Religious Vocations.

First of all, I'm very sorry I couldn't update my blog for the last two months because I'm too busy with school, exams and stuffs related to it. Now, the exams are over thank heavens and I think I will frequently update my blog now. So, let us get straight to the topic shall we?

As a Catholic, each one of us have a unique vocation from the Lord himself for us to fulfill his Divine will. Either you want to marry your future spouse, consecrating your whole life to God in the consecrated life(religious life), being ordained in the priesthood or choosing to live in celibacy and single forever, all of it is good in the eyes of our Lord IF it fulfills his Divine will.

Wait.. How do we know that we are fulfilling his Divine will? Well, the easiest way that we can determine whether we are fulfilling His will is when we feel that we are happy, contented and we are filled with joy. You will glorify the Lord all the time when you say yes to His Divine plan for you. It is easy right? If you're happy that you will get married with your future spouse, then it is God's plan for you to get married and it is your vocation to be united with your partner and built a devout Catholic family.

But, if you feel that something is wrong deep down in your heart you're not quite happy with your way of life currently, you might want to consider a religious vocation. Have you ever saw, heard or experienced these kind of situations in your life before?

Situation 1: In your parish, you saw a community of priests/friars/nuns/sisters wearing their Roman cassocks/collars/religious habits and you realized that you are attracted to their outfits and the way they talk and act to parishioners. You feel that they are indeed holy servants of God; you want to be like them and you imagined yourself becoming just like one of them.

Situation 2: You have finished your studies in college/university/school and you are wondering what should you do next. Get a job? Date a girl/boy? You are clueless and all of a sudden there is a feeling in your heart that you should serve the Lord in his holy Church. You are concerned about the small numbers of priests, religious in your archdiocese, diocese, parish etc.You tried to brush off your thoughts out of your mind, yet you can't help but thinking of it non-stop in your daily life like you are suffering from OCD.

Situation 3: You are single, you have a successful career/job, you go to Mass every week/day but you feel some emptiness in your heart. You fill restlessness in your spiritual life and you know that God is somehow calling you. You tried to fill it up with worldly pleasures such as having fun with your friends, shopping, vacation with your friends but nothing works for you to fill the vast emptiness of your heart. You have thoughts that you should flee away from your current way of life, from the modern society, from worldly pleasures and you want to live a cloistered life.

Situation 4: You visited some monasteries or seminaries during discernment for vocation retreats. There is maybe a particular monastery/seminary either priesthood community or religious life community that you feel attached to. You feel a great sense of peace in your heart and you feel that the particular monastery/seminary that you have visited is your true home; you want to stay there forever!

Do the situations sounds familiar to you? That my friend, are only a few of thousands signs that you are meant to be serving the Lord for the rest of your life! Do not be afraid with your current struggles and way of life, say YES to God and he will fulfill you with his mercy, love and he will reveal to you the joys of heaven! Make efforts to discover which order or congregation that suits your spiritual life and answer YES to Him. Don't expect him to do all His plan for you and you just sit on your butt doing nothing okayyyy? lol, I'm paraphrasing Sr. Mary Jordan formerly known as a Catholic vlogger, sheiscatholic.

Anyways, I'm going to leave you with bunch of pictures of holy men and women for you to consider a religious vocation. Consider it, work on it and pray for it!

Credits to Carmelite Monks , Populus Summorum Pontificum , Imagine Sisters , The Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary and Fr. Sam Kachuba .

Deus Misereatur,

-DiscerningCath-