Today is the 62nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In a message written at the Gemelli Clinic in Rome and dated 19 March 2025, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the late Pope Francis wrote:
“A vocation is a precious gift that God sows in our heart, a call to leave ourselves behind and embark on a journey of love and service. Every vocation in the Church, ordained, consecrated or lay, is a sign of the hope that God has for this world and for his children.”
He continues: “For Christians, hope is more than mere human optimism: it is a certainty based on our faith in God, who is at work in each of our lives. Vocations mature through the daily effort to be faithful to the Gospel, and through prayer, discernment and service.” The examples of religious vocations are many.
In her autobiography: The Ear of the Heart Mother Dolores Hart, a Benedictine nun at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut gives an accurate definition of a religious vocation: "Many people don't understand the difference between a vocation and your own idea about something. A vocation is a call—one you don't necessarily want. The only thing I ever wanted to be was an actress. But I was called by God." She might have added that it is never easy as she went on to described her first night in monastery. “I was consumed with overwhelming loneliness . . . I lay awake on the cot for a long time. . . terrified by the enormity of the step I had taken. I began praying . . . I cried myself to sleep that night. I would cry myself to sleep every night for the next three years." She remains at Regina Laudis today now age 86. Many in religious vows can identify with her feelings of isolation and the enormity of the step one takes upon entering.
The word vocation derives from the Latin root: Voco, vocare, vocatus. To call. To name. To summon. To invite. To challenge. The various meanings overlap but also stand apart, each with shades of meaning. that explain the uniqueness of each vocation. After 28 years as a Jesuit (in August) and 18 as a priest (next month) I've heard many vocation stories and have shared mine more than a few times. Some of the stories proceeded smoothly whereas others were marked by agonizing doubts, fits and starts, paralyzing uncertainty, and, in a few cases, false starts.
Mother Dolores' yes garnered headlines in the magazines of the time. Very few people knew she was going to enter until she walked through the monastery gate and took her place behind the grille. Most vocations do not attract the kind of attention Mother Dolores’ did, except perhaps from family and friends. Not all are pleased or supportive but it seems the majority are.
About three years ago there was quite a buzz over the movie "Father Stu" starring Dorchester's own Mark Wahlberg. The movie tells the story of the late Father Stuart Long who is described in one review as: an "unbaptized boxer from Montana with a foul mouth and a troubled relationship with his parents.” To the consternation of many, he entered the seminary.
The script writers played fast and loose with some of the facts of his life but on the whole those who knew Fr. Stu deem the movie accurate. A few are put off by the language, but . . . he was a boxer. Most of them don't say gee whillikers, drat, or you so and so, when angry. When he was ordained in 2007, six months as I was, Fr. Stu was already terminally ill with inclusion body myositis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disease for which there is no treatment, dying seven years following his ordination in June 2014.
A religious vocation takes time to reveal itself. It also take a long time after entering before a man or woman is to ready to make a solemn commitment. Thus formation and preparation are more than a year or two. I don't know any order in which anyone can count the number of years from entry to final vows using the fingers of just one hand. Only after years of prayer, testing, self-examination, and observing, while being observed and tested, can one be ready for that final commitment. The course is not always easy.
Sister Deirdre Byrne, aka Sister Dede, is the blood sister of Bishop William Byrne, Bishop of Springfield, MA. She is a retired full-bird army colonel, a solemnly professed sister in the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and a physician who is board-certified in both family practice and surgery. Her journey into the Little Workers was anything but smooth, not so much on her question of a vocation but the logistics of entering a congregation. That journey included rejection by one congregation.
Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinck, was a professional soccer player, who played briefly in Boston for the New England Revolution before he retired and entered Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary.
He is now a priest of the Diocese of Peoria.
Despite the drawbacks, the losses and 'give ups' that accompany the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, many of us who have lived religious life for years can imagine no other life.
Two elements are crucial for vocations. The first is prayer, prayer for vocations, prayer for those discerning vocations, and prayer for those who are living their vocations. The second is simply asking and listening. Toward the end of his message, the late pope wrote, “The discovery of our vocation comes about as the result of a journey of discernment. That journey is never solitary, but develops within a Christian community and as a part of that community.”
It is important that someone ask and listen to the response. That someone may be a parent or grandparent who sees something, a friend who recognizes a spark, or a vowed religious with a certain intuition. Someone needs to ask the simple question,
"Are you thinking of entering religious life or seminary?" Then they need to continue to listen and respond. Ask, "what brought you to this decision?" "have you begun the process?" Listen to the answers. But . . . never ever answer the question, "What should I do?". That is between the individual and God. No one else dare interfere with that dialog. And pray that the young—or not so young—man or women will say with Mary,
"Fiat mihi secundum tuum."
May it be done to me according to your will.
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Photos are from LJubljana, specifically a restaurant "Pop's Place" a short walk from the SJ community in which I lived located on the river. Once I discovered it, met the owner, a Slovenian who was raised in the US and graduated from UCLA, it became a regular destination, particularly every other Wednesday night when I returned by train from Pleterje in Northeastern Slovenia. I stopped for a beer. Burgers were fantastic, this from a man whose final meal would be a cheeseburger (rare) and fries should he have to face a firing squad.
Fr. Jack, SJ, MD
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