Encouraging families to talk about vocations

CHATSWORTH, CA (The Tidings) - It's worthwhile for parishioners young and old to discuss religious vocations. But many parishes in the Los Angeles Archdiocese are turning it up a notch by adopting spiritual practices and support for those who are considering and/or have made a commitment to religious life.

Through liturgies, classrooms and parish life, the topic of vocations may indeed inspire new generations of priests, brothers and sisters, but it also reinforces the notion that religious life is as viable a path as marriage or single life.

For example, the new Stole and Chalice program at St. John Eudes Church in Chatsworth is a way parishioners are connecting spiritually to vocations in their own homes. Each Sunday at Mass, a different family brings a lightweight wooden chalice home and, for that week, specifically prays daily for the parish's transitional deacon as well as vocations in general.

"I thought it was a good opportunity for us to pray as a family," says mom Yesmin Wall whose five children range in age from two to 13. "We rarely have the chance, other than at meals, to pray together."

'Real positive experience'

Placing the chalice on the fireplace mantel, the Walls prayed the rosary daily along with their own intentions. Even after their week was up, Yesmin wanted to continue the daily prayer time. "People at the parish are excited about this," she says. "It was a real positive experience."

Indeed, Yesmin says having the chalice in the home sparked many discussions among her children about the nature of vocations. "We have two family members on my mother's side who are serving as missionaries in Africa and we often talk about what they do," she explains. Her own 11-year-old son often talked about becoming a priest when he was younger.

"We talk about these things openly and encourage it," she says. "Some parents think 'Oh no! Your son wants to be a priest!' They think that something is wrong with him, but honestly, I think it would be an honor."

Encouraging parents to foster vocations for their children is "the biggest challenge," agrees Katie Dawson, director of Evangelization and Formation at St. John Eudes. "Vocations need to be part of a child's imagination as an option," she says.

Prayer cards and pictures of the deacon have been distributed to all K-8 classrooms at the K-8 school as well as to all children in religious education. The children pray daily for the deacon and have even written him letters. Dawson says that the deacon has plans to visit each classroom to further vocation discussions.

"We'd love to show the video 'Fishers of Men' to parents to help them understand what a religious calling is all about," she says.

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Called to serve

Making vocations visible is a goal at Corpus Christi School in Pacific Palisades where vocation posters are hung on classroom walls and everyday in Janella Rea's eighth grade religion class, prayers are offered up for current seminarians.

This March, schoolchildren watched "Fishers of Men" during a Vocation Awareness Day. They also welcomed Msgr. Liam Kidney, pastor, who came to Rea's class and described "the joys and challenges" of serving as a priest for the past 40 years (the parish plans a 40th anniversary celebration April 27).

"We talked about the different ways people are called to be of service and the kids asked good questions, especially about the formation process." She says there were also healthy discussions about celibacy, women's ordination and married priests.

"I just want to plant a seed of possibility within each one of them," says Rea. "Even if none of them become a priest or sister, I want them to grasp the idea of what a vocation is: being called to serve. Each one of us has to answer the question of 'How am I to serve?'"

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This story was made available to Catholic Online by permission of The Tidings (www.the-tidings.com), official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.