"Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment" will be the theme of a synod that Pope Francis has called to take place in Rome in October 2018.

A Vatican statement reported: "the theme, an expression of the pastoral care of the Church for the young, is consistent with the results of the recent Synod assemblies on the family and with the content of the post-Synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

"Its aim is to accompany the young on their existential journey to maturity so that, through a process of discernment, they discover their plan for life and realise it with joy, opening up to the encounter with God and with human beings, and actively participating in the edification of the Church and of society."

Crux, an online religion news outlet, reported: "Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said that the synod won’t focus solely on the choice between married life and religious life." Rather the gathering of several hundred bishops will treat the full array of vocational choices before young people.

The topic for the 2018 synod was chosen by the XIV Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops, according to the Vatican. Find a preparatory document here.  Download the pope's letter to young people here.

At 216, the number of people in the U.S. taking perpetual vows last year was the highest since 2010, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. At the same time, while many trends among those taking perpetual vows have held steady, two areas have shown slight movement over time: increased education levels and decreased personal prayer at the time of entrance.
 
The number of people identified by CARA as ready to take final vows has gone up and down since 2010, primarily inching upward. The number of religious institutes that have seen one or more members take final vows has also gone up and down over the past seven years.
 
In keeping with the large number of final professed in 2016, the number of religious institutes that have celebrated perpetual vows is also at a seven-year high: with 126 of the roughly 800 institutes in the country seeing one or more members take final vows this past year.
 
 A trend that has held steady since 2010 is that the large majority of institutes (80 to 87 percent) have not experienced a final profession. The exact proportion of institutes with no final vows has fluctuated since 2010, but the 80 percent in 2016 is the lowest since CARA began tracking the numbers. Put another way, in 2016, 20 percent of communities reported a final profession, the largest percentage since 2010.
 
As more Americans than ever before go to college and earn higher degrees, so too have the profession classes increased in education levels. In 2011, 57 percent entered their religious institute with at least a bachelor’s degree or more. In 2016, 74 percent of the newly professed had entered religious life with at least a bachelor’s. That represents an increase in undergraduate degrees of 17 percent over five years.
 
The practice of private prayer among new entrants has slightly decreased, a movement perhaps connected to larger social trends in the United States of decreased spiritual practices. In 2011, 95 percent of the profession class participated in some type of private prayer activity before they entered their religious institute. In 2016, 86 percent reported regularly participating in private prayer. That is a decrease of 9 percent. During the intervening years, the rate of private prayer was incrementally moving downward.

The Vocation Ambassadors Program will take place June 9-12 at Holy Cross College in South Bend, Indiana. The program trains young people to be ambassadors who can communicate vocation messages. Each participating religious community must send a communications staff person, a vocation director, and an adult between ages 20-30. By taking part, all three participants agree to do 100 hours of work to fulfill the project's mission.

Workshop

The Vocation Ambassadors Program begins with a four-day "Share the Sacred" workshop that helps sharpen the "ambassadorial" skills and communications planning of participants. Fourteen select teams will work together to develop a consistent message that religious life is a viable life option in the Catholic Church.

Venue and fees

The program will convene at Holy Cross College, June 9-12, 2017, starting at 5 p.m. on June 9 and ending at noon, June 12. The program is free. Participants will only be responsible for travel and personal expenses. All program materials, accommodations, meals, and presenter fees will be underwritten through the generosity of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

Application process

NRVC members may begin applying now; applications are due March 25. Participants in the Vocation Ambassadors Program will be selected as a team. The application must be completed and submitted by an NRVC member (single or licensed). And the participating team must include a vocation minister who has previously attended the NRVC Orientation Program for Vocation Directors. The communicator and young adult do not have to be NRVC members.

Read more about the program here.

NFCRV director Mark Teresi can answer questions about the grant application process.

Just a reminder: The National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations (NFCRV) is accepting 2017 applications from NRVC members for grant assistance for viable candidates with college debt until the deadline of March 13, 2017.

Since 2015, NFCRV has supported 19 vocations to the religious life as a priest, brother, or sister. The online application process is explained at NRCFV.org.

Please direct questions to Mark J. Teresi, director of NFCRV at mjteresi@nfcrv.org or 773-595-4028.

Enrollment in NRVC summer courses and programs begins this month. This year NRVC is offering eight workshops intended for vocation ministers, formation teams, communicators, religious leadership, and others entrusted with the assessment of discerners and candidates.

Find details about all the courses in the coming months here.

NRVC's award-winning vocation guide, VISION, walks with discerners through the discernment process. NRVC encourages all religious communities to consider being part of VISION. Much more than just a print ad, being a VISION sponsor gives your community a presence in:

•  the print and digital editions
•  VISION's large social media network
•  VISION online events calendar
•  VISION phone app, and more

Get personal feedback from VISION's executive editor, Patrice Tuohy, on how to best meet your community's advertising needs: 800-942-2811. Or pjtuohy@truequestweb.org.

More information is available on the VISION website.

Some of NRVC's current board members: Sister Anita Quigley, S.H.C.J.; Sister Kristin Matthes, S.N.D.de N.; and Brother Tom Wendorf, S.M.

Nominations—including self nominations—to serve on the NRVC Board are being accepted until March 1. The board will select new members at its March meeting and hold an orientation for them in August.

Forms for making a nomination are at nrvc.net. To learn more about board responsibilities and the growth and learning that can be gained through board service, contact any current board member.

Thank you to all those who have contributed to the Misericordia Fund. Over $40,000 has been raised to assist congregations with NRVC membership and workshop fees. Thanks to this generosity, 73 scholarships have been given to 37 religious institutes since the inception of the Misericordia Fund in 2014.

Information about the Misericordia Fund and details about contributing to it are online.

World Day for Consecrated Life is taking place Feb. 2 and 4-5. Resources and more information about this day designated to celebrate and honor those in consecrated life can be found here.

Those who contribute financially to the National Religious Vocation Conference frequently ask our members to remember their intentions in prayer. We ask that members and friends recall the following intentions:

Barbara M. in Illinois: her family’s health.

Constance S. in Michigan: for recovery from cancer.

Liz H. in Michigan: for her grandchildren, especially those in college, for her nephew who is battling cancer, and her son’s return to the church.

Steve F. in New Jersey: for his own vocation.

Alfred D. in California: for the health and happiness of his family; priests and religious; and the poor souls in purgatory.

Donna A. in Michigan: for her three oldest children and for her youngest son who has physical and mental health problems.

Maria S. in Wisconsin: for all priests and religious; an end to abortion; and that those in the new administration be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Ann M. in New Jersey: for the catechists she teaches.

Ryan A. in Wisconsin: that we are all able to bear our crosses and help one another when we see that it is needed.

The Lake Erie/Ohio River member area is holding an interactive presentation on social media use April 27-29 in Clinton, Ohio. Titled "Demystifying Social Media Networking and Engaging It for Vocation Ministry," this hands-on learning opportunity is open to all members of NRVC as noted in the links below.

Mary Lynn Delfino and personnel from A Nun's Life Ministry will be the presenters. Time will be allotted for participants to use the technology that is discussed.

For more information, click here. The registration form is here. Download related materials: social media handout, social media directions.

A key way to learn both what is possible and what is working in the fast-moving world of social media is to see what other religious communities are doing. Thanks to the NRVC list of social media sites, this research is easy to do.

Consider what other communities are doing and ask yourself:

♦ What seems to be working?

♦ What sites does your community have the capacity to be effectively involved in?

♦ How much time can you and/or staff or volunteers devote to regular updates on social media?

♦ What goals could you fulfill by being present on sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, etc.?

If you are an NRVC member and your community has social media sites that are not yet listed, contact Marge Argyelan with your information at margyelan@nrvc.net.

These postcard-sized prayer cards feature Kente cloth designs and are a perfect resource to promote all vocations in a variety of settings. The front of the prayer card contains a moving prayer by Sister Beatrice Jeffries, S.B.S. and the back has scripture verses from 1 Kings 19:11-12.

This resource was suggested by our NRVC Black Religious Committee and was then designed by NRVC Board member Sister Jo-Anne Miller, C.S.J.P.

Sold in packs of 100, the price for members is $5; non-members: $8. Order yours today at nrvc.net/store.

RFC to host workshop on communal discernment March 18

The Religious Formation Conference will sponsor "Crossing the Border from Individual to One: Skills for Communal Discernment," on March 18, 2017 in San Antonio, TX. Learn more at relforcon.org.

LCWR publishing reflection journal

LCWR is taking orders for its 2017 book, The Intimate Nearness of God: A Reflective Journal Exploring Contemplation and Transformation. This collection of reflections is written by 30 LCWR members about how they are reclaiming and deepening the contemplative dimensions of their lives and how this focus is leading them to an even fuller embodiment of love. Artwork by Catholic sisters, as well as questions and suggestions for deepening the reader's own prayer, accompany the reflections.

Each book is $6, plus shipping and handling. Discounted prices are available for orders larger than 10. Orders must be placed online by March 10. LCWR will print only the amount of copies that are pre-ordered.  Proceeds will help defray the cost of LCWR resources and programs.

For those starting a volunteer program

On March 2-4 in Chicago the Catholic Volunteer Network will host a workshop on how to start a volunteer program. Called "3-day Formation Workshop," learn more at catholicvolunteernetwork.org.

Brothers Symposium March 25

A national Brothers Symposium will be held at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana on March 25. The program will be based on the Vatican document "Identity and Mission of the Religious Brother in the Church," with Brother John Mark Falkenhain, O.S.B. serving as keynote speaker. The event is  sponsored by the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, the National Religious Vocation Conference, the Religious Brothers Conference, the Religious Formation Conference, and the University of Notre Dame. Further information is available here.

Religious priesthood conference

The Center for the Study of Consecrated Life will sponsor a conference on religious life priesthood April 6-7 at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Three keynoters will speak: Archbishop Joseph Tobin, C.S.S.R.; Edward Hahnenberg, Ph.D.; and Father Robin Ryan, C.P. For more information, see ctuconsecratedlife.org.

What roles do you play in your ministry, and how have you been involved in NRVC?

I'm the national vocation director for the Divine Word Missionaries. In addition I'm the current co-coordinator for the Heartland member area. I've also participated in one of the past symposiums sponsored by NRVC, the Moving Forward in Hope Project, and I have written for HORIZON. I have taken part in five convocations and numerous NRVC workshops.

How long have you been involved in vocation ministry? 

I started full time in 2003, so I'm into my 14th year.

What do you enjoy most about this ministry? 

The most enjoyable and most humbling part of vocation ministry is walking with an individual in his discernment. The phone calls, emails, text messages, visits to their home, hosting men at our formation houses and mission sites, listening to their personal stories, their joys and struggles, their spiritual journey and sharing my story with them and the passion I feel for the S.V.D. charism and mission … those are all the most enjoyable parts of vocation ministry!

Has being a member of NRVC been helpful to you?

My NRVC membership has been incredibly helpful, primarily by facilitating opportunities for professional development, but, more importantly, enabling me to develop relationships with colleagues in this ministry for effective collaboration, networking, support, and friendship.

What has been your best vocation effort?

Our best “vocation effort” does not belong to one program or technique, but rather a collection of many different efforts that have changed over time and an attitude that we must be proactive in vocation ministry and not sit back and wait for the phone to ring. “Shaking the bushes” or “knocking on doors” and attempting to contact every referral has proven helpful. Animating our members, establishing referral sources, attending events, and having a social media presence are all important, but having a vocation team that works together for a common goal is incredibly important.