Vocational Reflection

The word ‘discernment’ is used to describe the whole process by which we listen to God and listen to our own hearts, gradually coming to know who God is calling us to be and where he is leading us. It is not something we just decide to do one afternoon, like baking a cake or watching a film. It is a journey that involves patience, honesty, perseverance, generosity, courage, and […]

Each vocation is a call to follow Christ – The lifestyle and demands of each particular vocation are very different, but there are some common threads. Each vocation is a commitment to love in a certain way and to draw closer to others – whether that closeness is through marriage or service or prayer. Each vocation challenges us to live our faith more deeply and to follow Christ more closely.

Vocation as a call to be the unique person you are made to be – There is yet another level to ‘vocation’. Each saint is unique, and you are called to be holy not just in a general way, but in the particular way that God has made you to be. God created you as a unique individual, and calls you by a name that no-one else has been given.

Vocation as a call to a concrete ‘state of life’ – Christ has always called some people to follow him in concrete ways, by giving them a more specific vocation. In previous generations, the word ‘vocation’ would only have been used to describe the lives of priests and religious – because these people had in some sense been called ‘away’ from an ordinary life to a life of celibacy and

How do I know my vocation? Monk, religious priest, nun, marriage, single life? Many voices are speaking both within me and around me. Here are 3 essential criteria upon which you can rely: Listen to the deepest desire of your heart Test the “endurance” of this deepest desire The “Reality Principle” revisited: it is the Church who calls Discerning Your Vocation – a catholic guide for young adults – Community

You already have a vocation – This vocation to holiness is already a part of your life, given to you at your baptism, and it is so important to remember that. Whatever situation you are in now, however unsatisfactory it seems, you already have a vocation. You might be working, studying, travelling, unemployed, or caring for someone at home; you might be very content, or utterly miserable; full of hope,

The fundamental vocation of every human being is to love. This is not obvious to everyone today. Many people believe that human life is just an accident, a chance product of evolution, a meaningless event in a vast mechanical universe. It is certainly true that our lives have been shaped by many different forces, but there is a much deeper truth that we can discover through faith: Every single human

 5 common pitfalls in which your choices can be hijacked by fear, illusion, or anxiety: By hiding yourself in a dream in order to avoid making a choice. By hiding yourself in the busyness of short-term goals in order to avoid the deeper decisions By hiding yourself in a failure in order to avoid the battle By hiding yourself behind God in order to avoid taking responsibility By hiding behind

You want that happiness today. But you need to say “yes” to His call; you need to break the bubble of your online profile and cross the threshold of real life. And how will you hear that call if you never take off your headphones? Discerning Your Vocation – a catholic guide for young adults – Community of the Beatitudes

One way of expressing this is to say that the fundamental human vocation is the call to holiness, the call to be a saint. The saints are not just heroic people who live in history books; they are ordinary Christians who have tried to live their faith without holding anything back – to love God with their whole hearts, to love those around them without counting the cost, to work