Building a parish culture of vocation

OFTEN,  WHEN I TELL MY VOCATION STORY, people marvel at the fact that until I met with our congregational vocation director, I had never actually met a sister. Sure, I knew about sisters; I had heard sisters speak and read their writings, but in terms of personal encounters, my experience was extremely limited. If I had never met a sister, people wondered, how did the idea of a vocation to vowed religious life enter my consciousness? 

Without hesitation, I point them to the parish where I grew up. Unlike parishes of the mid-twentieth century, with their parochial schools staffed by religious orders, my small suburban parish in New Jersey had a single diocesan priest at the helm. Apart from a retired Benedictine priest who came to help with Masses on weekends, vowed religious were not actively present in our midst. And yet, the idea of vocation most certainly was.

The seeds of my vocation were planted and nurtured by the fruits of a parish community fully engaged in living out a culture of vocation. Everyone had a part to play in our community, and at the heart of each parishioner’s passion and participation was a call steeped in faith. Now, nearly 15 years into my life as a Sister of Saint Joseph, I can see the gift such a vocation culture gave me and to the community in which my early faith was formed. We were (and still are) disciples on the journey, each called in their own way.

In my current role as a pastoral minister, I now recognize the vast potential that parishes provide for those seeking to support a robust future for religious life. This future, in part, is dependent on a personal and communal understanding of vocation. Building a culture of vocation within the context of the local parish provides fertile ground for the Spirit to captivate hearts: encouraging all people to discern their call, building communities of faith that support ongoing discernment, and charting a pathway of discipleship that thinks globally while acting locally.

While every parish is as unique as its members, it has a profound responsibility and potential to build and maintain a vocation culture. Delving into key aspects of parish life—from liturgy and pastoral care to adult faith enrichment and children’s faith formation—and framing the life of the parish through the lens of vocation, we can discover the many possibilities for vocation promotion that exist on the parish level.

The parish: a place for the People of God

At its core, the parish is the heart of a community. Beyond geographic boundaries or Sunday obligations, the parish is where the People of God gather to share the joys and sorrows of life. Comprised of people from all different walks of life, the parish is a place for everyone. No matter one’s age or race, state of life, or status in society, all should be welcome. 

As the Second Vatican Council’s “Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity” (Apostolicam Actuositatem) makes clear, the parish “brings together the many human differences within its boundaries and merges them into the universality of the Church.” In this way, the parish acts as a cell in the larger body of the Church, providing a space where the People of God can gather to share life while mirroring the life of the larger church by providing opportunities to grow spiritually and socially.

In this way, the parish is a place of convergence and conversion. More than a hub of activity or activities (no matter how good they are), the parish is a hub for communion: for shared life and worship, prayerful practice, and nourishment of discipleship. As Pope Francis made clear in writing to parish priests in May 2024, “We will never become a synodal and missionary Church unless parish communities are distinguished by the sharing of all the baptized in the one mission of proclaiming the Gospel.” Creating a vocation culture in a parish hinges on a mission not meant for some but for all. 

For this to come to fruition, two things are necessary: 1) People must encounter Jesus and the Good News of the Gospel in the parish time and again, in prayer and community, and 2) They must know they are called, by their baptism, to bring the Good News of Jesus to all the world. 

Seeing parish life through the lens of vocation invites the whole parish community to something larger than itself. We are all called to encounter Christ. By emphasizing this movement, the parish sends and sustains the People of God throughout their lives. Viewing parish life this way also invites each member to consider their own part, not only in the cell of the parish but in the larger body of Christ. With such a vision, each parishioner comes to see that discerning and following God’s call is a lifelong journey.   

From this foundational perspective, a culture of vocation can take form within a parish, and the possibilities are endless. While creating an integrated vocation culture takes time and intention (as well as discernment of a community’s capacity), considering how a greater awareness and understanding of vocation can be integrated into key aspects of parish life provides a vision for where the creative pathways to such a culture might begin.

Charism: to be gifted and to gift

A few years ago, I was invited to facilitate a session on religious life and vocation for those in a large urban parish preparing to enter the church. Hearing about the group of nearly 30, I realized that the regular “vocation talk” I give to groups of students wouldn’t do. This Order of Christian Initiation (OCIA) group varied from their early 20s to mid-60s; they were largely married or engaged to be married, with some in established careers and others just completing their studies. I wondered to myself:

What did they need to hear? How could I frame my religious call story to meet them on their journey?

Knowing that we needed to cover the basic facts of religious life, I started by highlighting the types of religious life, the vows that religious take, and the idea that each institute lives out a particular charism. From there, I offered some tips for discernment that could help anyone listen for God’s call, before turning to my own story as a lived example. 

Before delving into my story, I invited the group to be attentive to how the story I was telling made them feel. “Note what resonates with your life experience,” I told them. “Notice what God’s call looked and sounded like in my story…and how you’ve felt that call in your own life.”

After they listened with rapt attention to my story, I invited the group to share their own stories of vocation with one another and to be attentive to what moved inside them. Stories of how they had experienced and discerned God’s call poured forth. Some talked about their career or a relationship; others shared their call to join the Catholic Church.

After they had shared one-on-one and reflected on what it felt like to both give and receive one another’s stories, I invited them into small groups and shifted their attention back to the idea of charism. “What gift do you have to bring to the Catholic Church?” I asked them. “What unique charism is yours to give and receive in this community of faith?”

Giving them a few minutes of quiet before moving to groups, I felt the energy in the room shift into deeper reflection. When they began to speak, the light of their vocations shone in new and wonderful ways. As a group member grappled for words, I watched as others listened attentively with deep care.

When the evening was over, a young man approached me with his fiancée. “I want to thank you,” he said, holding her hand tightly. “I’ve been Catholic my whole life, and I’ve never heard the word charism… let alone thought I had one. Reflecting tonight made me realize that as much as the Church offers me, I have something to offer it and the world too.”

What clicked for this young man, who’d accompanied his fiancée to OCIA sessions for months, was that there was a mutuality of gifts found in living one’s faith. He’d come to see that vocation is a two-way street—God calls and we respond. God gives gifts and abilities and we return those gifts with the fullness of our lives. Every movement of grace is a step toward the reign of God.

This understanding excited him. This was a new way of considering vocation that told him he was a valued member of this community, and his presence had an impact on the church writ large.

Using the concept of charism within a parish setting, whether with those in OCIA, with young adults, within marriage preparation, or with small faith communities, provides the opportunity to delve into the gifts our world and our church most need, gifts found in God’s people. In this way, a vocation culture in a parish moves beyond mere stewardship (sharing one’s time, talent, and treasure) to a model of vocational gift and grace.

Within programs of adult faith enrichment, this means inviting members to reflect on their vocational journey and the gifts they have cultivated and can further cultivate. For heads of ministries, members of pastoral councils, or advisory bodies, charism can be a helpful framework for considering one’s call and how the charism of their life of discipleship is reflected both within and beyond the parish.

Inviting parishioners to consider the gifts God has given them brings forth the fruit of their gifts. Each person has something to offer to the life of the community and the world. Part of the role of the parish is to call forth those gifts—to name them for one another, to engage them in service to the whole, and to send people conscious of their charism out into the world more fully formed by a vocation culture.

Initiation is for everyone

Perhaps the most obvious place for traditional vocation promotion in a parish is within religious education programs and children’s faith formation. Planting seeds of vocation early in life is an important step in forming our youngest parishioners and, ultimately, creating a parish vocation culture. The focus of such promotion efforts, however, cannot be limited to children, as discussing vocation needs to be integrated into all aspects of parish life if vocation is to be seen as a lifelong process, which everyone is initiated into by virtue of their baptism.

To take hold of hearts, vocation must be symbiotically linked to the sacramental life of the parish. Through the sacraments, each person is invited into a personal relationship with Jesus. We become what we receive, and we live out what we believe. In this way, the grace of the sacraments invites each member to encounter the grace of God in a particular way, growing in faith and love through active participation in the liturgy, ongoing faith formation, and parish communal life. 

Embedding teaching about vocation into the sacramental life of the parish is essential to building a pervasive culture of vocation. As the United States Bishops make clear in “Listen, Teach, Send”, the 2024 Pastoral Framework for Ministry with Youth and with Young Adults, all believers must be formed in the faith within the parish, called to be disciples active in the world, and sent forth strengthened by the grace of the sacraments.

Creating a parish culture of vocations means crafting liturgies that emphasize that each member, no matter how old or how young, is called by God to a life of holiness and wholeness. Within the Mass, this theme can be integrated into musical choices, preaching, and universal prayers. These elements also provide the opportunity to see a variety of people living out their vocations as liturgical ministers, promoting vocation in a broad sense and raising awareness of particular vocations, such as the call to religious life, holy orders, single life, and marriage.

While the everyday practice of the sacraments provides opportunities for vocation promotion, a keen focus on the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, First Eucharist, and Confirmation) provides a means by which vocation culture can become more engrained in a parish. In preparation for each of these Sacraments, emphasis on formation should be given both to those receiving the sacrament as well as the family and sponsors who play a critical role in accompanying them.

Among youth, questions of who you are, whose you are, and who you are called to be are a wonderful framework for formation. In particular, those preparing for Confirmation can be invited to consider what the commitment they are making has to do with God’s call in their lives. Here, the consideration of key elements, such as taking a confirmation name, renewing one’s baptismal vows, considering what it means to be called forth from and by a community, and choosing one’s sponsor, can all work to help young people reflect on their vocation and the vocation of others within their faith community.

Recognizing that Sacraments of Initiation welcome believers into the community of the church, it is critical also to consider the formation of those who accompany those being initiated. For families preparing for baptism, this means using baptismal prep as an opportunity to lift up the vocation of parents. It also means underscoring the vocation of parenthood within the liturgy, celebrating baptism within the context of Sunday Mass, so that the whole community may witness it, and making a point of including blessings of the mother and the father in their special roles in the life of their child. Emphasizing these elements highlights the family’s unique part in passing on the faith, while also inherently tying the domestic church to the parish community that nurtures and supports families. For families preparing for First Communion and Confirmation, time can be set aside for adult catechesis sessions, so that parents and guardians feel more confident in their role—indeed, their calling—to be teachers of the faith. These sessions provide input and teaching on the sacrament, the rite, and church teaching. More importantly, they provide opportunities for prayer and communal reflection by adults on their own journey and that of their children, as well as a forum to ask questions as they navigate these important moments of initiation.

This final point helps provide guidance along the way and instills a vocation culture. I will never forget having run one such session for adults accompanying Confirmandi, when a mother, after ninety minutes of prayer, sharing, and input, raised her hand from the back pew and asked, “What should I tell my daughter when she asks me about women’s roles in the church? When she asks me why I stay in the church?”

In unison, one hundred heads turned, eagerly awaiting an answer. “Tell her about your experience,” I responded. “Tell her what you struggle with and what helps you to keep the faith. Tell her about your vocation and about what it means to be a disciple in an imperfect world and an evolving institution.”

The woman smiled. I don’t think it was the answer she expected, but it was the answer that she needed. Sacraments of Initiation welcome people into the church more fully, to be fully who God has made them to be. Sharing our personal experiences of faith and vocational journey creates a space of welcome and of growth. We grow together when we walk together, with God and with one another.

Walking together in life’s big questions

To be missionary disciples, we must walk together. Like the disciples sent two by two, we never journey alone. Promoting a vocation culture within a parish also means journeying together, facing life’s big questions and transitions in community, and calling one another to listen deeply to God’s call as it echoes at every stage of life.

In our parish, this past Lent, this meant a simple and yet probing question placed at the end of each liturgy. The “Question of the Week” seemed like a way to engage the largest swath of our parishioners during this special liturgical season. Each week, before the final blessing, a pastoral minister would announce to the congregation what the question for the week was. Every question revolved around the message of the Sunday scripture, inviting parishioners to consider their call to live lives of faith. 

For example, in the fourth week of Lent, the question read, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son invites us to consider the relationships in our lives and the extravagant love of God that is offered to each of us. Whether we are lost or found, Jesus says to each of us, ‘You are here with me always; everything I have is yours.’ (Luke 15:31)

Is there an area in your life (a relationship, feeling, emotion, or habit) that feels lost or separate from God’s love and mercy? What would it mean to let God embrace this area of your life?”

The response to such questions from the community was overwhelmingly positive. People took them to heart and discussed them with others. Framed as a “mini retreat” for the parish, these questions were promoted on social media and printed in the weekly bulletin. Parishioners who might only be present on Sundays found themselves engaged in a way that reflected to them that their presence mattered and that their life in the world reflected the call they heard each Sunday.

Asking parishioners to reflect on how they live their faith is a step toward helping them chart their vocational path. Active engagement in such questions prompts personal and communal reflection and helps every person see that one’s call is a lifelong journey.

In a unique way, the parish occupies a space like no other in helping believers understand and explore their vocation as part of the larger church and world. Establishing a culture of vocation within a parish creates a space where community can come together to rejoice in God’s gifts and respond to God’s call by putting those gifts into action both individually and communally. 

As we look to promote religious vocations, where better to plant the seeds of the future than in the parish? There they will be tended by people of all generations, those who have heard God’s call and who, by the grace of God and the support of faith-filled communities, are trying their best to live out the gifts of faith given to them, to encounter Jesus, and to give example so that others might embrace the joy found in a life well lived.

Sister Colleen Gibson, S.S.J. is a Sister of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia who currently serves as coordinator of pastoral care at St. John-St. Paul Catholic Collaborative in Wellesley, Massachusetts. An award-winning writer, she also co-hosts the podcast Beyond the Habit at beyondthehabitpod.com.