HAVE YOU SEEN?

Have you seen any good vocations blogs/websites/etc? If yes can you tell us about them - we want to try and get something really good together for all to see!
Thank's, Trevor.

Vocations retreat weekend - MISSED

You missed a really great Vocations weekend!
Why not find out more about what happened and when the next one will be by sending me a email? Fr. Trevor.
christ-the-king@hotmail.co.uk

Invitation to ‘Spiritual Searchers’

A weekend in Bristol for spiritual searchers will take place at Emmaus House, Clifton from 3 - 5 August, 2007. The weekend, open to single women & men between the ages of 20 - 40, invites participants to join a team from four different international religious congregations from around the country to review steps already taken and to consider steps forward on their way to God.

The team, composed of Liz Shaw, Sister of La Retraite based at Emmaus House, Anne McLoughlin, Sister of St. Paul, Michele Totman, Sister of La Sainte Union, and Dave Nixon, Missionary of the Sacred Heart, will offer a varied programme of group input, sharing, celebration and socialising, as well as individual time for personal space and reflection.

"It's really important that people bring to the weekend their own questions and concerns. We will provide the necessary space and means to take these further" says Sr. Liz, adding that Emmaus House, with its varied prayer places, beautiful gardens and reputation for good food is an excellent venue for this type of weekend.

"The weekend is an excellent opportunity to take time out from one's daily routine and to consider 'where next?', or 'what am I doing with my life?’, or asking 'how can I see God's call to me more clearly?'. Sometimes it can be really helpful to explore questions like these with others rather than just carrying them on one's own", says Sr. Michele.

At £70 the weekend is a terrific bargain! Registration will take place between 5 - 6 p.m on Friday 3 August. The weekend begins with supper at 6.30 p.m and ends with lunch on Sunday.

For all further information please contact Sr. Liz Shaw, Emmaus House on 0117 907 9950 or email administration@emmaushouse.org.uk / www.emmaushouse.org.uk

Job opportunity; Chaplain's Assistant at Exeter University Catholic Chaplaincy

RC Diocese of Plymouth
(Plymouth Diocesan Trust Registered Charity Number 213227)

Part-time Chaplain's Assistant Required
September 2007

Accommodation and Subsistence Allowance Provided

This residential post would suit a practising Catholic interested in
working with students of all ages, faiths and cultural backgrounds as part
of the Chaplaincy team at the University of Exeter. Responsibilities
include helping to facilitate the liturgical, pastoral and catechetical
life of the Catholic Chaplaincy, working closely with the Catholic
Chaplain. This is an exciting post, offering opportunities to work to own
strengths and interests.

It is expected that the successful candidate will be educated to Graduate
level and possess a vision of Church and sense of ministry. Previous
experience of working with young adults and a theology or counselling
background would be useful but not essential.

Closing date for applications: Monday 14th May
Interviews on 21st May in Exeter

To discuss your interest in this post contact Canon Paul Cummins at:
Email: P.M.Cummins@ex.ac.uk
Website; http://www.university.ex.ac.uk/catholic/

To obtain an application pack contact:
Teresa Cummings, Human Resource Manager,
Rosary House, 27 Fore Street, Heavitree,
Exeter, Devon EX1 2QJ
Tel: 01392 286028
Email: teresa.cummings@prcdtr.org.uk

Papal letter on Vocations

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER
FOR THE 44TH WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
29TH APRIL 2007 - 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER


Theme: “the vocation to the service of the Church as communion”

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear brothers and sisters!

The annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations is an appropriate occasion for highlighting the importance of vocations in the life and mission of the Church, as well as for intensifying our prayer that they may increase in number and quality. For the coming celebration, I would like to draw the attention of the whole people of God to the following theme, which is more topical than ever: the vocation to the service of the Church as communion.
Last year, in the Wednesday general audiences, I began a new series of catechesis dedicated to the relationship between Christ and the Church. I pointed out that the first Christian community was built, in its original core, when some fishermen of Galilee, having met Jesus, let themselves be conquered by his gaze and his voice, and accepted his pressing invitation: “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men!” (Mk 1: 17; cf. Mt 4: 19). In fact, God has always chosen some individuals to work with him in a more direct way, in order to accomplish his plan of salvation. In the Old Testament, in the beginning, he called Abraham to form a “great nation” (Gn 12: 2); afterwards, he called Moses to free Israel from the slavery of Egypt (cf. Ex 3: 10). Subsequently, he designated other persons, especially the prophets, to defend and keep alive the covenant with his people. In the New Testament, Jesus, the promised Messiah, invited each of the Apostles to be with him (cf. Mk 3: 14) and to share his mission. At the Last Supper, while entrusting them with the duty of perpetuating the memorial of his death and resurrection until his glorious return at the end of time, he offered for them to his Father this heart-broken prayer: “I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn 17: 26). The mission of the Church, therefore, is founded on an intimate and faithful communion with God.
The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution Lumen gentium describes the Church as “a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (n. 4), in which is reflected the very mystery of God. This means that the love of the Trinity is reflected in her. Moreover, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, all the members of the Church form “one body and one spirit” in Christ. This people, organically structured under the guidance of its Pastors, lives the mystery of communion with God and with the brethren, especially when it gathers for the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the source of that ecclesial unity for which Jesus prayed on the eve of his passion: “Father…that they also may be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17: 21). This intense communion favours the growth of generous vocations at the service of the Church: the heart of the believer, filled with divine love, is moved to dedicate itself wholly to the cause of the Kingdom. In order to foster vocations, therefore, it is important that pastoral activity be attentive to the mystery of the Church as communion; because whoever lives in an ecclesial community that is harmonious, co-responsible and conscientious, certainly learns more easily to discern the call of the Lord. The care of vocations, therefore, demands a constant “education” for listening to the voice of God. This is what Eli did, when he helped the young Samuel to understand what God was asking of him and to put it immediately into action (cf. 1 Sam 3: 9). Now, docile and faithful listening can only take place in a climate of intimate communion with God which is realized principally in prayer. According to the explicit command of the Lord, we must implore the gift of vocations, in the first place by praying untiringly and together to the “Lord of the harvest”. The invitation is in the plural: “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9: 38). This invitation of the Lord corresponds well with the style of the “Our Father” (Mt 6: 9), the prayer that he taught us and that constitutes a “synthesis of the whole Gospel” according to the well-known expression of Tertullian (cf. De Oratione, 1,6: CCL I, 258). In this perspective, yet another expression of Jesus is instructive: “If two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven (Mt 18: 19). The Good Shepherd, therefore, invites us to pray to the heavenly Father, to pray unitedly and insistently, that he may send vocations for the service of the Church as communion.
Harvesting the pastoral experience of past centuries, the Second Vatican Council highlighted the importance of educating future priests to an authentic ecclesial communion. In this regard, we read in Presbyterorum ordinis: “Exercising the office of Christ, the shepherd and head, according to their share of his authority, the priests, in the name of the Bishop, gather the family of God together as a brotherhood enlivened by one spirit. Through Christ they lead them in the Holy Spirit to God the Father” (n. 6). The post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis echoes this statement of the Council, when it underlines that the priest is “the servant of the Church as communion because – in union with the Bishop and closely related to the presbyterate – he builds up the unity of the Church community in harmony of diverse vocations, charisms and services” (n. 16). It is indispensable that, within the Christian people, every ministry and charism be directed to full communion; and it is the duty of the Bishop and priests to promote this communion in harmony with every other Church vocation and service. The consecrated life, too, of its very nature, is at the service of this communion, as highlighted by my venerable predecessor John Paul II in the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata: “The consecrated life can certainly be credited with having effectively helped to keep alive in the Church the obligation of fraternity as a form of witness to the Trinity. By constantly promoting fraternal love, also in the form of common life, the consecrated life has shown that sharing in the Trinitarian communion can change human relationships and create a new type of solidarity” (n. 41).
At the centre of every Christian community is the Eucharist, the source and summit of the life of the Church. Whoever places himself at the service of the Gospel, if he lives the Eucharist, makes progress in love of God and neighbour and thus contributes to building the Church as communion. We can affirm that the “Eucharistic love” motivates and founds the vocational activity of the whole Church, because, as I wrote in the Encyclical Deus caritas est, vocations to the priesthood and to other ministries and services flourish within the people of God wherever there are those in whom Christ can be seen through his Word, in the sacraments and especially in the Eucharist. This is so because “in the Church’s Liturgy, in her prayer, in the living community of believers, we experience the love of God, we perceive his presence and we thus learn to recognize that presence in our daily lives. He loved us first and he continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love” (n. 17).
Lastly, we turn to Mary, who supported the first community where “all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer” (Acts 1: 14), so that she may help the Church in today’s world to be an icon of the Trinity, an eloquent sign of divine love for all people. May the Virgin, who promptly answered the call of the Father saying, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord” (Lc 1: 38), intercede so that the Christian people will not lack servants of divine joy: priests who, in communion with their Bishops, announce the Gospel faithfully and celebrate the sacraments, take care of the people of God, and are ready to evangelize all humanity. May she ensure, also in our times, an increase in the number of consecrated persons, who go against the current, living the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience, and give witness in a prophetic way to Christ and his liberating message of salvation. Dear brothers and sisters whom the Lord calls to particular vocations in the Church: I would like to entrust you in a special way to Mary, so that she, who more than anyone else understood the meaning of the words of Jesus, “My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Lk 8: 21), may teach you to listen to her divine Son. May she help you to say with your lives: “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God” (cf. Heb 10: 7). With these wishes, I assure each one of you a special remembrance in prayer and from my heart I bless you all.

From the Vatican, 10 February 2007.

Benedict XVI

' culture of vocation'

Greetings!

I thought I'd put a post up about the joys of my new vocation as a married woman! How smug am I?! It's interesting though itsn't it... is marriage my vocation? Or is my vocation something else which is expressed and lived out through marriage?! Doesn't In Verbo Tuo say something about your vocation being like a dream written on God's heart - how cool is that? But, come to think of it, how did I ever realise that marriage was what I was being called to? o you think that people know they are 'called'? Sometimes I'm not sure.

I was at a conference for teenagers in the States and the Bishop there asked young people who felt called to the priesthood or religious life (no mention of marriage - boo!) to stand up while the rest of us prayed for them - there were hundereds! It was incredible and I wondered why I wasn't confident that the same would happen here. I found myself thinking that they were not extraordinary young people, they were just young people lucky enough to have found people (parents, family, friends, catechists, youth ministers) who had helped them along the journey to realising they are 'called'. Surely it can only be that basis that provides the fertile ground that grows specific vocations like marriage or priesthood?

Are we wasting our time agonising over a shortage of priests when the real question we ought to be addressing is how we enable all people to reflect on their own story, how God is present in it and who he is calling them to be?

5th June 2007 - A date for your diary

On the Feast of St Boniface, the Cathedral Chapter of Canons are inviting everyone to a day at the Cathedral in Plymouth to celebrate our Christian Vocation. There will be a mass at midday, with the Bishop presiding, followed by some evening events, all of which are in the process of being planned by the DVT.

So, make a note in your diary now, and watch this space for further details!

Vocations Rereats at Downside Abbey

Dom Foster at Downside has just sent details of the Vocations Retreats they run at Downside Abbey

They are aimed at any young men who are interested in exploring the idea of vocation either to the priesthood, monastic or religious life. So they are not specifically about Downside Abbey. They started the programme last year, and were fullybooked on each occasion.The age range 18 - 35 years is not absolutely inflexible, but in most cases they say it is easiest and most helpful for older people to visit at other times.

If there is any information you need, please contact Dom Foster via the link above.

Priestly vocations

The Zenit site has some interesting things to say about what makes certain American diocese 'effective' in their vocational recruiting - specifically talking about priesthood here.

In summary, the 6 effective habits are;
Putting the Eucharist at the centre of vocational work.
Priests inviting prospective candidates.
Seminaries that are faithful to the magisterium (should there be any that aren't?)
Faithful families, especially those with committed fathers are most likely to produce candidates.
Interaction with priests.
Attendance at a World Youth Day.

I'm not sure about the seminary factor, as candidates don't have much of a choice there, at least in English diocese. But the rest seem fair enough to me.

I'm left with three questions;
How applicable are these learnings to the Plymouth Diocesan situation?
To what extent do we already posess these habits?
And if we do think we could be doing more, how do we go about that?

Some prayers for discernment

Some Definite Service - John Henry Newman

God has created me to do some definite service;
God has committed some work to me
Which is not committed to another.
I have my mission. I may never know it in this life,
but I shall be told it in the next.
I have a part in this great work
I am a link in the chain,
A bond of connection between persons.

God has not created me for naught.
I shall do good, I shall do God’s work;
I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while
not intending it, if I do but keep God’s commandments
and serve the Lord in my calling.

Therefore I will trust my Lord.
Whatever, wherever I am, can never be thrown away.
I ask not to see - I ask not to know - I ask simply to be used.

**************************************

My Father, I abandon myself to you.
Do with me as you will.
Whatever you may do with me I thank you.
I am prepared for anything.
I accept everything,
provided your will is fulfilled in me and in all creatures.
I ask for nothing more, my God.
I place my soul in your hands.
I give it to you, my God,
with all the love of my heart,
because I love you.
And for me it is a necessity of love,
this gift of myself,
this placing of myself in your hands
without reserve
in boundless confidence,
because you are my Father.

(Charles de Foucauld, 1858-1916)

Todays gospel reading;

Mark 3:31 - 35
'His mother and brothers now arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you’. He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother. '

I find that 'anyone' challengingly inclusive. Not just those who are good, or those who are Catholics, or those who we like, but anyone who does God's will.

What is vocation?

So our job is to "help integrate vocation awareness"? I think I'm still getting my head round what that means. I think I prefer "foster a culture of vocation" which feels a bit more manageable to me - something about helping people to recognise how they are or even that they are called by God. I think we have to start here before leaping into specific vocation territory! BUT. I'm really interested in the relationship between 'what I do' and vocation - like Therese of Lisieux whose vocation was 'love' compared to somebody who would say their vocation was 'to be' a priest or be married.

What is a Diocesan Vocations Team?

I think its worth just exploring what a DVT (not deep vein thrombosis!) does.

According to the National Office for Vocation DVTs are mandated by the local Bishop to foster a 'culture of vocation' in the local Church and to foster 'particular' vocations (priesthood, religious life, marriage, single life) within the local Church. The NOV co-ordinates and resources the local Diocesan teams.

The idea is for the Teams to help integrate vocation awareness into all areas of local Church life - through events, gatherings, availablitity of resources and other means. The Teams are made up of people representing the whole Church community: priests and deacons; consecrated men and women ; married and single people; young people; representatives with varied Church experience e.g. Diocesan Youth Workers and Chaplains, members of the new movements and the new ecclesial communities.

Thats basically what the website says about the the job description. And it sounds pretty good to me as a start.

However, I think they left out one important thing. Prayer. Its vital. Without it we might just as well be selling peanuts! So, have a look at the new prayer links we have put up on this page. You may find some of them helpful. And if you know of any others, just leave a comment, and we'll add them.

Welcome to this Blog!

Hey, this is the first post!

Hopefully this blog will offer information, discussion, opinion on the whole idea of vocation, or calling from God. Much of the current vision of the Catholic Church on vocation is based on the document In verbo tuo, which was published in 1997. You can view a potted version here which is well worth a read.

Anyway, here we go!...