Discerning a Religious
Vocation

Theologian Frederick Buechner has written that ‘Vocation is where our greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need’.  Discerning our vocation or discerning God’s dream for us is first of all prayer.  Discernment helps us to separate out what may come from God and what may come from self-centered interests or cultural pressures. 

Developing practices that teach our mind, body and soul to be more attentive to God’s desires can help with everyday decisions as well as our major life decisions.  Our decisions become discernment when we place them in the context of prayer; when we use the values of faith to inform and direct our life choices.

Here are steps that will help you discern a religious vocation as well as become a more discerning person in your everyday life.  It is helpful to use a journal to record your reflections.

+ Know yourself.  Get to know yourself at a deeper level by reflecting on your strengths and limitations; your values and goals, what is important to your, your deepest desires and dreams for your future.  

Take a look at the following phrases and complete those that speak to you.  Record your thoughts in your journal.  Share your reflections with a spiritual director, mentor or trusted friend.

• My greatest strengths are...
• My limitations are…
• I am not interested in...
• The world needs more of...
• The world needs less of...
• I have always wanted to try...
• You would never catch me...
• My hero/heroine is…
• Movies, songs, books, art, experiences that have touched me the most are…
• If I have only one year to live, I would…

Spirit Given Gifts is a great online tool prepared by Rev. David Ewart to help you discover or  affirm your spiritual gifts. 

+ Deepen your relationship with God.  Find a spiritual director, somebody who can help you to grow in intimacy with this God and to know yourself better.  A spiritual director is an excellent companion on your discernment journey.  Pray for light from the Holy Spirit.

Reflect on these questions and record your thoughts in your journal.  Share your reflections with a spiritual director, mentor or trusted friend.

• How do you pray?
• What are things in your life that lead you to prayer?
• Where in your life do you most experience God? (in your friends, your parents, in nature, music…)  
• What is prayer for you?
• Where do you experience silence in your life? Or, do you?
• Reflect on how your idea or image of who God is has changed over the years:
• when you was a child, God was…
• as a teenager, you thought God was…
• now you experience God as…
• how has God’s intervention in your past made you who you are today?

           
There are many valuable online resources for prayer including Sacred Space, Busted Halo, Centering Prayer and Pray the News.

+ Gather information and insight.  Read up on religious life and discover the rich variety of religious congregations of Sisters, Priests, Brothers and Nuns.  To start, check out VISION, an online Catholic Religious Vocation Network resource.  VISION will link you to communities that match your gifts and interests. 

• Write to the communities that interest you. 
• Visit the ones you feel called to. 
• Build a relationship with the one where you have a sense of ‘coming home’. 
• Get involved in its summer or monthly programs.  Don’t just talk the talk, walk the walk with them as well.

+ Prayerfully weigh the evidence and attend to your feelings.   Look at the pros and cons of your options.  List all the advantages, the positive results and effects of each option.  What attracts you to each alternative?  List all the disadvantages, the negative results and effects of each option.  What does not attract you to each option?

Pay attention to your feelings throughout the process.  Prayerfully ponder the lists seeking patterns of harmony or disharmony within your core.  It is not the length of the lists that is important but which reasons resonate with the deepest desires of the person you are.  Accept the pattern of harmony, if one emerges.  If there is no strong feeling, then come to a decision in faith based on the reasons that carry the most weight with you.

Take a look at the following techniques that can help sort out your options.  Choose the technique/s that speak/s to you.  Record your thoughts in your journal.  Share your reflections with a spiritual director, mentor or trusted friend.

• I want to because…

What are those things that are encouraging me to say “YES” to this decision RIGHT NOW? Use the technique called ‘stream of consciousness’ to answer this question.  Set a clock for 10 minutes and write without stopping all the reasons you can possibly think of that encourage you to say “YES” to this decision right now.  Don’t worry about spelling or if an idea feels silly.  The important thing in this exercise is to list all of the reasons to say “YES”.  Take note of your feelings as you list your reasons.

• I want to but...

What are those things that are keeping me from saying “YES” to this decision RIGHT NOW? Use the technique called ‘stream of consciousness’ to answer this question.  Set a clock for 10 minutes and write without stopping all the reasons you can possibly think of that keep you from saying “YES” to this decision right now.  Don’t worry about spelling or if an idea feels silly.  The important thing in this exercise is to list all of the resistances.  Take note of your feelings as you list your resistances.

• How will I know if this is the right decision?

            Spend time in quiet reflection before answering these questions.  Although they may seem to be the same question, there is a slight difference.  Be specific in describing behaviors when answering.  Using three or four specific ways, complete either one of these statements:

• I’ll know this is the right decisions for me because…
• I’ll know this is the right decision for me when…

+ Imagine Yourself in Each Choice.  Spend time imagining yourself in one of the two choices:  now …  5 years from now … 10 years from now.  Then repeat this and imagine yourself in the other choice.

+ Confirmation; experience peace with your decision.  Seek confirmation by offering the decision to God asking for peace and inner joy.  Look for confirmation from both    external and internal sources.  External sources may include sensing affirmation from people, circumstances seem to be supportive, etc.  Internal confirmation usually includes a deep sense of peace, a real felt compatibility with the choice made, a sense of satisfaction, a time of tranquility sets in, etc.  Although there may be some negative responses these do not change your deep convictions about the decision.

“If you are what you are meant to be, you will set the whole world on fire.”
~St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church, Dominican Mystic (1347-1380)