The GHR Foundation awarded a $200,000 grant to NRVC to provide extensive data mining and visual display of the responses to its 2020 Study on Recent Vocations, which the GHR Foundation also helped fund. The study will be released in spring 2020.

With the goal of helping vocation directors in their ministry and using the most current data-mining and story-mapping software, NRVC will gather information on the newest entrants to religious life to create a vivid portrait of the characteristics, influences, and touch points that help shape the individual vocation journeys of men and women who chose to become Catholic religious sisters, brothers, and priests primarily to help vocation directors in their ministry.

NRVC Development Director Phil Loftus recognizes this major gift “not only as an investment in NRVC, but as a commitment to using the latest technology to capture and share a fuller picture of religious life today. We are very grateful to GHR Foundation for their continued support of our mission."

NRVC hopes that the data-mapping program to be developed will have a broader application among religious communities and dioceses in creating up-to-date information about contemporary men and women religious and the ministries where they serve and the people whose lives are enhanced by their
work.

Please mark your calendars for the following Summer Institute workshops. Registration will open in February.

• July 8-12 Orientation Program for New Vocation Directors
• July 13-14 Ethics in Vocation and Formation Ministry
• July 16-18 Behavioral Assessment 1
• July 16-18 Is It Generational, Cultural, Personality or Pathology?
• July 20-23 Psycho-sexual Integration and Assessment of Candidates

Because of the generosity of religious communities affiliated with NRVC, we have scholarship monies available to assist with membership to NRVC. Please contact Phil Loftus, director of development, to inquire about using (or contributing to) this funding: ploftus@nrvc.net, 773-363-5454.

NRVC members will gather in their local areas on the following dates. Available details about these gatherings and others can be found at nrvc.net. 

Delaware Valley
Philadelphia,  January 14, February 25, and April 28

Mid-Atlantic
Baltimore, March 2

West Coast
Los Angeles, January 9

NRVC urges you to consider nominating  yourself or another member to serve a three-year term on the NRVC Board. Board service is an opportunity to network, grow, and develop while furthering our mission.

New board members will begin with an orientation meeting in August and then meet two to three times a year, in addition to other responsibilities. Details and forms for submitting a self-nomination or nomination of another are at nrvc.net. The nomination deadline is February 1. 

The global church will celebrate World Day for Consecrated Life on February 2. This celebration of life as a religious sister, brother, or priest is an opportunity for vocation ministers to promote this way of life. Some possible ways to mark the day:

• prayer service for your community and the public
• open house at your convent or motherhouse
• special event/commemoration at  your sponsored ministries
• use of this "teachable moment" for a school lesson on religious life
• social media outreach campaign

NRVC encourages its members to use this occasion to let people know that religious life continues to be a force for good in the world. A resource you may wish to use is the NRVC icon prayer card pictured here.

NRVC icon prayer card free download

NRVC icon prayer card for purchase

Find further information about this day at this link. 

Are you working with a new member with daunting educational debt? From now through April 15, the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations is accepting new applications for assistance. Please click the links to review NFCRV Grant Guidelines and the 2020 Application or contact executive director Phil Loftus at ploftus@nrvc.net or 773-363-5454.

Catholic Sisters Week will take place March 8-14, and a number of resources are available for commemorating it. Find a tool kit and background information at CatholicSistersWeek.org.

The coordinator of the week, Communicators for Women Religious, states:

"The 2020 theme is 'Communities of Spirit, Hearts for Ministry.' We are encouraging congregations of women religious and those connected with them to plan and share events and activities, that:

•    Expand and support the gospel witness
•    Share their spirituality, charisms, and community.
•    Encourage young women to consider a vocation to religious life.
•    Support their pastoral, teaching, and prophetic works."

Consider using these colorful prayer cards in conjunction with World Day for Consecrated Life next month. They also make a beautiful giveaway at any vocation event or can be sent with jubilee announcements or thank-you letters. The art is by iconographer Vivian Imbruglia, and the words are derived from Pope Francis' message at the conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life.

A pack of 100 is only $5 for members, $8 for non-members. Order them at the NRVC online store. Members may also download the card.

Ave Maria Press new books

Two new titles you may want to read are: 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.

Saint 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 Redemptorist Renewal Center runs three sabbatical programs annually—spring, summer, and fall. The spring and fall programs each last 10 weeks, while the summer is only five weeks. For more information on the RRC program, see desertrenewal.org/sabbatical/ or contact office@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

Canadian vocation conference in April

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