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The Family:
The First Seminary.
"Christian parents, demonstrating a loving care for their children from their earliest years, communicate to them, by word and example, a sincere and lived-out relationship with God, made up of love, fidelity, prayer and obedience. In this way, parents encourage the holiness of their children and render their hearts docile to the voice of the Good Shepherd, who calls every man to follow him and to seek first the kingdom of God.
"In the light of this horizon of divine grace and human responsibility, the family can be considered a "garden" or a "first seminary" in which the seeds of vocation, which God sows generously, are able to blossom and grow to full maturity.
"The task of Christian parents is as important as it is sensitive, because they are called to prepare, cultivate and protect the vocations which God stirs up in their family. They must, therefore, enrich themselves and their family with spiritual and moral values, such as a deep and convinced religious spirit, an apostolic and ecclesial consciousness, and a clear idea of what a vocation is."
~ Pope John Paul II
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A vocation is a gift. It is not something that can be manufactured by man, nor denied without negative, sometimes severe, consequences. We speak of a "vocations crisis" in the Church, but not many of us realize that this decrease in the number of people choosing religious life is not due to an absence of vocations. To the contrary, it is due to the failure on our part to nurture the vocation seeds given to our children by God. God never fails in His promises. It is we who fail Him when we do not rejoice in the gifts He pours down upon us and our children and make the most of them for His holy purposes.
Don't take my word for it. There are countless stories of those who have followed God's call through the gift of a vocation that He has given them. They can testify that the gift was within them from the very beginning although they themselves usually did not recognize it until they were adults. This page includes childhood photographs of some of them. When you look at these pictures, you will not be able to see the vocation in the face of the child, but that is indeed why these photos are shared, so that you will know that the gift is hidden to the eyes. Could your child be among those who has received this gift?
~ Lisa Graas, Parents' Duty Administrator
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It begins with a child. |
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Send Me.
Good Catholic parents helped to cultivate the seedling of my vocation by bringing me up in the love and fear of God through word and example and by the Catholic education they provided at the cost of many personal sacrifices. My mother highly esteemed the dedicated priests and sisters in our parish from whom she received much support for her faith in times of sorrow and difficulty. She often remarked that she would like to see one of her children become a religious and give the Lord a return of love as she had witnessed in the good priests and sisters.
~~ Sister Mary Elizabeth, C.P. (Betty Jean)
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From Prom Queen to Cloistered Nun
Hardly a day goes by that I am not overwhelmed with gratitude towards my Beloved for giving me the gift to live this life of prayer and penance for His glory and the salvation of souls.
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Prayer: A Missionary Apostolate
God’s call to me at the different stages in my life was not like the Hound of Heaven as much as it was God’s presence --pursuing and calling me in ways I could not dream of. I never found myself running away from the dream I had. It was something that was with me all the time. I did not understand what this presence was,’ but I did recognize something drawing me to be a religious Sister.
READ Sr. Mary Therese's vocation story here. |
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The Adventure of a Lifetime (and beyond)
After preschool, I followed my older siblings to the Catholic grade school at our parish. During my 9 years there, I can only vaguely remember two religious sisters teaching there. I myself only had one of them for a few weeks. Despite the lack of contact with female religious, I can remember feeling some attraction toward religious life. Maybe this attraction came from my sense of adventure, to do things differently than others.
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Your Childhood Photo Here? |
If you answered the call and would like to share your story on this page, use the contact form to let me know. If your story doesn't already appear online, I will consider putting it on the Parent's Duty site. If it is already online, I will add your childhood photo and link to it. | |
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