The Year of Consecrated Life is now off and running. From a special Mass in Rome on the first day (November 30), to tweets from remote places where religious minister, the Year of Consecrated Life will be expressed in as many ways  as there are people living the life (almost a million worldwide).

The three goals of the year are:

• Renewal of the life
• Thanksgiving for consecrated life
• Invitation to join religious life

Please tell others how you are celebrating:
Share YCL photos and information with NRVC’s friends and members on NRVC’s YCL Facebook Event page. 

E-mail your community’s homily or reflection on YCL to NRVC’s editor (cscheiber@nrvc.net).

Publicize your YCL event on the VISION events page (at no cost).

View and download dozens of resources for Year of Consecrated Life (YCL) at VocationNetwork.org. In addition to the 2015 VISION Vocation Guide special issue and multilingual bookmarks, YCL resources include:

• Sample homilies
• bulletin inserts for all 61 weeks of the Year of Consecrated Life
• sample petitionary prayers
• Vocation fact sheet
• YCL song and petitionary prayers
• lesson plans for teachers
• activity ideas for youth ministers
• parent workshop outlines
• vocation prayers
• other resources and YCL ideas for parishes
• Discover Your Path VISION e-book
• YCL logos
• parish banners to download or that can be ordered through the nrvc.net store
• multilingual VISION cover poster pdfs (for reprint)
• Consecrated life timeline poster pdfs (for reprint)
• links to hundreds of articles available on prayer & discernment
• videos on religious life
• podcasts

Additional resources will be added throughout the year. Please don't forget to post your events on the VISION calendar and tell what your community is doing to observe YCL (on our Facebook YCL events page).

These YCL resources are available through a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Every parish in the country will receive information about the resources the National Religious Vocation Conference is providing.

Gail Motz and her son, Mark. Mark is a temporary professed Marianist.

This winter NRVC is launching a new study on a relatively unexplored aspect of vocation: family life and its effect on entrance to vowed and ordained life. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) is conducting the study for NRVC. It will survey Catholic parents, parents of religious and clergy, and focus groups in two to three U.S. regions.

The study release will coincide with the eighth World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia next September, which will include a visit from Pope Francis. The study is being underwritten by a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

The 332 participants in NRVC’s convocation, held November 6-10 in Chicago, gave the gathering high marks in their evaluations. They praised the 25th jubilee event for the fresh ideas, networking, and inspiration it provided. Attendees came from 25 countries, including Austria, Canada, Chile, Ireland, Mexico, Trinidad, and the United Kingdom.

Approximately three quarters of the 159 evaluators said it exceeded their expectations; 96 percent gave it three or four out of four.

Photos  View and download them at flickr.com/nrvc.  (Thank you to Sister Belinda Monahan, O.S.B. and Father Toby Collins, C.R. for your photography work.)

Audio or video  Call AVM at 888-763-1464 to order discs of speakers or workshops. Click here for the order form.

Keynote presentations and a selection of convocation reflections will be published in the Winter 2015 HORIZON, which mails in early February. Pre-order additional hard copies of HORIZON, $25 each: cscheiber@nrvc.net.  

Donations  Thank you to all who contributed during the convocation’s final Mass to the Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, pbmr.org. Donations totaled $1,638.

Hotel billing  Any concerns in this regard should be directed to Nix and Associates at 800-266-0866 or 314-645-1455.

Videos used during the convocation (such as the video of laity expressing appreciation for religious life) are posted on the NRVC YouTube channel.  All of these videos can be shared and used on your own social media sites.

Sponsors  A final word of thanks to our sponsors and 28 exhibitors, A list of exhibitors can be viewed or downloaded.

Contacts  If you wish to send thanks to the Catholic schoolchildren who wrote notes to attendees or contact anyone else involved with the convocation, please email Sister Debbie Borneman, SS.C.M. at debbiesscm@nrvc.net. She will help you to get in touch with the appropriate people.

Congratulations to NRVC member Sister Maria Therese Healy, O.Carm., who was recently featured on the Today show promoting the new reality show The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns. The Today segment put religious life and discerning women in a very positive light, which is good news, particularly as we enter the Year of Consecrated Life.

However, we do have one important clarification: In the clip, Sister Maria Therese says, "We belong to a national organization for vocations, the NRVC, and we're one of the communities that they thought would be a good fit because of our unique ministry." We are grateful for the NRVC mention, but that statement makes it sound as though NRVC identified communities for the reality show. In fact, we did not recommend any communities. It was the production company, Hot Snakes Media, that thought the Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirm would be a “good fit”--not NRVC. The producer did contact the NRVC office several times; however, we were clear that because of the nature of the show, we could not recommend any particular community and that the producer would have to seek out possible community participants directly.

Again, we offer our hearty congratulations to Sister Maria Therese on her Today show appearance and hope that this reality program will help shed light on the discernment process and joys of religious life.

Don’t miss this short, powerful booklet written specifically for vocation directors. It gives basic guidance in digital media. Download it here.

Idea: Invite a few young people to read this guide and give feedback. Ask them what is the number one thing your website could do better? The digital world is big, but start with one thing. Maybe one of them will even be able to help accomplish the suggested change.

Juan Diego vocation prayer cards are available in packs of 100 in English and Spanish. These 3-by-5-inch cards can be tucked inside Christmas cards to community members, college campus contacts, and parishioners. The price has been lowered to $3 per pack for members; $4.50 for non-members. Shop at nrvc.net or write nrvc@nrvc.net.

Vocation Director, Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm

How long have you been in vocation ministry?
I’ve been full time since 2003.

Who else is involved?
I have a contact vocation sister in each of our homes who serves as a member of our Vocation Steering Committee. I am also part of the formation team, which includes two members of leadership, the novice director, postulant director, and the temporary vow director. Everyone on the formation team is also part of the Vocation Steering Committee.

Has being a member of NRVC been helpful?
Yes! The NRVC and its resources continue to be a great support in all our vocation endeavors. We consistently look to NRVC for how best to move forward in our times. The NRVC-CARA study and the programs developed since then have been a touchstone in educating ourselves and forming our own best practices.

Also, the relationships built at NRVC conferences, regional meetings, committees, etc. have truly helped me maintain a global view of vocations. These relationships have  helped me build a collective wisdom that continually encourages and supports me.

What has been your best vocation effort?
Our SALT Mission Program. SALT (Serving the Aged Lovingly Today) is meant to foster relationships between young  adults, the sisters, and the elderly through daily encounters prayer, service, and recreation. Two of our current novices participated in this program.

Moving Forward in Hope: Keys to the Future program (Keys) was chosen by leadership as a mandatory community workshop to be presented in each local community in 2013-2014. This has been a very inspiring experience in unexpected ways. We have been heartened by the deep desire of our sisters to continue the journey together, with a collective deep hope that despite diminishment and a sense that it will be different, our mission will continue in the church. The Keys process has helped motivate members to take ownership of vocations. It has also helped the community identify how we need to change in order to successfully invite in a new generation.

Any words of wisdom to new vocation directors?

Four things:

1. It is vital for the vocation director to build a good support system in and out of community.
2. Take care of your own health and be faithful to your Sabbath time.
3. Remember that while vocation ministry is the task of few, it is the responsibility of the whole community.
4. Maintain a good sense of humor! This is essential to navigate your way through the many experiences unique to this ministry.

What do you find most rewarding about vocation ministry?

The sincerity of the women whom I have had the privilege to accompany on this journey. Each one has mirrored in some way the grace within my own call and the incredible love of God, who continues to call me to be a lifegiver, a living presence of love in the world.