When I came home from college with a virtually unusable liberal arts degree, I figured I should spend some time discerning my life’s vocation. I considered various occupations: stagehand, househusband, politician, computer programmer—some more seriously than others. The priesthood also beckoned persistently, but I feared the religious life would remove me from active participation in the world. After all, the domain of the priest is in service to the Church and Her faithful, while the laity enjoy access to the entire world. I decided to look into the priesthood anyway, expecting to soon discard it as an option.
I went first to my parish for assistance where I had the good fortune to meet Fr. Michael and Sherry just at the time they’d begun working on a parish program that eventually blossomed into the Catherine of Siena Institute. They encouraged me and introduced me to a number of other parishioners who were also listening for God’s call. Some of us became friends and, on those rare occasions when they had no insight or advice to give me, they listened and allowed me to bounce ideas off of them.
When I sought out Fr. Michael or any of my spiritual comrades, I found more than open ears and experience; I found people willing to pray with and for me. I realized that my private struggles had become theirs as well: my decision about what to do with my life affected others, not just me. Discernment, then, wasn’t so much about what I wanted as about discovering what God wanted of me and trusting that His will would lead me to true happiness. I continued to ask for prayers with the added determination to hand my vocation over to God, listening for his voice through whomever in His Church stood before me.
And, in return for offering my questions and vocation to the Church, the Church began to give back to me by providing information and resources. For instance, Fr. Michael taught me about the office of the laity in the world: that each member of the Church is charged with bringing God’s mercy in Christ to every aspect of their lives exactly in the lives they’ve been given—in their everyday context of family, friends, school, work, play. Sherry showed me how discovering and developing the charisms God gave me through the Holy Spirit can help me discover my specific vocation in the world. A study group for people discerning religious vocations taught me a great deal about the various orders and religious life. I learned from parishioners about Church history and about how to find room for the gospel in unlikely places, like an office cubicle or a movie theater.
More than information, the Church gave me grace and blessing, especially in the form of the sacraments. Until I began taking advantage of the sacraments regularly, I never saw much effect. But when I started making confession on a regular basis and assisting at daily Mass as often as I could, I saw that God used the sacraments, one building upon another, to guide me. I began to worry less about how my life would turn out, while at the same time I could see my options with more clarity.
At that point it seemed I just needed to hammer out the specifics. I made a list of all the attributes of my vocation as far as I could determine. I knew I needed other people around me as a reality check and a scheduled prayer life to keep me praying even when I felt like avoiding God. And the more I thought about the kind of work I wanted to do, the more it sounded like teaching—maybe not in a classroom, but perhaps through writing or indirectly through editing or graphic design. I also discovered a deep desire for unity among Christians, so I wanted to maintain my friendships with non-practicing Catholics or non-Catholic Christians, hoping that God would use me to draw them closer to Him.
I figured I could do all of these things as a layperson. A wife and kids would be community enough, and it was just a matter of finding the right job. In fact, working with Fr. Michael and Sherry had excited me about the possibilities of secular life. But none of my ambitions for lay life could stand against the common life, prayer and ministry of the Dominicans once I learned of them. Even if I hadn’t been thinking about the priesthood or religious life, the perfect fittingness of the Order would have given me pause. I figured I had to give it at least a try and, since I entered, I’ve found the fit more true than I’d hoped.
My parish was the place where my individual life met the grace and wisdom of the Church. It provided a sounding board for my thoughts and resources to help me find the vocation that fit my call. Individual parishioners supported me with their prayers and I found the grace and blessing of Christ in the sacraments of His Church. The priests showed me joyful service by their example and the laity supported me with their prayers and their zeal to spread the gospel. And I found that the parish, by showing me the lay vocation, assisted God’s hand in the discernment of my religious vocation.