How Did You Come To Know For Sure?

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1202626' date='Feb 22 2007, 03:08 PM']Okay, how do people claim to know stuff like another person's vocation? How did that priest know this about you?[/quote]
Well, this priest had known me for a year and a half and I had been quite active at the parish. So this isn't someone who didn't know me at all.

I think you mentioned a sister who just went up to you and said "I know you have a vocation"; she could have known because of the Holy Spirit letting her know. That's not a definite, but I suppose that if she is a sister then she probably is quite prayerful ... and that type of knowing does come from prayer. I won't say that's 100% the case since I don't know the sister, but it can be.

I know I've run into people who I've had a sense within me that they are being called to the priesthood or religious life. In a few cases, I've spoken up -- especially once the person starts talking about religious life or the priesthood. In other cases I haven't, and have kept those people in prayer.

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1202626' date='Feb 22 2007, 03:08 PM']Do some people make it a habit of dropping mysterious lines like that to any young adult who seems excited about the faith? Are they just trying to encourage me to keep seeking? Why do they have to use the word "vocation," which implies I'm destined to become a priest or brother, if they don't really know? Or do they? And if so, how? [/quote]

Honestly I don't think most people make it a habit of just "dropping mysterious lines" like that to just anyone. It really does take a bit of guts to tell someone that you think that they have a vocation (to religious life or to the priesthood). And as I mentioned earlier I think that knowing may come from either the Holy Spirit or from someone who has good observation skills (i.e. has seen you at the parish and has seen certain things in you that lead them to believe that you should be a brother or a priest). I do think (in my humble opinion) that it is the Holy Spirit that kind of lets people see it in you.

Finally -- the definitive answer is within you. Although as part of the discernment you should take into account what others around you are saying, the most important part of the discernment is what your heart says, and following that will lead you to happiness.

[LouisvilleFan]

Thanks for the answers... that all makes sense, but I feel like it's the religious "good" Catholic types who end up being asked the questions like, "Have you ever thought about the priesthood?" or told things like, "I can tell you have a vocation." I suppose there's nothing wrong with that, but it's looking at things from a human perspective (just like the quiz on religiouslife.com). Who would've approached St. Francis of Assisi or St. Augustine before their conversions? Their own mothers didn't even expect what God changed them into

If they're any indication, maybe Snoop Dogg has a vocation!

[Guest Sister Jacqulyn]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1191712' date='Feb 11 2007, 04:37 PM'][center]I simply had to trust Him that some men (like me) become better priests by taking the scenic route to Holy Orders. [/center]
Whatever my vocation is, I know it'll be all the more joyful and fruitful because I see why God was leading me through that "sidetracking" relationship.[/quote]


Jason, I am blown away at how you are responding and discerning God's drawings within your heart! I laughed when I read "who would have approached St. Francis or St. Augustine?" Your right...NO ONE!!

I was one of those "no one-would-approach" cases! In fact, I was dating someone when I experienced my first "God moment" on a Kairos retreat (the fact that it was a spiritual retreat was totally secondary to me at the time! I saw it as a weekend sleepover with my friends... ) However, going into the retreat something was pulling at me...but I didn't know what. I simply resigned to the fact that I might be experiencing "Senior-itis," not a call from God!

As the retreat went on, they began to ask more about prayer and how we saw God working in our lives. I got a lot of time for prayer and was able to sit quietly with God. It was then that I experienced an intense sense of God's love within my heart that made me open my eyes and say, "So this is who You are!"

After we came back from the retreat, I had to face a few things. I remember crying because I thought, "How could I dedicate my life to You? My friends would never understand! What would it be like? Am I making the right choice?" I often spoke to a priest friend and I remember, he and I were speaking at the foot of the altar of a seminary near where we live. Something inside me was at peace as we spoke and I said looking up at the crucifix, "Yeah, I'm going to do it. I'm going to become a sister." And Father said, "Then do it!"

Peace is where you will find Our God! But there is wisdom in your discernment when you ackowledge that He might be leading you to that peace....through alternate paths! He does want you to experience a deeper intensity of His love....but where and how? Where you feel the greatest peace, that is where God is! Then, with conviction, "DO IT!" Do His holy Will without hesitation! Trust in Our Lady. She will NOT lead you astray. Pray to her! I will pray to her with you and a for you! Peace, Jason!

Sister Jacqulyn