Helping Boys Discern Their Vocation

(Excerpt is reprinted with permission from All Things Guy: A Guide to Becoming a Man that Matters)

Have you ever been in a religion class or in Church and Father asks you to think about a vocation? Do you get the feeling you want to crawl in a hole and disappear, fearing he will ask you to become a priest?

A vocation is a call from God. It’s not merely a career choice. Everyone, everyone, everyone has a calling from God!

The word vocation refers to three different things:

  

1.       Vocation comes with baptism. It’s a call to know, love and serve God in your life.

2.     Vocation also means, “state in life,” such as priesthood, religious life, marriage or single life.

3.     Vocation also means a personal relationship you have with Jesus. It’s you, yourself, trying to know, love, and serve God.

A Word about Discernment

A vocation is much more than choosing a career or planning your life. You have to discern what God’s plans are for you. To discern means that you pray and ask God to show you what he wants for you. Pope John Paul II explained in a paper he wrote called “On the Vocation of the Lay Faithful,” that it is a “gradual process, one that happens day by day.” So don’t look for the answer to fall from the sky. It happens day by day through discernment.

When people choose a career such as becoming a doctor, engineer, fireman, or police officer, they ask themselves questions like:

·        What will make me happy?

·        How will I make money for myself?

When a person discerns a vocation, he asks himself bigger questions like:

V  What does God want me to do?

V  What will please God most?

V  What gifts did God give me to use in life?

See the difference? The focus in discerning is God, not “me.” But the cool thing is, what God wants for you is what will make you happy!

As we mentioned before, there are several vocations, that is, “states in life” for men:

V  Priesthood and Permanent Deaconate

V  Religious Life

V  Marriage

V  Single Life

Whichever God calls you to will have its joys, sorrows, and challenges, but you will have peace and joy by using your gifts the way God intended. God loves you very much and will give you all the graces you need to answer his call.

Start asking Jesus, today,

to begin helping you

see your vocation.