Parents Duty
Vocations Guide for Catholic Parents
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Moms and Dads need to be on the same page. Discuss your mutual commitment to fostering vocations and develop a plan for doing so in unity. Be sure that your home is truly a "domestic church".
Stand ready to affirm your children, particularly the individual gifts they have. Whether your child is a master speller, a helpful servant, or a talented musician, be sure to affirm him and nurture any gift he may have. The gift of a vocation is especially important. For more information on the importance of affirming children, please consider reading Born Only Once, by Dr. Conrad Baars. Talk about how your child's talents may deepen and grow over time. Consider how he might use his talents as an adult.
Be careful of bad influences in the world. Pay attention to what your kids are watching on television and the internet. Be selective about what they are exposed to. Train them how to deal with other children who do not share our Faith.
(Resource: USCCB Movie Guide)
Allow your children to be the gifted individuals they are. Don't try to live your life through them and don't push them into things. A vocation is a gift. It cannot be manufactured by man. If it exists within your child, it is your duty to foster it, but you cannot create this gift. It is up to God if the child is to be called to religious life.
Make contact with an active vocations director and ask his/her advice on how you might best foster vocations.
Have family prayer and allow your children to lead prayer as much as possible.
Share positive stories with your children about the priests and other religious persons you have known in your life. Instill in your children the reverence that we all should have for religious persons, particularly priests.
Introduce your children to various religious orders so that they will get a good view of how many options are available to them.
Talk frequently with your children about the saints. We are all called to be saints. The saints are examples for us all to follow. Be sure that your child has his own patron saint. In particular, ask our Mother and St. Joseph to assist your family to grow closer and closer to Jesus.
Be sure to help your children develop a strong work ethic. A good way to start is to make an age-appropriate chore list like this one!
Keep up to date on the status of vocations in the Church. Pay attention to what our clergy have to say about fostering vocations.
If you have the opportunity to take your children to an ordination mass, DO SO! Check with your local diocese for information.
Talk with your child about your own gifts and how you use them to serve God and others.
Go on a pilgrimage with your children! Find holy places near you such as shrines and cathedrals and visit them with your children.
Pray for vocations as a family. Additionally, consider praying for a specific seminarian. They need our prayers, but also, it is helpful for both kids and adults to have a personal connection by praying for an individual.
Be involved in your parish so that your children may have a strong sense of what it means to be a part of an active Faith community.
Be committed to teaching your children to develop virtuous habits.
Have a family meeting at least once a week so that your children can share what is on their minds. Keep the lines of communication open at all times. Be cognizant of what you can do to improve communication in the family.
Invite a religous person to dinner. Make them welcome in your home and receive them respectfully and lovingly.
Let your children know that you are not perfect. Having your own spiritual director to whom you are obedient can be very helpful in teaching your children that you have a sense of humility and responsibility on your own journey of spiritual development. Contact your priest or your local diocese for help in locating a spiritual director who is familiar with traditional Catholic spirituality
Make sure that your children are properly catechized and that they are very familiar with both the Scriptures and the catechism. Consider teaching your child some basic apologetics (defense of the Faith). Your children will not know there are differences between the Catholic Church and other ecclesiastical communities unless you demonstrate and explain the differences.
Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God.
Words of Christ
from the
Gospel According to St. Mark
vocations quotes
Effective catechesis inevitably builds stronger families, which in turn give birth to new priestly vocations. ~~ Pope Benedict XVI
If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!
~~ St. Catherine of Siena

I have no hesitation in recommending this way of life -- as a religious sister, as a religious brother or as a priest -- to anyone who is discerning their life’s direction. I invite parents to encourage such generosity. I ask all of you to pray that more will respond to God’s call.  ~~ Bishop Willie Walsh, Killaloe, Ireland

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