The NRVC staff and board have been continuing their work during the COVID-19 shutdown. Staff members are carrying on their normal work from home and are regularly checking messages left on the phone of the main office: 773-363-5454. The best way to reach staff is by email. Contact information is here.

Board meeting carries on by Zoom

The NRVC board conducted its April meeting by Zoom, doing long-term planning for the organization, preparing for the study release, updating plans for the convocation, and electing three new members who will begin their terms in August. Congratulations to:

• Sister Jean Marie Fernandez, R.S.G.
• Sister Marichui Bringas, C.C.V.I
• Brother Brian Poulin, F.M.S.

This newsletter will carry details on these three new board members in August when their terms begin.

Member areas

Thank you to member areas for quick action to postpone or move spring events to online formats. Please consult your member area coordinators for updated information about NRVC local events as the coronavirus conditions evolve.

Religious Brothers Symposium postponed

Please consult religiousbrothers.org for updates on this symposium, which had been slated to take place in Boston in April.

Religious Brothers Day May 1

Consider planning an online form of celebration for Religious Brothers Day, such as a Facebook livestream or social media campaign. Learn more about the day here. 

Database position to be filled later

The part-time database administrator position remains open. Interviews will be scheduled after travel restrictions have been lifted.

Many of NRVC's collaborators and friends have posted material to help people deal with social distancing, anxiety, job loss, and other difficult situations brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. We share resources of particular interest to vocation directors and those with whom they minister.

If you or your community have material to aid religious communities, vocation directors, and young adults at this time, please email it to this address and we will periodically update this article: covid19.nrvc@gmail.com.

Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life    Letter to Religious from Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz

Leadership Conference of Women Religious

St. Luke Institute 

"When this is over" (poem by Laura Kelly Fanucci)

Grotto Network (for young adults) 

National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry

CTU April 7 "“The Catholic Moral Tradition Speaks to COVID-19,” with CTU professors Dick Benson, C.M., Maria Cimperman, R.S.C.J., and Dawn Nothwehr, O.S.F., 7pm CDT.

"What should we do if we can't go to Mass?" on Vision Vocation Network

All materials associated with the NRVC-CARA study Recent Vocations to Religious Life are now available at nrvc.net.

NRVC has broken down the survey data into forms that communities can digest and begin to discuss and evaluate. They include:

• Press release short summary (2 pages)
• Executive Summary (11 pages)
• Illustrated brochure (16 pages)
• Infographic (2 pages)

In addition the full study (152) pages) may be downloaded.

From now through April 15, the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations is accepting new applications for education-debt assistance. Please click the links to review NFCRV Grant Application Guidelines and the 2020 Grant Application or contact executive director Phil Loftus at ploftus@nfcrv.org or 773-595-4028.

Convocation 2020 registration opens in April

A heads-up about convocation 2020 (October 30 to November 2 in Spokane, Washington): Online registration will be available in April. Watch this newsletter for further details and know that the NRVC convocation remains as scheduled. This newsletter and nrvc.net will publish any changes or updates.

VISION, NRVC's premier guide for men and women considering religious life, is accepting advertising for its print and online editions. Learn how VISION advertising can be part of your plan to invite the next generation into your congregation.

Details are here. Call 312-356-9900 or email pjtuohy@truequestweb.com.

A key workshop for vocation directors is "Understanding, Assessing, and Fostering Psycho-Sexual Integration," to take place July 20-23. (All Summer Institute workshops remain scheduled as planned.) The presenter will be Sister Lynn Levo, C.S.J.

Vocation ministers need to understand psychological well-being and psychosexual development so that they may adequately assess a candidate’s ability for living religious life well. This workshop explores well-being, sexuality, the centrality of relationships and intimacy, personal boundaries, the impact of one’s past, sexual abuse, emotional awareness and integration, and the impact social media can have on well-being.

Mass is celebrated daily and lunch is provided.

Learn more or register here.

Consider planning online forms of celebration for Religious Brothers Day, May 1, and World Day of Prayer for Vocations, May 3. An option such as a Facebook livestream or a social media campaign might help you learn new skills and allow for many participants.

Learn more about Religious Brothers Day, May 1. Order the guide (in photo at left) for $5 here.

Learn more about World Day of Prayer for Vocations, May 3. Read the Holy Father's message for the day.

NRVC members can now see their friends and colleagues in one place online under the "I am NRVC" feature. To see all the features at once, go to the current feature (located at the bottom of the homepage).

In other updates, new "mega-menus" for the tabs at the top of nrvc.net improve your browsing experience. We will continue to update the NRVC website in the coming months to make the user experience even better.

​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. 

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.

St. Luke Institute offers help with COVID-19 anxiety

St. Luke Institute has pulled together resources for helping ministers—or anyone—cope with the strain of COVID-19. Find them here.

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

Don't miss "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 psychologist who is an 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.

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 NRVC collaborators

ForMission deadline to apply: April 10

ForMission is a two-year program offered by Religious Formation Conference intended for women and men involved in formation. The next ForMission class will take place May 28-June 5 at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. The deadline to apply for the new cohort is Friday, April 10. More information is here.

This new, colorful infographic is perfect to use with your community or other groups to share the important facts in the NRVC study, Recent Vocations to Religious Life. Build it into your commemoration of World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Download the infographic for free, and share it widely.