‘When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him. “Follow me”’ John 21:15-19
This week, we celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week. During this time, we recognize, pray, and reflect on the fruitful vocations we have now and continue to grow in the Catholic Church. To formally answer the question of the title, “What is a Vocation?”, it’s a call from God, a mission towards holiness that every catholic has, and a gift that gives us true joy and fulfillment. When we think of a vocation, we mainly notice Priesthood and Religious life but we also should be aware of faithful marriages and singles. All of these paths in life have a purpose and bring us closer to Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother as we build up His kingdom here on earth. We also tend to forget how much God loves us and wants us to be happy. While He knows that we are sinful people, God still loves us and forgives us through our brokenness. He has a plan for us, and we need to figure out what that plan may be.
Discernment:
When we think of discernment, the number one priority is our call to holiness. In today’s world, it is easy to turn away from God and follow our own desires. When we ask people in the general public what they want to do growing up, they just focus on the job they would like to pursue and to be married. But we hardly hear anything regarding God’s desires for them or having God as the center of their career.
I grew up knowing this mindset, and I feel many people nowadays do. I hadn’t thought of being holy until I reached high school. When I received the Sacrament of Confirmation, I remembered that I wanted to do more for the Church and did not know why. I just decided to go to Mass every Sunday on my own because most of my family stopped going to Church. I then decided to participate more at my parish and to find ways to become closer to God. I joined a youth group starting my freshman year of high school and eventually became one of the leaders when I was a junior.
Not only did I become involved in my youth group, but I also became an altar server when we consecrated our diocese (Diocese of Metuchen) to our Lady of Guadalupe in 2019. During this time, I prayed to God, asking what else I could do to please Him. I also participated in retreats and meetings on discernment, where I learned more about the Catholic Faith with other students my age. Going to these retreats and meetings brought me closer to God than ever before. I also witnessed how important it is to be close to Our Blessed Mother as well.
To this day, I am still discerning what God has planned for me, and I am willing to follow whatever it might be. Whether marriage, priesthood, religious, single, I am eager to find out through prayer and reflecting.
Marriage:
In Today’s world, we often think of marriage as a man and woman falling in love, but we don’t always think of God as the center of this vocation. When a husband and wife get married, the two spouses become one flesh and grow in faith together to strengthen their relationship with God and His Holy Church. Having a spouse you love so dearly is very important and knowing that you have someone to be with to lead both of you and your kids to Heaven. Having a faithful marriage is very important because if one partner turns away from God at some point in their life, their partner can help lift them towards God’s goodness.
Priesthood/Religious:
Similarly, priests and religious have the same intentions as a married couple. While marriage keeps your spouse and kids close to the Faith, a priest has to keep the faithful in Church. A priest sacrifices his whole life to the Church and helps lead more souls to heaven. There is the sacrifice of celibacy, but all vocations have a sacrifice when you think about it. When a man gets married, they have to be dedicated to their wife and give up some of their alone time to make his wife (and kids) happy. When we hear of being celibate, we could easily see it as a burden but it actually is a gift. As a Priest, you become dedicated to the Church and become the Bride of Christ. You are there for the people, and help the faithful to heaven and be the witness of Christ to the world we live in. If a priest were able to marry, there would be times it may be difficult for him to celebrate the Sacraments if he had a wife and kids.
Single:
People may be wondering how a single person can be joyful and fulfilled. Well, maybe God puts that desire in them mainly to explore what they can do to evangelize the Faith to people who need it. Singles can have more time in prayer and exploring if that is the vocation they are being called to or if God has other plans for that person’s life. They also can explore more time in community service and help people at their home parish and diocese.
Conclusion:
While we all may think of different paths in life, we cannot forget that we should always continue to please our Lord and Holy Mother Church. I have many devotions I practice daily, and sometimes it can be difficult. Prayer is not always easy because many material things in the world can distract us. For example, our phones can be a huge distraction and rotten our minds by scrolling through social media for hours. Not saying social media is not always a bad thing, but it can ruin your mind with videos that can be addicting to watch and procrastinate you from praying. I tend to do that more often than I should but striving to break that habit. Let us pray that we continue to open our hearts to You, Oh Lord, and bring us closer to Your Will and help us bring more fruitful vocations in our Church as we pray,
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
This week, we celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week. During this time, we recognize, pray, and reflect on the fruitful vocations we have now and continue to grow in the Catholic Church. To formally answer the question of the title, “What is a Vocation?”, it’s a call from God, a mission towards holiness that every catholic has, and a gift that gives us true joy and fulfillment. When we think of a vocation, we mainly notice Priesthood and Religious life but we also should be aware of faithful marriages and singles. All of these paths in life have a purpose and bring us closer to Our Lord and Our Blessed Mother as we build up His kingdom here on earth. We also tend to forget how much God loves us and wants us to be happy. While He knows that we are sinful people, God still loves us and forgives us through our brokenness. He has a plan for us, and we need to figure out what that plan may be.
Discernment:
When we think of discernment, the number one priority is our call to holiness. In today’s world, it is easy to turn away from God and follow our own desires. When we ask people in the general public what they want to do growing up, they just focus on the job they would like to pursue and to be married. But we hardly hear anything regarding God’s desires for them or having God as the center of their career.
I grew up knowing this mindset, and I feel many people nowadays do. I hadn’t thought of being holy until I reached high school. When I received the Sacrament of Confirmation, I remembered that I wanted to do more for the Church and did not know why. I just decided to go to Mass every Sunday on my own because most of my family stopped going to Church. I then decided to participate more at my parish and to find ways to become closer to God. I joined a youth group starting my freshman year of high school and eventually became one of the leaders when I was a junior.
Not only did I become involved in my youth group, but I also became an altar server when we consecrated our diocese (Diocese of Metuchen) to our Lady of Guadalupe in 2019. During this time, I prayed to God, asking what else I could do to please Him. I also participated in retreats and meetings on discernment, where I learned more about the Catholic Faith with other students my age. Going to these retreats and meetings brought me closer to God than ever before. I also witnessed how important it is to be close to Our Blessed Mother as well.
To this day, I am still discerning what God has planned for me, and I am willing to follow whatever it might be. Whether marriage, priesthood, religious, single, I am eager to find out through prayer and reflecting.
Marriage:
In Today’s world, we often think of marriage as a man and woman falling in love, but we don’t always think of God as the center of this vocation. When a husband and wife get married, the two spouses become one flesh and grow in faith together to strengthen their relationship with God and His Holy Church. Having a spouse you love so dearly is very important and knowing that you have someone to be with to lead both of you and your kids to Heaven. Having a faithful marriage is very important because if one partner turns away from God at some point in their life, their partner can help lift them towards God’s goodness.
Priesthood/Religious:
Similarly, priests and religious have the same intentions as a married couple. While marriage keeps your spouse and kids close to the Faith, a priest has to keep the faithful in Church. A priest sacrifices his whole life to the Church and helps lead more souls to heaven. There is the sacrifice of celibacy, but all vocations have a sacrifice when you think about it. When a man gets married, they have to be dedicated to their wife and give up some of their alone time to make his wife (and kids) happy. When we hear of being celibate, we could easily see it as a burden but it actually is a gift. As a Priest, you become dedicated to the Church and become the Bride of Christ. You are there for the people, and help the faithful to heaven and be the witness of Christ to the world we live in. If a priest were able to marry, there would be times it may be difficult for him to celebrate the Sacraments if he had a wife and kids.
Single:
People may be wondering how a single person can be joyful and fulfilled. Well, maybe God puts that desire in them mainly to explore what they can do to evangelize the Faith to people who need it. Singles can have more time in prayer and exploring if that is the vocation they are being called to or if God has other plans for that person’s life. They also can explore more time in community service and help people at their home parish and diocese.
Conclusion:
While we all may think of different paths in life, we cannot forget that we should always continue to please our Lord and Holy Mother Church. I have many devotions I practice daily, and sometimes it can be difficult. Prayer is not always easy because many material things in the world can distract us. For example, our phones can be a huge distraction and rotten our minds by scrolling through social media for hours. Not saying social media is not always a bad thing, but it can ruin your mind with videos that can be addicting to watch and procrastinate you from praying. I tend to do that more often than I should but striving to break that habit. Let us pray that we continue to open our hearts to You, Oh Lord, and bring us closer to Your Will and help us bring more fruitful vocations in our Church as we pray,
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.