Ten Tips for Vocational Discernment | General Discernment Board- Questions, Tips, Suggestions... | Forum

 
You must be logged in to post Login


Lost Your Password?

Search Forums:


 






Minimum search word length is 4 characters – Maximum search word length is 84 characters
Wildcard Usage:
*  matches any number of characters    %  matches exactly one character

Home Forum General Discernment Board- Questions, Tips, Suggestions… Ten Tips for Vocational Discernment

Ten Tips for Vocational Discernment
Read original blog post
Print this Topic
Page:   1  
No Tags
UserPost

3:44 pm
January 4, 2012


Therese Ivers, JCL

Admin

posts 8
Print this Post
1

by Therese Ivers, JCL

Happy New Year!  Here's a list of some discernment tips that I hope will get your creative juices flowing in terms of shaping this years discernment process New Years resolutions…  Since each tip can be the topic of a whole book in and of itself, you are welcome to share your thoughts on them and share stories by going to the forum and commenting.

1) Do take the time to get to know all of your vocational options.
2) Starting a religious community?  Do wait until you have a few actual members together before you begin to approach the bishop.
3) Do think of the ways you can grow so as to offer the best possible version of yourself to your potential spouse, diocese, or community.
4) Do you think you'll be more holy… if you become a sister, a monk, a priest, or get married?  Try sanctifying your daily actions now!
5) Do look at vocations in their nitty gritty aspects long term, not just the wedding day, the profession day, or day of consecration.
6) If you are living alone but regularly leave your home for more than a few hours a week, don't put in an application to your bishop to become a diocesan hermit.
7) If you believe that the acts proper to the generation of children are sinful, ugly, or horrifying, or for any other (non medical) reason would be unwilling to consummate marriage vows, please do not get engaged or start seriously discerning celibate forms of life.
8) If you are a man, don't sign up for the seminary for the diocesan priesthood until you have seriously examined religious life as a brother.
9) If you are a female virgin, don't apply to become a consecrated virgin if you have not for some time lived out the resolution to perpetually remain a virgin regardless of whether you'll be able to receive the consecration in the future.
10) If you are thinking about religious life, don't join a community just because your spiritual director likes it or because you see that the brothers/sisters in it are joyful and happy.

(c) 2012 by Therese Ivers, JCL


Read original blog post

2:28 pm
January 6, 2012


Michelle Smith

New Member

posts 1
Print this Post
2

For further discussion, I'd love to see more about #1 and #10 on this list. 

As to the first one, I understand from my limited research that each order, each convent, is different–different charism, apostolate, personality, etc.  How many of the 400+ religious communities for women should one explore before saying "that's enough" and choosing?  At 43, I fortunately get to knock a few out of the consideration right off.  :)  What about location?  should that come into play in discernment?  Again, at 18, I wouldn't have cared about geography, but now, I care a little more. 

On #10, I was surprised that joy and happiness wouldn't be a part of the consideration.  I guess you might be saying not to use that as the sole criterion?  What would you consider about the other members? 

On a related note, in my searching, I've found some communities that I was interested in until I found statements of political involvements that I didn't agree with (it was essentially an anti-Israel cause).  That really worried me.

Finally, are there "job fair" type events of religious communities?  You know, where lots of representatives of communities go to one event and set up tables for recruiting.  That would be awesome!  LOL

 

michelle

10:41 am
January 7, 2012


Angelica

New Member

posts 1
Print this Post
3

I tried posting earlier but it seems like my reply got eaten up.

 

Michelle, my parish had a spirituality group led by a woman who was in a secular institute.  She told me that she looked down on secular institutes because they (most) do not wear habits.  Only when she bumped into her institute did she discover that she loved the group.  She also began to understand why secular institutes do not wear habits even though they make vows. It seems like she is very happy in her vocation and she probably wouldn't be doing what she is now if she kept on looking only at marriage and religious life.

 

Therese, I am intrigued by #2.  I have thought about starting a religious community.  Why wouldn't you want to get your bishop's approval and blessing first?

3:04 pm
January 7, 2012


Therese Ivers, JCL

Admin

posts 8
Print this Post
4

@ Michellle. Hi, and welcome to the forum!  I do not think it is either possible or wise to research all the orders in the USA…  However, it is good to have some knowledge of what you want.  What spirituality are you attracted to?  What charisms really capture your heart?  In a way, the process is like dating.  Normally, it is not a good idea to simply date and marry one person.  Rather, it is better to have lots of dating experience so that you can get a fair idea of what you're looking for in a spouse.  As far as vocations are concerned, the attraction that comes between a person and a small pool or the "short list" is a mystery.  Why do Sue and Joe get married?  There are billions of other human beings!  I do think with experience (either in researching orders or dating or looking at secular institutes, etc.) you tend to have a better position in which to make an informed vocational decision.

 

Yes, there are religious life fairs.  Often they take place on college campuses (Franciscan U and Christendom College come to mind) and I have participated in one in a Newman Center where practically all the non-cloistered communities in the state (and surrounding) were represented.  Ask your diocese, newman center, or a local community for more information.

 

@ Angelica.  Welcome, too!  Your first point is well made.  There is a lot of prejudice about different vocations (for example, men often think that vocations to religious brotherhood are "second class" whereas the saints would disagree).  I am glad that your group leader found her vocation in a secular institute.  It is a beautiful vocation, but one that people often ignore because they tend to be less visible and for some reason there are priests out there who think they are "second class" for people who couldn't make the grade to religious life, so to speak.  Certainly, having a solid understanding of the different vocations out there (like secular institutes) is essential for proper and informed discernment. 

 

You asked about not approaching bishops.  The reason is that it is a complete waste of time for the bishop to hear about a plan or a dream that usually does not come to fruition.  The challenging part is not getting a nod from the bishop, but getting real people into life together.  If established communities find it hard to find "vocations", then one person with an idea is going to have it even harder.  Thus, it is best to wait to begin the dialogue with the bishop until you actually have people (not just interested but actually living a consecrated lifestyle together not in their individual homes).  Then the discussion would be worth his time and attention…  At the same time, though, before one starts living in common, they need to know some basic guidelines for people wishing to start religious orders– here a canon lawyer can help with advice and hopefully help the group to avoid certain headaches or disbandment.

 

Thanks for starting the conversation! 
No Tags
Page:   1  
Topic RSS

About the Forum

Forum Timezone: America/North_Dakota/Center

Most Users Ever Online: 6

Forum Stats:

Groups: 6
Forums: 19
Topics: 8
Posts: 11

Administrators: Therese Ivers, JCL (8 Posts), SRLAUREL (0 Posts), An Aspiring Poor Clare (0 Posts)



 

Comments are closed.