What is my child learning this month?
This month, your child learned about God’s call on their hearts for their life, called vocation. Each person, from the moment they are created, is invited to answer this call that continues to unfold for the rest of their lives. This call is never foreign to who they are, but rather is a calling forth from God to be who we truly are in freedom; it is an answer to the deepest desire in our hearts. In short, to quote Christian author Fredrick Buechner: “The place God calls you is the place where your deepest gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
We spoke about the “primary” vocation for all Christians: to follow and imitate Jesus. The Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium calls this primary vocation, “The Universal Call to Holiness.” (see Lumen Gentium §39-42). All people, regardless of age, race, or job, are called to follow God within their own unique circumstances. In the same way, they are called to continue the mission of the Church, which is to continue the saving work of Jesus for the redemption of humanity (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, §257, 858).
We went over the 5 basic “ingredients” of knowing what God’s will for your life is, called discernment. These steps are:
- Knowledge of Self: We must know ourselves well if we are to know who God is calling us to be.
- Knowledge of God: We must know God well if we are to recognize His voice and His movement in our lives.
- Knowledge of Vocations: We must know the various vocations well, both how they are similar and how they are different, if we are to begin to identify which one fits us more.
- Knowledge of Discernment: We must know how to discern, if we are to ask the right questions and listen in the right way for God’s response.
- Faith: We must have faith and trust in God, if we are to say “yes” to the Lord’s invitation as it will always involve a leap of faith into the unknown.
Terms we went over:
Vocation: The common vocation to all Christians is one of holiness and evangelizing the world (Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1533). The Second Vatican Council refers to this as “the Universal Call to Holiness,” which “all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (Lumen Gentium §40). Within this common vocation are particular, or “secondary” vocations in which gives a person context on how to live out this universal call to holiness.
Mission: The Church was instituted by Jesus Christ precisely to go on mission, to “go forth and make disciples of all nations” as Christ commissioned the disciples in Matthew 28:19. Humanity has been called to participate in Christ’s redemptive work through their testimony: by “engaging in temporal affairs and ordering them according to the plan of God” (Lumen Gentium, §31). In the ordinary circumstances of life, humanity is called to become like Christ so that the world may be transformed in His image and likeness.
Discernment: the reflection of the heart and mind before making a decision. Discernment is an important act that concerns everyone in all stages of life — we make decisions, big and small, every day. For this lesson, we used the term discernment as a way to listen to God’s calling for one’s life. It requires that we know ourselves—the strengths and weaknesses of our personalities, our gifts and talents, our desires, and so on. In addition, we must know the character and voice of God in order that we may distinguish it from other voices; that is, God is All-Loving, All-Knowing, Ever-Present, and desires a relationship with us. The process of discernment–of any decision-making–is a lifelong journey, and we are always tuning ourselves into the voice of God (see Pope Francis’ General Audience, 31 August 2022).
BRINGING THIS SESSION HOME
This month, parents are asked to go over the four particular, or “secondary” vocations with their child. When we hear the word “vocations,” our minds often go to prayers asking for more men and women to enter the priesthood or religious life. I am here to tell you that is not the case and is a narrow view of what vocation actually means.
The Catholic Church teaches that there are four basic answers to the questions of who we are going to be with God: Matrimony, Holy Orders, consecrated life, and committed single life. When the Church speaks about vocations, she typically is speaking about one of these four “states of life” that our lives can take. These states of life define who we are in relation to God and to each other. All four of these particular vocations are a call to holiness. All of them are a call to know, love, and serve God as well as to make God known, loved, and served. These vocations may differ in the details of how precisely one comes to know, love, and serve God, but the end goal is the same: to be holy.
The principal question then is not what we are going to do with God, but who we are going to be with God. In revealing to us who we are to be, God intends our vocations to be one of the anchors for us through all the other changes, planned or unplanned, in our lives. Next to faith, which is the other major anchor in this world, our vocations are the greatest gift God gives us in this life to guide us home to heaven.
Learn more about these four particular vocations and how these holy men and women lived them out in their own unique ways:
Matrimony (with Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin)
Holy Orders (with Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C)
Consecrated Life (with St. Andre Bessette & St. Teresa of Calcutta)
Committed Single Life (Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati)
(Taken from the Vocations Curriculum from the Congregation of Holy Cross)
PRAY TOGETHER
Loving God,
Thank You for bringing us together as a family. Thank You for the gift of our faith, our school, and our community.
Help us to know You more each day through prayer, Scripture, and the example of Jesus. Fill our hearts with kindness, courage, and compassion so that we may share Your love wherever we go.
Guide us to be people of peace, ready to welcome others, forgive quickly, serve generously, and stand up for what is right. May our words and actions reflect the hope and joy of the Gospel.
Bless our families, our teachers, our friends, and all who are in need. Help us remember that each of us has a mission: to bring Your light into our homes, our classrooms, our neighborhoods, and the world.
As we grow in faith together, may we become disciples who love as Jesus loves and serve as He served.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
