Do You Have a Calling?

Answer "Yes" or "No" to the following questions:

1. Do you hide vocation literature under your bed or away in a closet?
2. Does the idea of becoming a sister, priest or brother keep coming back time and time again even though you thought you had moved on in your life and forgotten about it?
3. Do you feel called to give more, to be more?
4. Does your relationship with God sustain you, enliven you, invigorate you in such a way that you want to share the Good News with others?
5. Do you find your weekly ministry more life-giving and energizing than your 40 or 60 hour work week?
6. Do you long for "MORE"?
7. Do you have a sneaking suspicion that you are on the brink of a major life decision?
8. Are you afraid to tell friends and family that you are thinking about a church vocation?
9. Does the idea of becoming a priest or religious excite you and at the same time frighten you because you feel "unworthy"?
   

( The word vocation comes from the Latin vocare, to call. Implicit in this call is freedom. An invitation leaves the person free to say yes or no. God invites us and never coerces. A vocation is a free invitation from God. There is no pressure, coercion, or manipulation. That is not to say that God won't try to "seduce" us. I have been seduced by God many times into doing something that I initially did not want to do. God has a way of inviting that sometimes is difficult to resist.
Remember the Old Testament passage from Jeremiah? "You seduced me, O Lord, and I let myself be seduced; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of ridicule." )

The author adds: "In a lighthearted effort to help people discover this ‘call' I have written a Vocations Anonymous Test. I in no way want to denigrate any of the wonderful 12-Step programs.... In my experience of walking with people through vocation discernment process, there seem to be some commonalities between their experience and the characteristics of the 12 steps. In the early stages of vocation discernment men and women want to remain anonymous. The thought of a priestly or religious vocation will not go away. It is something they have no control over. And so, just as AA has a questionnaire to determine if one may be an alcoholic, I devised some questions that may point out a church vocation." (p. 4)

Used with permission of the author. Taken from "Vocations Anonymous: A Handbook for Adults Discerning Priesthood and Religious Life," by Kathleen Bryant, RSC, 1996.

If you answered "yes" to two or more questions, you may have a vocation! Feel free to contact Sr. Patty Podhaisky in Denver, 1-800-277-8629, ext 122 OR 303-459-6270, ext 122 or via e-mail: Patty@marycrest.org

Back to the Discernment Process