Blog by Sr. June Fitzgerald, OP[/caption]
Catholics on Call - striving to discover God's Call
The Windy City of Chicago enveloped me in a gust of wind and pulled me along the "L" platform at Roosevelt Station. Looking up the street, I could see the area where I studied with the National Religious Vocation Conference's Vocation Director program in Chicago's downtown Loop at DePaul University. It brought back good memories of learning many of the details and nuances of this ministry of promoting vocations and interacting with other vocation ministers. Here I was again, heading for Catholic Theological Union to spend 24 hours learning about the Catholics on Call program. What I discovered was a program that offers more than I imagined to those in discernment and also for those of us who accompany discerners both formally and informally.
Catholics on Call
Catholics on Call supports Catholic young adults (ages 18-30) as they strive to discover God's call in their lives and to explore the possibility of a life of service in the Church.
A national vocation discovery program of the Bernardin Center at Catholic Theological Union, Catholics on Call is dedicated to helping young adults from diverse backgrounds explore a call to ministry in the Church and to learn about leadership roles as lay ecclesial ministers, men or women religious, or ministry as ordained deacons or priests.
Takeaways
I'm not sure where to start sharing about this program, other than to share with you some major themes and learnings I and 60 others received in a short two days. These, I packed in my suitcase…
- We are called to collaborate from the beginning. This is different from collaborating for or even with. Those ways begin with me and my ideas and may be open to the ideas of others when I invite them into the collaboration. However, in collaboration from the beginning, all are involved from the start. Together we analyze a situation, recognize the need to act, make decisions, and realize them.
- Young Adults have learned and grown in an environment of collaboration - of working together on teams in order to achieve goals and complete tasks. No longer is the "lone ranger" a viable option.
- Young Adults are looking for community and will go to any length to find it. In our global consciousness no distance is too far - the world seems small and we can call Indonesia and meet face to face with colleagues in England, Russia, Australia and beyond - all in real time.
- Pope Francis calls us all to become "Missionary Disciples." "One of the great challenges facing the Church in this generation is to foster in all the faithful a sense of personal responsibility for the Church’s mission, and to enable them to fulfill that responsibility as missionary disciples, as a leaven of the Gospel in our world."
Save the Date!
The next Catholics on Call conference for Young Adults interested in discerning their call to minister in the church will be held in August 2017. We are encouraged to invite people we know to participate in it.
Do you know someone who would benefit from it?
Are you a young adult who is interested in attending?
Learn more at www.catholicsoncall@ctu.edu or send me an email and I’ll be happy to share more about the organization with you. Honestly, if I was a young adult discerning a call from God, I would attend this conference to explore the art of discernment, the challenge of Christian discipleship in our North American culture, foundations of prayer, collaboration, lay ecclesial ministry, religious life today, and to meet and interact with others on the journey.
Watch a video that gives a great overview of the program, its history, and mission.