Dear Friends in Christ:

Oftentimes when I speak with young people about vocations, I ask them, “Who has a vocation?”  Especially with young children they usually immediately identify priests and nuns as having vocations.  They seem to have a very narrow definition of what vocation means, and it takes a little prompting to help them recognize that everyone has a vocation, or a particular calling from God.

In the broadest sense, God calls everyone to grow in holiness, to become more like Jesus Christ, to exercise love of God and love of neighbor, and to be united with God and all the angels and saints in heaven.  The Second Vatican Council called this “the universal call to holiness.”  Everyone has this vocation, and we formally accept it in baptism.  However, God’s loving call is never simply generic; He has something deeper and more specific in mind for each of us.  He says to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (Jeremiah 1:5).  In other words, from all eternity God had a plan in mind for Jeremiah, and the same is true for each of us.

In the Church we have come to recognize that there are four “states of life” through which we live out our particular calling from God.  The states of life are: Marriage, Single life as a lay person, Holy Orders (bishop, priest, deacon), and Consecrated religious.  Each of these states of life provides a structure within which the person lives out the universal call to holiness.  It also guides the person in using the unique gifts and talents he or she has received from God for the service of others in the name of Jesus Christ.

The process of coming to know my vocation is called discernment.  I can say from my own experience that this is not always an easy process as I myself felt pulled in more than one direction.  The prayers of others can be a great help to those who are seeking to know more clearly God’s plan for them.  That is why we at Church of the Ascension have initiated the traveling Vocation Cross.  We are invited to pray as a family for all of our young people that they may be open to hear and have the courage to answer God’s call in their lives.  We also pray for those who have already settled into their state of life, that they may have the strength to persevere and be open to God’s continued guidance in their lives.

On behalf of Fr. Tom and our whole parish I would like to thank you for your willingness to be a part of this program.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated.  May God bless each of you.
Thank you,

Fr. Matthew Schiffelbein