How can I know what my vocation is?

[Rosella]

I’m 20 years old, and I am currently in my third year in college. I have recently returned back to my faith, and I’m starting to reflect on what my vocation may be. Im still not sure what I am called to do, even to the extent of not being sure if what I am studying is what God wants me to do. I’m feeling hopeless and lost. What do I do?

[JHFamily]

I think right now you just need to be a faithful Catholic and stay the course.  I would suggest you complete your college major unless there is something morally wrong with it.  In the next couple of years you will start to see some clarity.  If you know of a good, holy priest, speak to him.

 

[gloriana35]

I would suggest you not be concerned about this. Finish your university course - be faithful to your religious practise - and don't focus on 'what is my calling?' Many times, as I have seen, those who either are converts, or are adults who did not practise the faith for some time, can have a time of thinking they must do something extraordinary. (Even John Henry Newman, perhaps the most brilliant theologian of his time, made some big blunders when he first became Roman Catholic.) 

If one, who is in a time of great fervour, is overly concerned with looking for a specific, divine mission, it is possible that one may see things as pointing to a divine plan, when they are merely ordinary parts of life. One young man I knew (when I myself was young) was  a Protestant minister who became a Catholic. He later became a priest (and still is). When he first became a Catholic, though he is a very balanced, sociable, stable sort, he had ideas of everything from becoming a Trappist to being a missionary in Africa - just meeting someone from a missionary Order made him wonder if that might be his calling. (His brief time in Africa was a disaster.)

I hope you do find spiritual direction - which is not a surplus commodity. But I would recommend you simply finish your studies now, and see what develops. If you are overly concerned with finding a vocation, it is possible to see what really appeals to you (and God wants us to be happy - but 'God's will' can be misinterpreted as always meaning sacrifice, suffering, or doing what one wants least...) as something to abandon.  I see no reason to worry that God might not want you to continue studies in the field you are pursuing (which is part of why I'd say to be cautious about possibly assuming that what one wishes to do is an indication that God wants you to sacrifice this!)

[Lilllabettt]

On 11/14/2018 at 10:10 PM, Rosella said:

I’m 20 years old, and I am currently in my third year in college. I have recently returned back to my faith, and I’m starting to reflect on what my vocation may be. Im still not sure what I am called to do, even to the extent of not being sure if what I am studying is what God wants me to do. I’m feeling hopeless and lost. What do I do?

Wow, your story could be mine! Feeling lost is pretty normal; if you didnt feel any turmoil I would be worried.

Trying to figure out what God wants is hard but -- You can be 100% certain that God wants you to be happy and holy. There are a lot of different ways you could become those things, but as you consider the options rest knowing that you cannot screw it up. Sometimes we are like preschoolers inconsolable because we have peed our pantaloons and think we've ruined the day out. And then God sighs heavily and brings out the plastic pantaloons. Love me the plastic pantaloons. Day out saved.

In all seriousness.  One way to see Gods will is to try to cultivate perfect indifference in yourself regarding your vocation.  This is hard because usually we have an attraction one way or the other and actually that attraction can be a good sign of where we should test the waters first.  But in my experience when you can cultivate that resignation to the divine will, that's when the door swings open into Gods calling for your life.

[gloriana35]

The overwhelming majority of people have quite enough to do, just loving God and neighbour. I'm not being flippant. Remain faithful to your religious practise, but don't worry about a vocation. That tends to develop on its own - without dwelling on this. For example, my parents were utterly devoted to one another, very much in love, very responsible with their family. My mother was devout, but she hadn't done anything special to discern a vocation - it just happened that they fell in love and married (and that was a vocation.) I cannot even explain my own consecrated life - it just turned out being what I was born to do (and I had graduate degrees before a vowed life even entered my mind.)

Dwelling on looking for a divine word about vocation now will only cause you anxiety. Most vocations just grow out of day to day living. 

[nikita92]

Check out the phone app called "God Calls" Couldn't hurt to look at it!

[Guest]

On 11/21/2018 at 1:57 PM, Lilllabettt said:

But in my experience when you can cultivate that resignation to the divine will, that's when the door swings open into Gods calling for your life.

.............

[Yesenia E Salamanca]

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