watch the windshield wipers or you can watch the road. Which is going to be more successful?”

When we are going through difficult stretches on our journey, if we pay more attention to the rain, the storm, and the wipers, instead of keeping our eyes on the road, we’re going to be in trouble. And yet, how easy it is to lose our focus or compromise our vision when the storms of life move in around us.

Keeping our eyes on the road is what spiritual writers call mindfulness. It is the ability to center oneself, to pay attention to what is most important, rather than being distracted by the worries and fears that can cause us to lose our way. We can be “attentive and compassionate toward our own fear without being paralyzed by it,” spiritual activist Robert Gass writes. Awareness of fear “while cultivating … a capacity to think and act with clarity and power” is at the heart of the matter of mindfulness.

Cultivating this inner silence is an absolute necessity when confronted with a culture that is impatient and prone to shame and blame in public ways. Thus, if we are less than enthusiastic about our mission or ministry, we might check the pulse of our prayer life. Keeping our eyes on the road affords us the opportunity to pay attention. Our time in solitude will lead us to connect with others who share a passion for our community mission. 

3. Cultivate community

Author and pastor Rick Warren has noted that most people fall into three categories: caretakers, undertakers, and risk takers. Our communities are filled with people who dwell in each of these categories. Which category do you dwell in?

Most of us are caretakers—that is the nature of religious life. We take care of one another and those we are called to serve. We take good care of those we love and even those we find difficult to love. 

But we also know some undertakers in our communities—those who take us under, whose cynicism and sarcasm serve as sharp shovels to dig a grave and bury us. Sometimes we are the undertakers and we dig our own graves with our negativity. We sense the life drain from us as our energy is depleted by the shadows of doom and gloom that often shroud our world. When we feed on this negative energy of those who take us under, we will experience an acid reflux disease of the soul. Its symptoms are anger and bitterness. 

We need to surround ourselves with people who are not bitter, who do not suffer from lethargy of spirit, with people who remain grounded in hope. We need to surround ourselves with risk takers, people who enlarge our minds, hearts, and imaginations and instill hope.
The biblical tradition is filled with risk takers. From Abraham and Sarah through Elizabeth and Zechariah, from Jacob and Sarah to Mary and Joseph, from the prophets of old to the first disciples and witnesses to the Resurrection, we have numerous examples of ancestors in faith who took the ultimate risk to trust God and say yes to what seemed incomprehensible and unimaginable. 

What allowed them to be risk takers? It has something to do with this understanding that we are formed, known, dedicated, and appointed by God. Those are the verbs expressed in the call of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 1:5). He could be the patron saint for vocation directors because he thought he was too young to be a prophet. He needed more time in community to understand the history and spirituality, and to deepen his relationship with God. 

In reflecting on the call of Jeremiah, we often focus on his excuse instead of the original call of the prophet. Notice the actions taken by God: formed, knew, dedicated, and appointed. God forms us and has a purpose for us before we are born. Our vocation reaches back to the very mystery of life. We are formed and known by God.

Jeremiah’s call to be a prophet was his purpose in life. Discerning one’s purpose is at the heart of vocation ministry. When times get tough and losses mount, it is important to return to the original source of our call and to ask ourselves: What risks are we willing to take to promote and propel the reign of God in our lives? What risks are we willing to take to make our charism, spirituality, community, and ministry known to those who seek to belong? What risks are we willing to take in calling forth from our congregations a deeper and wider commitment that will shake, rattle, and roll those undertakers in our community who have their sights set on death rather than life?

4. Preserve your perspective

Returning to our original inspiration allows us to preserve our perspective. We keep our perspective by focusing on the question, “Are we living our charism in the most relevant way possible?”

I once heard an interview with a British historian who interviewed a survivor of a Nazi death camp for a book he was writing. After the interview, the historian called a cab and waited on the curb. He had a plane to catch and the cab was late. As he kept looking at his watch and no cab showed up, the historian became increasingly angry. He paced back and forth on the sidewalk, kept calling the cab company and yelling into his cell phone. At one point, the survivor of the Holocaust who had been watching him from her apartment window came downstairs to wait with him. She gently touched his arm and said, “What does it matter? Why worry about missing your plane? There will be another plane. When you have lived in a Nazi concentration camp these daily annoyances don’t matter so much.”

The prophet Micah put our lives in proper perspective when he wrote about what God requires of us. Three things, the prophet said: do justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with your God.

One of my favorite films is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, about a group of older folks who go to India to spend the twilight of their lives in a sort of resort-like paradise. But once they arrive, the hotel turns out to be less than they expected. Upon their arrival, Sonny, the young entrepreneur who is more of a dreamer than a manager but is trying to save the hotel that his father bequeathed to him, tells one of the guests who finds the accommodations substandard that there is a saying in India, “Everything will be all right in the end. And if everything is not all right, then it’s not the end.”

Life is often a matter of perspective. We keep our perspective by asking the important questions. Since so much in our world doesn’t make sense today, Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., former master general of the Dominicans, believes religious life must be the answer to the question, “What is the sense of human life today?” One image he offered that serves as a possible answer is that of a nun in Venezuela singing the “Exsultet” at an Easter Vigil he attended. “People must be able to recognize in our lives an invitation to be human in a new way,” he wrote. For him, the image of that nun singing in the dark to the paschal candle reflects the present and the future of religious life.

5. Embrace imperfection

As we seek to stay calm and carry on in the work to which we are called, we need to avoid getting caught in the roundabout of perfectionism. Or else we will just be going around in circles.

We confuse perfection with holiness or wholeness. It is easy to do since so much of our religious training has focused on perfection. That word, perfection, occurs early in Matthew’s gospel when Jesus talks about discipleship in the Sermon on the Mount. In the context of loving one’s enemies, Jesus says we must be “perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.” (I prefer Luke’s version where he says we must be “compassionate as our God is compassionate.”)

The pursuit of perfection can stifle our growth and development as a human person because we are called to be human, not perfect. We must be who we are and stop trying to live up to an ideal that we or others (parents, family, church, society, profession, and our own false self) place before us. In her book, Being Perfect, Anna Quindlen reflects on her desire as a young girl and high school student to be perfect by living up to the expectations of others. “Trying to be perfect may be inevitable for people who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world and its good opinion,” she writes. “What is hard, and amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”

Helping a candidate to religious life become him or herself within the parameters of a congregation’s charism and spirituality is at the heart of the process of discernment. If we are still living up to the expectations of others—of church or family or community or Wall Street or the people down the street—how can we help candidates discern their place in religious life if they are dealing with the same issues? It is important to ask ourselves if we are still trying to shape our lives in response to what other people think of us, of how they define us, of who they want us to be. Are we still trying to be perfect in an imperfect world? Or are we seeking to be whole and holy?

 In discernment with potential candidates for our communities, we must pay close attention to this question of perfectionism because, as Quindlen points out, one of the many downfalls of pursuing perfection is that it “makes you unforgiving of the faults of others.” But the main reason to avoid the path of perfection is that moment in our lives when we fail at something we truly wanted to succeed at, or we’ve lost a loved one who meant the world to us, or a dream has turned to dust—then “you will fall into the center of yourself” and “will look for some core to sustain you,” Quindlen writes. “And if you have been perfect all your life and have managed to meet all the expectations of your family, your friends, your community, your society, chances are excellent that there will be a black hole where the core ought to be.”

6. Practice kindness

Embracing our imperfections reminds us that we are not invincible and teaches us to be vulnerable. When we are in touch with our own vulnerability, we learn a little more about compassion. Creating an environment for discernment where the candidate experiences a compassionate presence and feels safe enough to share his or her story is one of the most important gifts a vocation minister can give to a person sensing a call to religious life.

To be a compassionate presence in a world where there is so much apathy and indifference, to practice such kindness, we must first go inside and sense the fire of God’s love burning within us. This is where compassion begins because as Henri Nouwen wrote, “When I really bring others into my innermost being and feel their pains, their struggles, their cries in my own soul, then I leave myself, so to speak, and become them; then I have compassion.”

Kindness is born when we learn compassion. And we learn to be compassionate from our losses. Not long ago I met the widow of a 50-year-old man who died suddenly of a heart attack. She and her two children, one in high school and the other a freshman in college, were devastated and grieving this most unacceptable loss. To help with her grief, she came to a retreat I was leading. She told me the story of her son, the freshman in college, who at his father’s funeral said to the brokenhearted congregation, “Dad, you gave me your name. It is the greatest gift you gave me. I will do my best to carry your name with the integrity, compassion, and love that you lived.”

 That young man is farther along the path of compassion than most. What will keep him going in the aftermath of such a great loss is the memory of his father’s integrity, compassion, and love, and the desire to live up to the name his father gave him. 

The memory of those who have loved us, encouraged us, and challenged us; the love and compassion we have experienced with God in silence and prayer, in the faith communities we serve, and in the people we have met along the way; and the name we carry that expresses the charism and spirituality of the life to which we are called—these will keep us going in our vocation ministry as we seek to create safe places for those we accompany. 

As we journey forward in faith, may these six points fuel our souls to keep the faith, stay calm, and carry on.  

A version of this article originally appeared in the Summer 2017 edition of HORIZON.

Father Joseph Nassal, C.PP.S. is a Missionary of the Precious Blood currently serving as vice provincial of the U.S. Province and living in Berkeley, California. He has worked in retreat, renewal, and reconciliation ministry since 1988. He also has published eight books and has served in justice and peace ministry and in formation, vocation, and leadership ministry for his congregation. 
 

Related articles

“Finding strength to uphold the dream of religious life,” by Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., HORIZON, Fall 2022.

“How I stay healthy and hopeful as a vocation minister,” by Sister Renée Daigle, M.S.C., HORIZON, Fall 2006.

“Hope in an anxious age,” by Sister Doris Gottemoeller, R.S.M., HORIZON, Spring 2011.
 

In January, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released its latest report detailing characteristics of those making a final profession in the past year. On behalf of the USCCB, The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) identified 144 adults who professed final vows in 2023 (68 women and 76 men, from 67 institutes). Among other things, the downloadable survey of this group showed:

• Average age of 36
• 22% born outside the U.S.
• 93% served in parish or volunteer ministry
• 82% regularly took part in Eucharistic Adoration 
• 77% took part in a "Come and See" event

The NRVC puts effort into networking on behalf of members; you can develop similar mutually beneficial relationships by learning about and attending conferences and events.

A pro tip: communities that are intentional about nurturing an intercultural future often connect to events that are important to Asian, Black, and Latino Catholics. This allows them to build relationships and to learn. Find such events here.

As part of the NRVC commitment to intercultural understanding, the forthcoming convocation (October 31-November 4) will include a pilgrimage bus trip on Monday, November 4 to local sites, with guides providing Native American historical and contemporary perspectives, opportunities for prayer, and more. Learn more about this additional opportunity.

NRVC publications recently earned 5 awards from the Catholic Media Association. These recognitions of our editorial excellence include:
 

• best supplement / special section
• best analytical writing
• best essay
• best feature
• best reporting on vocations

Congratulations to our talented team of writers, editors, translators, proofreaders, and graphic designers! See links to the award winning materials and lists of winning writers, etc. 

The Oct. 31-Nov. 4 NRVC Convocation in Minneapolis will include special recognition for groups and people who have made outstanding contributions.  The NRVC will present the following:
 

• The National Conference of Vicars for Religious (NCVR) will receive our highest recognition, the Harvest Award. The NCVR serves the vicars and episcopal delegates for religious serving in dioceses across the United States.
   
• Lifetime membership awards will be presented to  Marge Argyelan, director of database administration who will retire in August, and Sister Josita Colbert, S.N.D.deN., HORIZON contributor, former board member and former member of the African American Vocation Committee of the NRVC.
   
• In addition to the above awards, the NRVC is welcoming nominations for the Outstanding Recognition and Mustard Seed awards by August 15. Details and the form for making nominations are here.

Thank you to the following Member Area Coordinators who completed their terms of service on June 30:

• Hudson Valley: Sister Maria Amador, P.C.M. (2 years)
• Mid-Atlantic: Sister Kathleen Persson, O.S.B. (3 years)
• Midwest: Sister Kathleen Branham, O.S.F. (4 years)
• Southeast: Sister Regina Hlavac, D.C. (2 years)

We appreciate your good work to animate NRVC members in your area and look forward to seeing you at future vocation events. The August newsletter will announce the newly selected Member Area Coordinators.

IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, Jesus tells a parable about how seeds depend on the quality of soil. Jesus wants his listeners to know that sometimes the “seed” of the Word falls on fertile soil, other times on rocky soil, with consequences according to soil  quality. To create good soil in the field of vocations, it is critical to till the “soil” of relationships with our sisters and brothers in community to maximize our actions as vocation ministers. The “soil” of young adult relationships must also be prepared.

My vocation team and I have been working this soil for years, and I hope to share steps that we—the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan—have taken to involve all our members in this ministry of engaging women to consider religious life.

The ground

To bear fruit, the soil must be rich enough to support growth. This takes preparation, enrichment, time, and nurture. Gardeners and farmers in relationship with the land care about how it’s doing. Alongside members themselves, our “land” in vocation ministry is young adults. The advice we have all heard from many knowledgeable sources is to go where young adults are and not wait for them to come to us. Some of our sisters do go where they might meet young adults in the course of their ministry. We have asked members to do for vocations what they can do. Some are able to host discerners, touring with them when they visit our motherhouse campus. Others can share a meal or pray with or for them. Some can mentor. Whatever sisters are able to do, we ask them to do. We assume our current members want new members, but we don’t assume that every sister can do everything it takes to initiate someone into the life. This assumption has worked, although it takes some creativity from the vocation team.

Religious life as it is expressed in many religious congregations is not the same as it was when our members were engaged in the same few sponsored ministries as in previous decades. Young people today usually are not familiar with contemporary expressions of religious life. They get a more accurate idea of us by spending time with us. As we interact with young adults, we try to tickle their imaginations and stir possibilities in them. As they witness our communal spirit and our solidarity with those who are poor or on the margins, they may see possibilities for themselves and their gifts.

Sisters in various parts of the country have the experience of meeting regularly with young women in groups known originally as the Nuns and Nones, which today is becoming better known as Sisters and Seekers. These young women, some of them graduate students and young professionals, are in search of something more in their lives, and many have found rich sharing in gathering with Catholic sisters. Conversation with these young women is an example of the accompaniment Pope Francis encourages. These may not be women who will join us as members, but we sense that our conversations are impacting their vocations, which makes our time with them very much a part of our expansive understanding of vocation ministry. 

Another way to “work the soil” has been to invite young women to celebrations such as jubilees. These days can inspire them, not only by the experience of community and the joy among participants, but by the many years our jubilarians and other members have remained faithful to their commitment to religious life. One young woman marveled about her aunt who is a Dominican, “I can’t imagine doing anything for that long!”

We put effort into cultivating the vocational soil of our sisters. Sometimes our sisters say, “I don’t understand young people today.” It’s true young people have been formed in different ways and are dealing with many different pressures and influences than what our members remember from their long-ago ministry years. This reality is why our team has livestreamed workshops on characteristics and cultural influences on young people today. In an effort to understand better, one of our team members committed to listen to current music of the younger generations as one way to keep her abreast of their culture and issues.

Two books by the renowned researcher Jean Twenge, iGen and Generations, have been helpful for our community. Springtide Research Institute, located in Minnesota and accessible online at springtideresearch.org, is another helpful resource. These resources formed the basis of several livestream presentations our team gave to the whole congregation. From the feedback we received, we concluded that sisters were hungry for this awareness. These presentations helped demystify who young people are today and how they approach life and religious practice. A new resource we will be using is the book God’s Call is Everywhere. This is a well-researched book that compiles studies from various parts of the world about women who have recently chosen religious life. It highlights elements they considered as they made their vocational choices.

When it comes to multimedia as a way to convey a synopsis of these resources, we’ve learned that shorter is better. Our team put together several half-hour presentations that we delivered to both live and online audiences of sisters.

Seeds we have planted

We’ve worked hard to educate our membership, and we also consciously give them opportunities to supplement their prayers. The following concrete actions helped our members get involved.

To involve our retired sisters initially, we created a system of monthly sign-ups to be Prayer Partners with the young women who were discerning with us. While not disclosing personal information about the discerners, we asked sisters to sign up each month. This allowed them to opt out in a given month or sign up knowing that we were strictly asking them to pray for a young woman and nothing else. We stopped at the end of a year as interest waned. However, we plan to restart this effort. Being responsible for praying for an individual is something retired sisters can do for vocations.   

Like many congregations, ours developed a prayer for vocations that was simple and short, fitting easily on the back of a card picturing Saint Dominic, our founder. It included our desire to be welcoming to new members. Periodically we distribute them, as throughout the year we use different prayers together at the end of Mass.

During the 2018 Synod on Young People, the Church, and Vocational Discernment, we asked sisters to pray with and for those gathered in Rome. The resulting document, Christus Vivit, holds some key recommendations and talking points for us as religious, but also for the whole church as we accompany young people in their faith journey. Pope Francis recommends in Christus Vivit (241-242) that accompaniment is one gift older adults can offer to younger members of our parish communities. 

Our sisters who minister or are involved in parishes can find out if there’s an active youth group or outreach to youth in the parish. While sisters may be too busy to get involved in the youth group themselves, there are ways to support it. A simple one is to just ask about it and find out what they do when they are together. If the parish is fortunate enough to have a youth minister, a conversation with that person shows interest and support of his or her ministry. From these simple conversations, we may see a way the community can get involved.

For our members who already feel too busy, we suggest these less time-consuming actions. At Mass, try sitting next to the young adult representative on the parish council and see if you can get to know him or her.  Ask a young adult to be a reader or Eucharistic minister at one of your parish Masses. Ask a college age young woman to teach or co-teach one of your parish’s religious education classes. High school age young people can be asked to tutor younger children in grade school, to read stories to the kindergarten class, or help coach a team. Talking with them after Mass or after these activities helps the young person know you see something in them and trust them to carry out a ministry of which they are capable. This could even be a gift to them—helping them be aware of talents they might not recognize in themselves.

A popular activity with our sisters is taking part in our Come and See discernment Retreats. Various sisters talk about their own calls to religious life and their ministries. Some sisters are part of a gospel sharing group, or they have meals and social conversations with the young women who attend the Come and Sees. Still other sisters give presentations about our charism or about how to discern. Some sisters bring in meals when our retreat center needs help; they play a sort of “Sister-Dash” service role.

When discerners come for weeklong visits, sisters readily agree to meet with them for meals or focused conversations or tours of campus. Away from the motherhouse campus, sisters on mission have invited local young women for meals with the community and meet regularly with discerners, helping them think through their choices and praying with them. They also serve as a sounding board when discerners return from visits to the motherhouse.

Adjacent to our motherhouse is one of our sponsored universities, making it relatively easy to secure spiritual companions for Busy Person’s Retreats. Several sisters partnered with these young adults as they progressed through the retreat. 

As Siena College’s campus ministry was welcoming new students to campus in the fall, it seemed natural to host a game night at the University Center. Several sisters came to have fun playing board and card games with the students in a relaxed atmosphere.

During Catholic Sisters Week, the university regularly invites sisters for lunch in the student dining room. A section is reserved so students always know this is the day for sisters to come to lunch where students, faculty, and staff members can gather.

Over the past 20 years, our sisters have been part of the preaching conferences for Dominican high schools and colleges across the country. For a week, sisters accompany students in small reflection groups, workshops, activities, prayer, Masses, and service experiences that enhance student understanding of themselves as preachers of God’s Word, or as Pope Francis calls them, “missionary disciples.” One evening is devoted to meeting sisters for an ice cream social and conversation.

Communicating what’s good

We use several means to keep members aware of what’s happening in vocation ministry. One is a bi-monthly article in our Congregation Communique that lists happenings and mentions sisters who have been involved in a vocation activity. Our team and other branches of the community send out periodic emails requesting actions at vocation-related events. We also highlight actions members have already taken. We regularly ask for prayers for upcoming Come and See Retreats. 

As small governance groups meet, we ask the sisters to talk about what they have done to promote vocations since they last met. Each of these efforts keeps new membership on sisters’ minds. These communications garner positive feedback and often result in follow-up actions. 

I once took a course to learn to walk a tightrope, and  while making the walk, I heard my teammates shout encouraging remarks to me all along the way. I believe our sisters may need just such verbal reassurance from our team, so when members agree to reach out to young adults or attend parish events to meet them, our team encourages these sisters. When sisters agree to accompany discerners on their journey, we offer guidelines that help in the conversations, suggesting they be themselves, reminding them that authenticity is the most important asset they bring to the relationship. Whether addressing life in community, communal prayer, or ministry choices, many ideas come out of our own experience. Whether discerners are interested in social justice issues, theology, scripture, earth literacy, or religious education, the team tries to match them to have conversations with sisters in those specific interest areas. 

Cultivation and nourishment

In our experience, the following activities draw young people together to feed their spirits and uplift them. Young adults tend to be drawn by the idea of a community gathering for a purpose.

Weekly, our university students meet for an evening of Eucharistic Adoration in the university chapel. This draws a group of students, not all Catholics. Sisters join when possible. A limiting factor for our sisters is the time, which is 8 p.m. Students also pray the Rosary together. Additionally sisters invite students to something we call Peace Prayer in our chapel. 

Dominican Youth Ministry-USA is part of an international organization of young adults engaged in their faith, reaching out in justice activities and meeting primarily online. An annual service week draws an additional set of young people to spend a week in some part of the country in need of help. The organization also offers a Leadership Component for six weeks during summers to work the land, pray, and receive spiritual input.

Although our universities offer regular retreats, there is always the option to offer only an evening or day of reflection. These Step Away Days build in quiet reflection time, input, exercises in decision-making, and suggestions for short readings and supportive podcasts. These days are meant to have lasting effect as the young people go through their school year.

A relatively easy experience to organize is an Emmaus Walk, in which several pairs of people walk together, talking and listening to one another share what is important to them. This can be part of a reflection day or a separate event beginning with the story of the two disciples walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus after the resurrection of Jesus (Luke 24:13-35). 

Rocks and weeds

Engaging deliberately with young adults is not always smooth. A familiar pattern for many congregations is that our members are now older adults—the large majority above age 70. As older adults, most are retired from active ministry with young people and have little day-to-day contact with them. However, even those in our healthcare facility have contact with young adult nurses and other caregivers. Recently two newer arrivals at our healthcare center invited two aides to attend a Come and See Retreat. Sisters were already in relationship with them, and the invitation was offered. Sisters have nieces and grandnieces with whom they are very much in relationship. It’s also important for sisters to realize they don’t have to be in relationship with every young woman in the country but rather to pay attention to the young women already in their lives. God may be calling those young women to our life.

Many of our members have learned to be self-sufficient—except when it comes to social media. Some of us  feel lost or far behind. This is a place where younger people are glad to be asked for help. They rather enjoy being ahead of us when it comes to technology.

Technology aside, another stumbling block for sisters is that many young (and not-so-young) adults have stopped attending Mass regularly. This gives sisters and associates less access to them even if sisters are active in their local parishes. However, the young adults they do meet at the parish may be just the ones God is calling. It helps to stay alert for young women with the qualities our congregations are seeking.

New ground

Each spring after our two sponsored universities complete the academic year, a group of students arrive on our campus for a 10-day intensive Environmental Leadership Experience at our campus permaculture site. Students learn about the principles of permaculture gardening and how they align with our congregation’s values of preserving and honoring Earth and her gifts. As part of this experience, several segments of evening time are dedicated to reflecting on these same principles and the values of preserving and caring for our Earth and its gifts. At the end of these 10 days, students gather for a presentation to sisters and participants about what they did with the Earth and why it was important.

This year, we are inviting young women interested in religious life to join us a weekend ahead of this permaculture experience to learn more about religious life and reflect on vowed life as a way to communally commit to justice for the Earth.

A commonality in all of these efforts to cultivate the soil is that we need to use ordinary, secular language  when talking to people outside of religious life, including Catholics. We’ve received feedback from young people asking us to translate our language into terms they can understand. For instance, until they get used to us, we want to say foundations or gifts instead of charism when speaking about our gifts for the church. We want to say  goals or priorities instead of Chapter enactments.  We may even say pray about life decisions instead of discern. This insight came from young people who felt free enough in a conversation to say, “I don’t get it. What are you talking about?”

As we move further into a post-COVID world, we are aware that young people need caring adults in their lives. Research by the Springtide Institute found that if a young person has at least one caring adult in her or his life, that young person does better in school and in reaching life goals. In this post-COVID world, attention to relationships is more important than ever. God has given us this moment in the church to be involved in vocation ministry, and we must enrich the soil, till it, and plant all the seeds we are capable of planting. n         

Related article and videos

“Building relationships with young people” by Sister Tarianne DeYonker, O.P., HORIZON Spring 2020, Vol. 45, No. 2.

“Using all avenues to support vocation ministry.” Publicly available video of a one-hour interactive webinar about communal involvement in vocation ministry. Part of the Religious Life Today series supported by the GHR Foundation. tinyurl.com/544rwtk7

2020 Study on Recent Vocations to Religious Life. Sixteen-minute video summary of the study. tinyurl.com/4dbdskvc

Sister Tarianne DeYonker, O.P. is a member of the Adrian Dominican Vocation Team and lives in Adrian, Michigan. She also offers creative writing workshops.

The NRVC gives thanks to the U.S. Council of Serra for its outstanding support of vocation ministry at the National Eucharistic Congress (NEC) in Indianpolis in July. The Serrans generously sponsored 50 vocation booths, including the booth of the National Religious Vocation Conference. Vocation ministers appreciated the Serrans’ warm welcome, thoughtfulness, and encouragement.

Over 50,000 Catholics passed through the Convention Center, many showing interest in learning more about vowed communal life. Questions varied from curiosity about the vows, where we minister, how we pray, how to hear God's call, and how to contact a vocation director to begin discernment.

 Members of the NRVC served as volunteers, were ushers at Mass, and took part in the Eucharistic pilgrimage. NRVC members also attended the daily morning and evening sessions in the Lucas Oil Stadium, hearing more about the Eucharist. The next National Eucharistic Congress will be in 2033. 

From left to right are Anne Roat (U.S. Serra Council president), Greg Schweitz (past president of Serra International), Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. of the NRVC, and John Liston (U.S. Serra executive director).

Seven new member area coordinators began two-year terms of  service on July 1:

• Sister Anita Quigley, S.H.C.J., in the Delaware Valley with Sister Michele Fisher, C.S.F.N.
• Sister Jenny Wilson, R.S.M. in the Hudson Valley with Sister Gloria Ardenio Agnes, M.M.
• Mrs. Teri Iverson (Precious Blood Sisters, Dayton) began serving earlier this year in Lake Erie/Ohio River with Sister Caryn Crook, O.S.F.
• Friar Emanuel Vasconcelos, O.F.M.Conv. in the Mid-Atlantic with Sister Jean Rhoads, D.C.
• Sister Heather Jean Foltz, O.S.B. in the Midwest with Sister Jill Reuber, O.S.B.
• Sister Paz Vital, O.S.B., began serving in the Pacific Northwest with Sister Chero Chuma, C.S.J.P. earlier this year.
• Sister Kim Xuan Nguyen, C.C.V.I., in the Southwest with Brother Mark Motz, S.M.                                                         

The Southeast Member Area is seeking a member to serve as a coordinator with Mrs. Renee Dee (Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette). Consider volunteering for this leadership role by contacting Renee Dee at lsvocationsoffice@gmail.com or Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net.

Since it was established in 2014, the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations (NFCRV) has helped 52 individuals to pursue their dream of religious life. Dozens of religious communities have benefited from NFCRV grants which  cover the cost of education debt. The most recent beneficiary is Alyssa Sidelka, a candidate with the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis of Penance and of Charity in Tiffin, Ohio. She was inspired to join the Tiffin Franciscans by their charism to adhere to Jesus' words: "whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."

Alyssa attended Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland State University, and Cleveland Marshall College of Law. She has earned both a Bachelor of Arts and J.D. and hopes to serve those most affected by the criminal justice system, both victims and defendants. She is also interested in restorative justice programs. Additionally, Alyssa hopes her vocation may help guide others into a relationship with God.

Learn more...

Are you aware that, like most professions, the practice of vocation ministry has a code of ethics? The NRVC code of ethics has been carefully developed by ministers and ethicists to maintain the highest possible standards of ministry. By reading and following the code, the NRVC intends to protect vulnerable adults and minors (those considering a church vocation), to minister free of bias, and to ensure that ministers and religious communities themselves can flourish in an atmosphere that maintains proper boundaries and good conduct. Even if you have already taken our ethics workshop, we encourage you to download and read the code and adhere to it. It's a well-written document worthy of sharing with your leaders and all involved in vocation ministry in your community.

Bring along a guest

This year’s keynote presentations, liturgies, and conversations are important for everyone to experience together. We recognize that vocation ministry needs more than one person per community, so the NRVC is offering an incentive to all its members to bring along a guest to walk humbly together. Convocation begins with an opening reception and ritual on Thursday evening, October 31, and ends after the awards dinner on Sunday night, November 3, 2024.  At Convocation, expect to:

1. Create lifelong memories around timely topics.
2. Learn more about cultivating what’s possible in vocation ministry.
3. Dialogue with inspiring keynote presenters.
4. Exchange ideas and encouragement throughout the event.
5. Pray with a motivated community through vibrant prayer and Mass.
6. Experience the NRVC culture of collaboration, joy, and hope.
7. Belong to a professional space that values an intercultural approach to ministry.
8. Celebrate the charism of each religious institute on All Saints and All Souls Day.

Every NRVC member can invite a non-member of their choice. Guests can be from leadership teams, formators, communicators, newer entrants, families, or anyone supporting vocation ministry. In other words, the guest is not a current member. When a member brings along a guest who pays the non-member rate, the member will receive $300 toward their 2025 membership renewal! For each license member who brings a non-member, $300 will be applied to your 2025 license membership renewal. This means potentially if all five license members each bring a guest at the non-member rate, your community receives $1,500 towards your 2025 license renewal!

Register for Convocation

1. Register to attend Convocation for $700. If you are bringing a non-member guest, at the checkout, indicate the full name of your guest in the comments box.
2. Register your guest to attend Convocation at the non-member price of $1,000. At the checkout, write your full name indicating this person is your guest in the comments box.
3. Shortly after Convocation, $300 will be applied to your 2025 membership renewal.

Please note, after October 1, registration is $700 for members and $1,000 for non-members.

Make hotel reservations

The Doubletree Hotel at 1500 Park Place Blvd, Minneapolis, MN, is in Saint Louis Park, across from The Shops at West End. There's free car parking, free Wi-Fi, an indoor swimming pool, and a fitness center. There are several restaurants within walking distance from the hotel. The NRVC has contracted a block of rooms for three days prior and 3 days after Convocation for a reduced rate of $129 per night plus 10.525% taxes. Check-in is after 3:00 pm and check-out is before 10:00 am. 

Please do your part to help defray the NRVC's meeting expenses by reserving your hotel room through our link with Nix Conference and Meeting Management. While it may be cheaper for reservations elsewhere, the NRVC depends upon your reservations to keep the overall rate of the conference affordable.  Room rates are guaranteed until October 6, 2024. Please use this link for your hotel reservation.

Download the Convocation draft schedule. October 31^st Pre-Convocation workshop information can be found here. All Convocation questions can be directed to Sister Debbie Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net

NRVC members are encouraged to attend the final two sessions of "Talk it Up Tuesdays" on April 1 (focusing on charism) and April 8 (focusing on inspiration).  These free online sessions consist of a short presentation followed by small-group and large-group discussion.  Learn more and register here.

Sister Carmella Luke's vocation ministry includes some built-in time for fun. She looks forward each year to hosting "S'mores with the Sisters," an event that builds relationships with students and staff at Mount Marty University. Apart from her ministry, she enjoys raising chickens so much that her sisters have dubbed her the "Chicken Whisperer." Read more...

All vocation and formation ministers are invited to a “Synodal Consultation for Formators and Vocation Directors” Zoom event sponsored by the NRVC and the Religious Formation Conference on March 20, 6:30-8 p.m. Central Daylight Time.

The General Secretariat of the Synod is encouraging further consultation ahead of October’s Second Session of the Synodal Assembly in Rome. This consultation will be focused on the question: How can we be a synodal church in mission? Sister Tere Maya, C.C.V.I. will begin the Zoom gathering by sharing her insights about the synodal process of listening to one another.  More than 200 people are already registered for this event. Further details and a registration link are here.

NRVC Member Areas

Please do not publish this information as it is for members only.

General member area information

Member Directory and interactive map

Delaware Valley

Next meeting: Spring TBA

Minutes from January 23, 2023, March 2, 2023, June 5, 2023, August 29, 2023

Minutes from May 18, 2022, November 21, 2022

Minutes from April 27, 2021, Minutes from January 19, 2021

Coordinators

Sister Michele Fisher, C.S.F.N. | sorellamichele@aol.com
vacant position

Heartland

Next meeting: April 30 - May 2, 2024, Atchinson, KS

Minutes from May 11, 2023

Minutes from October 13, 2022

Minutes from April 22, 2021

Coordinators

Sister Réjane Cytacki, S.C.L. | rcytacki@scls.org
Ms. Michelle Horton | mhorton@sinsinawa.org

Hudson Valley

Next meeting: March 7,  2024 via Zoom
10:00 - 11:00 am ET

Minutes from October 28, 2023
Minutes from June 10, 2023
Minutes from April 25, 2023
Minutes from June 22, 2022

                              Coordinators

Sr. Maria Amador, P.C.M.  | info@sisterspcm.org
Sister Gloria Agnes Ardenio, M.M. | gagnes@mksisters.org 

Lake Erie/Ohio River

Next meeting: May 9, 2024, 10-11:00 am ET
Discussion on Criteria Then and Now

Minutes from October 23-25, 2023

Minutes from February 23, 2023, May 8, 2023

Minutes from October 28, 2021, Minutes from April 22, 2021

Coordinators

 Sr. Caryn Crook, O.S.F. | ccrook@sosf.org​ 
Mrs. Teri Iverson | tiverson@cppsadmin.org

Mid-Atlantic

Next meeting: April 30,  2024, Washington DC/hybrid, noon-3pm

Minutes from October 25, 2023

Minutes from May 17, 2023

Minutes from May 18, 2022

Minutes from December 6, 2021, Minutes from May 4, 2021, 
Minutes from February 24, 2021

Coordinators

Sister Kathy Persson, O.S.B. | kpersson@osbva.org
Sr. Jean Rhoades, DC | jean.rhoades@doc.org

Midwest

Next meeting: Spring 2024

Minutes from October 10, 2023

Minutes from May 11, 2023

Minutes from May 16, 2022

Minutes from October 19, 2021

Coordinators

Sister Heather Jean Foltz | heatherfoltz@benedictine.com
Sister Jill Reuber, O.S.B.  | jreuber@thedome.org

New England

Next meeting: Spring 2024

Minutes from November 28, 2023

Minutes from May 2, 2023

Minutes from March 31, 2022

Minutes from October 14, 2021, Minutes from March 18, 2021

Coordinators

Mrs. Sandy Piwko  | sandy@assumptioncenter.org
Sister June Fitzgerald, O.P. | jfitzgerald@oppeace.org

Pacific Northwest

Next meeting: April 30 - May 2, 2024, St. Placid Priory, Lacey, WA 

Minutes from Planning Meeting, November 1, 2023

Minutes from April 21, 2023

Minutes from May 7, 2022

Minutes from April 30, 2021

 Coordinators

Sister Chero Chuma, C.S.J.P. | cherochuma@gmail.com
Sister Paz Vital, OSB | pvital@stplacid.org