tagged articles with: vocation

With Pope Francis, it's prime time for Jesuits

For decades, the Society of Jesus has faced the same struggles to find priests that have plagued the wider Roman Catholic Church. The Rev. Chuck Frederico says he usually heard from five a week, or fewer possible candidates. Then, last month, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio stepped out on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica — the first Jesuit to be elected pope. The number of queries jumped to four or five each day.

Sister Lee has them rolling in the pews with laughter therapy

Once upon a time, Sr Lee dreamed of being a comedian. She says now that her vocation as a Religious allows her to couple that dream with devoted service to helping people overcome tragic circumstances. “I want to help people heal their agony with laughter,” she said.

Life of Saint Anthony Mary Claret

CLARET realized his personal vocation in the Church, animated by a strong ecclesial sensitivity, and apostolic spirit, and an ardent love for Mary, whose maternal love directs the evangelizing work of our Congregation.With an acute sensitivity to the timely, urgent and effective, and a clear option for the poor, the least, and the consecrated, he responded to the urgent needs of the Church, and theworld of his time.

In Paradox There Is Virtue

In religious discernment, how we recognize God's voice in our lives.? Does God speak in whispers or in thunder? Does God speak in pain or in blessing? Does God call us out of this world or more deeply into it?

In our life's journney

'We know that our lives began in a place and we sense or, at least, we
hope that our lives are going somewhere. Just as pilgrims keep moving
in the direction of an unseen sanctuary, so we choose to find meaning
in our life's journey."

Spanish Olympic athlete to enter seminary after London games

Carlos Ballve – known as “Litus” to his friends – plays defense on the Spanish field hockey team that is competing in the London 2012 Olympic Games. But as soon as the competition ends, he will head to a Belgium seminary to begin the process of becoming priest.

The Future as Promise - Our God is in a Covenant with Europe.

The future of religious life in Europe is intimately connected with the future of the faith. This is one of the major preoccupations of the Church at this moment. There are three circumstances that do not make the vocational experience for religious life in Europe easy: cultural secularisation, religious chaos and the distrust of institutions.

“The Future as Promise" - Religious Life in the UK and Europe.

“The Future as  Promise” - A new book on the challenges Religious Life faces in our society today. This book presents all the conference speeches given by excellent guest speakers during our first Religious Life Conference, celebrated at the end of May in Hayes, West London.

Discernment groups are an excellent idea: they remind us lay people that we have a vocation too.

A serious approach to discernment provides profound recognition of each individual’s worth and dignity. As well as forming new priests and nuns, this initiative will also help to remind lay men and women that each one of them has a specific calling.

Number of women joining religious orders triples in three years in England

The number of women joining religious orders in England and Wales has almost tripled in the last three years, according to bishops’ conference figures. Asked if this marked the beginning of a revival for women religious in Britain Fr Richard Nesbitt, Westminster vocations director, said “something is definitely happening”.

Young want to be heard, invited, challenged

Young people don't want the religious "to lower the bar, to soft-pedal the demands of the Gospel," Archbishop Tobin said. Usually, young people will consider joining a religious community only if they are asked, he said.  For many young Catholics, WYD can be the one church event where they have the time, space and camaraderie they need to start pondering the way God wants them to live their faith in the church and in the world.

“The Future of Consecrated Life in the United Kingdom and Europe.”

The two day long Conference, in consultation with CoR of England and Wales, is being organised by the Claretian Missionaries, who maintain in different countries Institutes for Consecrated Life: like those in Rome, Madrid, Manila, Bangalore and the new ones in Argentina and Nigeria.

Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) reform prompts Twitter duel

Reaction to the Vatican’s announced reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) took form on the social media site Twitter, where supporters of religious sisters dueled with the group’s critics.

Religious life is like the wheel: people keep on reinventing it.

‘The future depends on the possibility of dialogue between the old and new orders’.
Religious life is like the wheel: people keep on reinventing it. This is good in so far as it shows the Lord reinvigorating this important part of the Church’s life. What’s problematic is that new religious orders soon make the sorts of mistakes from which experience could save them while the old orders quietly fade away for lack of new life.

Pope prays for vocations to priesthood

On Sunday, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Benedict XVI asked families, communities and local parishes to help young men in discerning their vocation to the priesthood.  “In particular, families are the first environment into which ‘breathes’ the love of God, which gives inner strength even in the midst of the difficulties and trials of life.”

Pakistani Government rewards Church people

Sindh governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad had handed Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam prizes to Australian priest, Father Robert McCulloch, and an Irish nun, Sister John Berkmans Conway, for their “untiring efforts in the development of the country in the fields of education, health and promoting interfaith harmony.”

David Rider: Tap-dancing Seminarian

 I briefly met David Rider two years ago in New York City while on retreat at the archdiocesan seminary. I was surprised to run into him on the streets of Rome last spring. He was wearing clerics. David Rider' s vocation story.

Priesthood attracts converts

 At least ten per cent of men training for the priesthood in England and Wales are now from non-Catholic backgrounds, with up to half of seminarians in some dioceses raised outside the faith, according to figures obtained by The Tablet.

We Sing to God

Number of seminarians in UK reaches 20-year high

The number of men training for the priesthood in England and Wales is at its highest level for nearly two decades, according to figures from the bishops' conference. There are now more than 200 seminarians preparing to serve in English and Welsh dioceses - the first time this figure has been reached since 1994.

Vocations, the gift of the love of God

Church mourns death of popular nun in Meghalaya, North East India.

Sister Amalia Pereda Ortiz de Zarate was a pioneer of rural healthcare. Thousands of people are mourning the death of a Spanish nun, who revolutionized healthcare in the rural northeastern state of Meghalaya. The Missionaries of Christ Jesus nun died at age 84 on Monday at Nirmali Convent in Shillong, the state capital.

Former Man United footballer to become a priest

 A former Manchester United footballer is training to become a priest. Phil Mulryne, who was once a teammate of Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, has enrolled at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome.

The Importance of Vocation

When I entered the Swiss Guards, I was twenty years old and, like my fellow guards, in peak physical condition. The term “vocation” means much more than the standard dictionary definition of “a career path or line of work.” It is more of a “calling” than a “job.” According to John Paul II, your vocation answers the question, “Why am I alive?”

Study Finds that Most Catholic Priests are Happy and Appreciate Celibacy

Priests in general are among the happiest members of society, says Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, and contrary to secular opinion, most embrace celibacy as a positive aspect of their vocation. These were some of the conclusions outlined by Monsignor Rossetti in his book, "Why Priests Are Happy"

From World Youth Day to the seminary.

Kiko a 25 year old Chinese youth has just landed in Spain. He comes from Beijing to participate with many other young persons in the World Youth Day but with a clear purpose offer himself to Christ and His mission. He will expend the whole year in our Claretian Formation Centre in Colmenar, Madrid.

Call for Catholic schools to foster vocations

 As we promote vocation in schools we will be promoting both the universal call to holiness for all the baptised and also the call to the priesthood or religious life for some; and, as we will see, this means that fostering a culture of vocation lies at the heart of the Catholic school.

Record for the longest time living in cloistered life.

This nun holds the world record for the longest time living in cloistered life. Her name is Sister Teresita, she's 103 years old and has lived 84 of them in the convent of Buenafuente de Sistal, in Guadalajara, Spain.

“Open Your Hearts in Prayer” – Papal Nuncio Challenge to Young People at Invocation 2011

 “Never forget too, that when God calls us by name and asks us to follow him, he offers us true freedom. God asks us, in the face of all that seems wrong in our world, to be positive, to build up his Kingdom and to change the world for the better. There is no place for pessimism here, for his call to each one of us is, in fact, liberation.” the Nuncio said.

‘Today, young Christians face a new reality for which they are unprepared’

Today, young Christians, together with young believers of all faiths, face a new reality for which they are unprepared. Most of their contemporaries will live together first, have children out of wedlock and only later might they think of marrying, if at all. To create a culture of vocation in this context is to show that marriage, celibate priesthood, and religious life are all vocations that demand our whole being and run counter to the prevailing culture.

Papal Message: Proposing Vocations in the Local Church

"Proposing Vocations in the Local Church" is the theme of the Pope's Message for the forth-eighth World Day of Prayer for Vocations.The Lord does not fail to call people at every stage of life to share in His mission and to serve the Church in the ordained ministry and in the consecrated life. The ability to foster vocations is a hallmark of the vitality of a local Church.

New Order Begins With Vocation Explosion

 Iesu Communio  has been established in Spain. Nearly 200 young nuns processed from their cloister to the cathedral of Burgos on Saturday for the official establishment of their new institute of consecrated life.

Sixteen questions about church vocations

And honest answers to your questions about priests, sisters, brothers, vows, sexuality, community life, and more

Who would want to be a priest?

It's a difficult job at the best of times, with training longer than that for doctors, long hours and minimal pay. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church says it is seeing a small increase in the number of men prepared to forego family life and dedicate themselves to God.

Is God calling me?

Vocation might sound to you like a dull, wearisome topic. Yet, the Claretian Missionaries are glad to help Christians discover their vocation; that is, what God is asking of them personally. A new world is possible and you might have a role to play in it. Open your mind and heart to others and to God. Do not be afraid!