Q.  I am a widow.  What are my vocational options?
A.  If you are a Roman Catholic widow, you are called to live the universal call to holiness.  It may be that you have been given a call within a call and that you might be called to marriage, to the religious life, to a society of apostolic life, to become a member of a secular institute, or perhaps to privately dedicate your life to Christ through a life-long private vow of chastity.  Of course, it is essential for good discernment that a widow have
gone through a sufficient grieving and adjustment period before seriously contemplating possibly taking on a new life-long commitment.

NB.  Eastern Catholic widows have the additional possibility of entering the consecrated state as a consecrated widow should they be admitted to this by their local hierarch.

(c) 2009 by Therese Ivers, JCL

www.DoIHaveAVocation.com

by Therese Ivers

We know that God has given each and every one of us a personal vocation, a unique path in this world. For many, the view that the “only” vocations in the Church are to marriage, the consecrated life, and to the priesthood is disturbing. After all, there are plenty of persons out there who are not called to any of these three major vocations. The question then becomes whether God calls people specifically to the single life.

Sandra and Tom lived in a typical suburban area and were blessed with two children. Sandra worked in an insurance office and Tom was an electrician. They were very active in their parish life. Sixteen years into their marriage, Tom was killed in a car accident. After raising the children through college, Sandra began to participate more in her parish life.

The years flew by and Sandra was a member of the parish council and in a lot of other parish groups. Then one day Sandra felt that she was being called to dedicate her life to God. This attraction grew over time, and so she began to do research to see if there was anything for widows. While surfing on the internet, she discovered