NRVC encourages you to promote and celebrate religious life during National Vocation Awareness Week, November 3-9.

Plentiful ideas and free resources for marking this week are available at nrvc.net. Consider sharing our new videos on your social media, giving out our new infographic to employees, students, or parishioners, or taking time for vocation-focused prayer within your community. 

Among the many activities scheduled for the week is a Meet Our Sisters Tour in Chicago, organized by members of Communicators for Women Religious. 

High school teachers are encouraged to use new vocation lesson plans developed by Global Sisters Report, available here.

We also encourage you to share what you do with us: email Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M., director of member relations and services: debbiesscm@nrvc.net.

Clockwise from top left: Father Byron Macias, C.M.F and Bobby Pantuso take part in "Behavioral Assessment 2"; Sisters Jessi Beck, P.B.V.M., Tracy Kemme, S.C.,  and Comfort Arthur, C.S.C. network during a break; Father Alarey Abella, C.PP.S. presides at a daily Mass during Fall Institute; Sister Maria Palma, C.S.C., Sister Prista Haga, S.M.S.M., and Exequiel Mapa, C.F.A. hold a discussion during "Behavioral Assessment 1." 

NRVC's Fall Institute, a series of four vocation ministry workshops held in Leavenworth, Kansas October 8-23, drew positive feedback from its 78 participants. Vocation ministers attended from around the United States, as well as from six other countries.

Sister Katia Chavez, S.J.S., who participated in the Orientation Program,  reported: "This program exceeded my expectations. The facility was the best, the schedule included socials, and the content was helpful and practical. The fact that we had a brother and a sister as presenters was a great testimony for religious vocations."

Vocation ministers can still take part in the National Catholic Youth Conference,  November 21-23 in Indianapolis, particularly as volunteers in NRVC's Inspiration Nook.

The conference is a high-energy faith experience for some 20,000 teenage Catholics and their chaperones. NRVC will again be sponsoring Inspiration Nook, a gathering space for meeting young people and promoting religious life. NRVC members may distribute promotional material about their communities in Inspiration Nook.

Religious can take part in NCYC in three overlapping ways:

• as part of a high school, parish, or diocese 
• as sponsor of an exhibit booth 
• as a volunteer in Inspiration Nook and in the conference's thematic village

Brothers to lead morning prayer

At NRVC's recommendation, two brothers will lead morning prayer on November 23. NFCRV grant recipient Brother Luis Ramos, F.M.S. will lead morning prayer, while Brother Mark Motz, S.M. will proclaim the scripture and give a reflection. This prayer and other sessions will be live-streamed at ncyc.info/livestream.

Further details about participating in NCYC are at nrvc.net.

Two new resources have recently become available on topics of diversity.

Report on Native American Catholics

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has produced Two Rivers - A Report on Catholic Native American Culture and Ministry. This 35-page document looks at data from a recent study about Native American Catholics and at the state of Native American ministry. Produced by the USCCB Subcommittee on Native American Affairs, it is available for free download. 

Videos on interculturality in consecrated life

The Center for the Study of Consecrated Life has made available several video lectures by religious on the topic of interculturality within religious life. The talks, presented at Catholic Theological Union between 2017 and 2019, examine the role of leadership in interculturality, perspectives on race and gender, conversion from ethnocentrism, and more. 

Top: With NRVC members at the conference of the Resource Center for Religious Institutes are Maureen Cetera (far left), director of finance, and Phil Loftus (far right), director of development.

Bottom left: Publications editor Carol Schuck Scheiber (right) at NRVC's exhibit at the conference of the Communicators for Women Religious .

Bottom right: At the Religious Formation Conference Congress is NRVC's Sister Deborah Borneman, SS.C.M. (center) with Father James Herring, O.Praem, CMSM Formation Committee chair, and Sister Ellen Dauwer, S.C., RFC executive director.

NRVC continued to network and hone professional skills by attending and exhibiting at conferences of our collaborators in October. 

Please renew your membership promptly so NRVC staff time can be devoted to programming. Prompt renewal also ensures that you continuously receive member benefits—including HORIZON. To add or remove members from your membership, please call Marge Argyelan, NRVC database administrator, at 773-363-5454.

These colorful business-sized cards are the perfect giveaway to use all year long at parish events, volunteer programs, and retreat centers. They pave the way for a vocation conversation.

The cards come in a pack of 100 with four messages: "You would make a great sister [or brother, priest, or nun]." The backs of the cards simply state "Imagine the possibilities" with a space to sign the cards. $6 per pack for NRVC members; $9 for non-members. Learn more or order them here.

Ave Maria Press new books

Two new titles may be of interest to HORIZON readers: ChurchMoney: Rebuilding the Way We Fund Our Mission, by Michael White and Tom Corcoran and You Shall be a Blessing: Twelve Letters on the Priesthood, by Cardinal Gerhard Müller. 

Mexican American Catholic College

Participate in a transformative experience and be part of a diverse community rooted in faith. Among the offerings at MACC are Intensive Pastoral Spanish and the Sisters' Intercultural Studies Program. Learn more at maccsa.org.

"The Life" & vocation lesson plans by Global Sisters Report

Don't miss the "The Life," the popular series by Global Sisters Report featuring reflections by a diverse panel of sisters from around the world: GlobalSistersReport.org/Series/Life. Global Sisters Report has also produced a series of high school vocation lesson plans available here.

Jackson Psychological Services

Assessments of candidates to religious institutes are offered by a skilled, experienced religious, psychologist, and NRVC member, workshop presenter, and HORIZON writer: Sister Cindy Kaye, R.S.M., Ph.D. 

Institute of Religious Formation & Hesburgh Sabbatical 

The Institute of Religious Formation and Hesburgh Sabbatical Programs at Catholic Theological Union offer programs for personal and professional development. For more information, see ctu.edu/academics/special-programs.

St. John Vianney Center

The Saint John Vianney Center specializes in psychological and formational assessments for individuals seeking to enter religious life and comprehensive evaluations to identify community and ministry difficulties.

Prepare the Word

Prepare the Word is a resource to help preachers prepare homilies that hit home. It also offers material to help nourish and strengthen the faith of parishioners. 

Redemptorist Renewal Center

The peaceful Sonoran Desert is the stunning setting for this retreat center. It offers programs year-round, including its Contemplative Study and Sabbatical Program and the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction. Learn more at desertrenewal.org. 

Thank you HORIZON advertisers!

HORIZON reaches a premier niche of highly educated religious men and women and lay ministers. Readers hold leadership positions in their communities and influence community decisions. Contact editor Carol Schuck Scheiber for more information: cscheiber@nrvc.net or 567-288-2255. Download the current rate card.

News of our collaborators

National Religious Brothers Symposium April 4

A national brothers symposium will be held April 4, 2020 at Boston College with the theme, “The Sky’s the Limit: The Prophetic Call of the Brother in the Church."  Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory, will be the keynote speaker. Details are at religiousbrothers.org/symposium. This event is co-sponsored by the Brothers Think Tank, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, National Religious Vocation Conference, and the Religious Formation Conference.

Canadian vocation conference in April

Anyone passionate about creating a culture of vocation is invited to attend the "Calling to New Horizons," a conference sponsored by the National Association of Vocation and Formation Directors (NAVFD) from April 29 to May 2, 2020 in beautiful St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. For details visit navfd.info or email navfdco@gmail.com.  

All new Review for Religious 

The journal Review for Religious, whose mission is the discussion, promotion, and renewal of Catholic religious life, will be launching in 2020. It will be published by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in partnership with Catholic University of America Press. The journal is calling for papers and peer reviewers. Learn more at RFRJournal.org.