Encouraging Vocations the Right Way

It is no secret that the Church has experienced a shortage of religious vocations in the last two decades. It is also no secret that our seminaries are now beginning to overflow. There is definitely a shift coming as many young people become more open to and respond to the call of Jesus to follow Him in this particular way.

No matter what season or culture the Church finds herself in, there is always, always a need for her members to encourage religious vocations. We hear this petition at nearly every Mass we attend. The Church is begging for more of her children to respond to the call to the priesthood or religious life. We need our priests, our shepherds, these “other Christs” for the sacraments; and we need the powerful intercession of religious brothers and sisters. I’m convinced these people literally keep the world turning with their prayer. The Church needs the priesthood and religious life to continue her mission of evangelization and salvation.

Encouraging vocations to the priesthood and religious life is a major duty of Christian parents. As we raise our children in the arms of Mother Church, we would be cheating them if we did not inform them about every vocation and encourage them to consider each. This is our obligation as parents of baptized Catholics. There’s no two ways about that.

But I think it is important that we encourage vocations the right way. In our desire for our children to be great saints, we must always remember what sainthood truly is and what it is not. Because at the end of the day:

God’s will > our desire for our child’s religious vocation

Our primary responsibility as Catholic parents is to encourage our children toward sainthood, to always eagerly respond with humble acceptance to the will of God for their lives, whatever that may be.

total-surrender

I know many people whose parents, in good will and authentic love for the Church, only encouraged vocations to the priesthood or religious life. These children grew up being told that they would be a priest, that they would enter the convent; and, when, in their own relationship with the Lord and discernment of their vocation, they received a different call, they doubted God’s will and even rebelled against it in order to gain their parents’ approval. This often leads to a severely damaged parent/child relationship or severe regret about running from the will of God. It can foster heartbreak on all sides. Certainly this is not what Jesus intends.

I understand their parents’ zeal. In my dream world, my husband and I will produce children that will choose all the vocations. Wouldn’t that be fun?! But at the end of the day, more than I want my son to be a priest, I want him to be a saint. I want him to choose Jesus in every moment of every day. I want him to surrender his life to the Holy Spirit. I want him to find his fulfillment in the Father. If that means being a priest or religious brother, awesome. If that means being a husband and a father, awesome.

Our ultimate desire for our children must be sainthood, and we must leave their particular path to that point up to the Lord, and Him alone.

How can we encourage vocations the right way, then?

First, by being examples in our own vocations. We can strive to follow God’s will in our own lives and in our own vocations. We can constantly seek to pursue holiness through the lens of our vocation. As parents, we can put large emphasis on growing in virtue with our spouse through prayer and mutual affection.

Second, we can teach them to be saints. We should be praying with our children, teaching them about the lives of the saints, instructing them in the Catechism and Church documents, and encouraging them to listen to that still small Voice within themselves.

Lastly, we can pray for them. We can put our own desires, inclinations, or thoughts aside and lay our children at the Feet of Jesus, knowing well that He will guide our little loves toward sanctity in His own way. We must place our trust in Him who knows best. Because if we desire sainthood for our children so much, how much more does the Father desire it for them?

God will provide the call, whatever that call may be. It is our job to teach them to listen and respond in abandoned faith.

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Olivia Spears

Olivia Spears

Olivia knows that Jesus can do anything. She was born and bred in Kentucky, where sweet tea and bourbon flow like milk and honey. She quickly returned there after graduating with Theology and Catechetics degrees from Franciscan University of Steubenville. Olivia is married to her high school best friend turned college sweetheart and they recently welcomed their first son. She spends her time teaching 7th graders about Christ and His Church, exploring the crunchy side of life, organizing anything she can get her hands on, and dancing in the moonlight. You can come along for the adventure at www.totheheights.com.

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3 thoughts on “Encouraging Vocations the Right Way”

  1. Pingback: Church Teaching & Obama's Immigration Order - Big Pulpit

  2. There is no vocation crisis. What the Holy Mother Church actually has is a marriage crisis. “But wait!”, you say. “Marriage is a vocation!”, and I agree with you, but this author and many others within the Catholic Church use the word vocation to exclusively mean the priesthood. Notice not only did the author fail to mention the vocation of marriage, but didn’t mention anything about deacons, nuns, consecrated virginity (the high vocation in the church) or the single life. Can we start being a little more honest when we use the word vocation?

    The Church already has tons of things geared to creating new priests, hundreds of formations programs, vocations fairs, meet and greets, social media, numerous books and a petition for it at every mass. It has gone to far that many youth groups, and Newman centers forbid dating amongst their members lest they steal faith Catholic men away into marriage. Yet the shortage still exists and is getting worse. Why? Because these are not where priests are made. Priests first and foremost come from strong Catholic families, something
    the Church is failing to create.

    The marriage crisis is the real cause of the shortage of priests. For the first time in history adult singles now out number married adults. Don’t think the Church is immune to this, in fact I believe the secular marriage crisis is a reflection of the what is happening in the Church, NOT the other way around. Back in the 90s 1/4 of adult Catholics were unmarried, if the Bishops would have done something then, the world wouldn’t be suffering with us now. God cannot give us more priests if He doesn’t have enough families to send them too.

    Meanwhile the Church is pouring nearly all it’s resources in the priesthood it has forgotten all about the single Catholics whom God intended to raise the next generation of priests. Marriage is just thought as something that will just happen on it’s own. It’s always been assumed that the youth would court, get engaged, get married and raise a family. But the Church fails to see that singles are drowning in a culture toxic to marriage. They don’t have any outlets to meet other faithful Catholic singles and aren’t allowed to date people they meet from things like FOCUS or theology on tap. They don’t have their parents advice or wisdom because many of their parents are still “playing the dating game” too!

    If we put half as much effort into forming marriages from single Catholics, as we did the priesthood we wouldn’t even have a priest shortage.

    1. In the Hindu concept there are 4 vocations in life: householders, priests,
      warriors and merchants. Each of these are self fulfilling as to need and
      displacement. The overall number of holy persons and saints is no way
      diminished because the CC hasn’t seemed to make its quota.

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