Vocations - Tools for Vocational Discernment

Christ is Calling You

This page is intended for Roman Catholic missionary disciples looking for guidance on how to discern their life’s vocation.

God calls us to seek him, to know him, and to love him with all our strength. This is our prime vocation.

However, determining what that seeking, that knowing, and that loving looks like in our individual walks of faith can be very challenging. If God has a specific plan for me (and he indeed does), how do I discover it?

Willingness to Sacrifice

Vocation has at its heart a call to a complete giving of oneself to God and others. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,” says Jesus in Matthew 16:24. Discerning and embracing your vocation will necessarily involve sacrifice. You will have to say “no” to many things, even many good things. Yet this gift of self and this embrace of the cross will bring you more joy and more fulfillment than any life you could design for yourself, in this world and the next.

St. Josemaria Escrivá wrote, “How beautiful it is to give up this life for the life!” Are you willing?

First: The Importance of the Interior Life

No true discernment of your vocation is possible if you are not living an authentic life of surrender to the will of God in all things, centered on your relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. To discern well, you must be in the daily habit of personal prayer and the reading of Sacred Scripture to know and love him more each day. Step One is to get that on track. This will synchronize the desires of your heart with the desires of his. You will want what he has planned for you. You don’t have to do it perfectly (this is why we’re called practicing Catholics), but when you stumble you must get up again and pick up where you left off.

Practical Things to Do

Look to the model of Jesus. “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed." (Mark 1:35) We see him do this repeatedly in the Gospels. Ask yourself this question: why did Jesus, who was always in perfect communion with the Father, still make time to pray?
Prioritize a regular time each day set aside for prayer. If you’re new at this, take it slow: start with five minutes of reading from the Gospels, and five minutes of lifting your needs up in prayer. Guard that time zealously – don’t let a busy life bump it out of your day.
Immerse yourself in the Sacraments. Attend Mass more than you’re technically obligated to. Make regular confessions. Commit to a regular time of Eucharistic Adoration, such as is perpetually available at Holy Cross Parish in Winnipeg, as well as at specific times in many other parishes.
Read about the saints. Visit your local Catholic bookstore (such as Stephanchew’s Church Goods) and ask them to recommend a good book on a saint for you.

Second: Seek Good Counsel

Your life as a Catholic means that you are part of a great Communion of Saints in the Church. This means you are connected through Christ to all believers, and your decisions are not made in an isolated bubble. God has placed wise and holy people in your life – it might be parents, grandparents, priests, friends, parishioners, or even employers.

Practical Things to Do

Talk to your priest about spiritual accompaniment.
Turn to the ones you trust the most (young, middle-aged, and elderly) for advice. Ask them questions like:
- How did you discern your vocation?
- How has your vocation blessed you?
- How has your vocation been difficult? How do you overcome those difficulties?
- From what you know of my talents, passions, and struggles, what vocation do you think I might be called to?

Third: Do Something

A key step in discernment is action. It’s easier to steer a moving vehicle, and God can more easily direct your path if you’re actively taking steps. Don’t sit idly waiting for a voice to boom from the clouds. Begin exploring the various vocational paths, openly and with a sincere heart, to allow Jesus to guide you. The paths that open and close to us in that active exploration of our options are part of the guidance God gives us.

Practical Things to Do

Be involved in the Christian community of your parish and participate in its pastoral activities. Any spouse, priest, or consecrated religious will need to live a life of service and ministry to the Church and the world. Starting that life of service now will empower you to fulfill your vocational vow more perfectly when you make it.

Schedule time to talk to a priest about your vocational discernment.
Most religious communities host regular “come and see” discernment events. Search them out and attend them, even ones that you think may not resonate with you.
Take a Catholic gap year. Spend a year in missionary service (such as NET Canada or Catholic Christian Outreach) or in faith formation (such as Therese Institute of Faith and Mission in Bruno, Saskatchewan, or with Seeds of the Word in Calgary, Alberta).

In all this, be willing to travel. Tip: many grandparents would be happy to fund such an excursion!

Further Resources

General Discerning of God's Will:

What’s My Vocation? - Fr. Mike Schmitz

Weeds Among the Wheat - Fr. Thomas H Green, S.J.
Discerning the Will of God: a Christian Guide to Decision-Making – Gallagher
The Christian State of Life – Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar
The Six Daily Habits for Spiritual Resiliency: an Ignatian Handbook – Fr. John O'Brien

"J’ai peur d’avoir la vocation. Comment discerner?" – KTO (vidéo)

Comment trouver sa vocation? Aleteia (vidéo)

Tu m'as appelé par mon nom : Discerner sa vocation personnelle - Hebert Alphonso
Chemins ouverts - Voie de Dieu : Comprendre la vocation pour discerner sereinement – Romain Semenou

Discerning Priesthood:

To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood - Fr. Brett Brannen

Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Give You Shepherds) - Pope St. John Paul II

Discerning Religious Life:

A Living Sacrifice: Guidance for Men Discerning Religious Life - Croell & Hoffer

And You Are Christ's: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life - Dubay

Discerning Religious Life - Mother Clare Matthiass

The Vocations

Events and Celebrations