What is Vocation
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“… the common vocation of all Christ’s disciples, a vocation to holiness and to the mission of evangelizing the world.” Catechism of the Catholic Church 1533 You are unique and unrepeatable. No one else sees the world the way you do. No one else has your gifts and insights. No one else has your D.N.A. or your thumbprints. You were called out of nothingness by the generous love of a Creator God who chose to give you life. God has a purpose and a meaning for you because everything you are comes from God. You are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). You are his work of art. Apart from each person’s fundamental vocation, their calling to holiness, the Catholic Church teaches that there are particular vocations or ways of responding to God’s call: Lay Ministry, Consecrated and Religious Life, Single and Married life, or being called by the Church to be Ordained as Priests or Permanent Deacons. |
What's your vocation? |
“Vocation is the divine invitation to this self-realization according to this image, and is unique-singular-unrepeatable precisely because this image is inexhaustible. Every creature expresses and is called to express a particular aspect of the thought of God. There he finds his name and his identity; he affirms and ensures his freedom and originality.”
“Just as holiness is for all the baptized in Christ, so there exists a specific vocation for every living person; and just as the first is rooted in Baptism, so is the second connected to the simple fact of existing. The vocation is the providential thought of the Creator for every creature, it is his idea-plan, like a dream found in God’s heart, because the creature is found in his heart. God the Father wants this to be different and specific for each living person.”
New Vocations for a New Europe, In Verbo tuo, Vatican 1997
Useful Links
When you are discerning your particular vocation in life it is important that you speak with someone you trust, perhaps a close friend or family member, or to your Chaplain or Parish Priest. There are also many resources available and some good support groups. You may find these links a good place to start:
General Links
The Vatican
Catholic Vocation Resource
Catholic Vocations Group
www.vocationsevents.org.uk
Life4Seekers
UK Priest
Redemptorists of the London Province
Religious Vocations Project
Called Today
Conference of Religious in England & Wales
Compass
Seminary Links
Allen Hall, the Westminster Diocesan Seminary
Royal English College, Vallodolid
The English College, Rome
The Beda College, Rome
Further information
Please contact Fr. Richard Nesbitt, Vocations Director