The Catholic Tradition has always acknowledged that we are given a call or vocation in life. By faithfully fulfilling this call, we will, through the grace of God, find true joy and happiness in this world. Some people are called to the married life, while others are called to the chaste single life. Others are called to the consecrated religious or ordained life to serve God and the Church as priests, brothers, or sisters. While no one call is greater than the other – they are all opportunities to express love and reflect the love of God in this world in different and unique ways, we hope that this page might be both a source of inspiration and information in the discernment of a religious vocation.
What does vocation discernment mean? In simple words, it means to determine the source of one's feelings, inspirations and the spiritual manifestations that are taking place around the person for the purpose of determining if these result from a Divine calling to the religious life.
To discern if one has a religious calling is a lengthy process. A priest is not ordained until many years of preparation. Any time prior to the date of ordination, as a candidate to the priesthood who is still searching the Divine Will of God, the seminarian or his spiritual director can come to the conclusion that the individual does not have a calling from God to the religious or ordained life.