Vocation Basics

What is a vocation?

A vocation is a call from God to share intimately in His inner life of love. Primarily, all Christians share the same vocation, the call to live out our baptism. But each person is called to live that vocation in different ways. Because God loves us, he created us and calls us to a life mission. Our response to God's call, our vocation, is an invitation to love God and use our gifts in service of others as a single, married, religious, deacon or priest. Below are descriptions of some of the vocations in the Church. If you are looking for more information on vocations and the sacrament of marriage, see our Vocations Resource page. If you are considering a vocation to the religious life or priesthood, there are more resources at this link.

What is a Sister?

A sister is a laywoman who publicly consecrates herself to God and ministry within the Church through vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. She lives in community for mutual support and companionship, and to live out her shared Catholic faith and the shared heritage of her particular religious community. Her life is focused on living in a prayerful community and ministry.

What is a Brother?

A brother is a layman who publicly consecrates himself to God and ministry within the Church through vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. He lives in community for mutual support and companionship, and to live out his shared Catholic faith and the shared heritage of his particular religious community. His life is focused on living in a prayerful community and ministry. A brother is not ordained to priesthood.

What is a Religious Priest?

A religious priest takes public vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience to serve a superior in a religious order and the mission of that religious order. He celebrates Mass and the sacraments. But in addition to these sacred moments, a religious priest lives in community with other priests and sometimes with religious brothers. Priests in religious orders are bound together by the mission and vision of the Founder who goes back centuries in order to proclaim old truths in new forms. The Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Franciscans, etc. are all examples of religious priests.

What is a Diocesan Priest?

A diocesan priest is not a member of a religious order and is ordained to serve in a particular geographical area called a (arch)diocese and takes the vow of celibacy and the vow of obedience to the diocesan bishop and his successor. He ministers in parishes within the (arch)diocese.

What is Contemplative Life?

Contemplative monastic life is a lived response to a call from God, heard within the heart; a call to go apart and enter more fully into the search for God. It is marked by a life of intense prayer cultivated in silence and solitude but lived within a human community which offers the constant invitation to conversion of heart. This is the process of ‘saint-making’ to which St. Therese of Lisieux and Thomas Merton referred in their writings.

The daily contemplative monastic horarium or schedule is centered upon the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Mass, like the central diamond in an elaborate ring, is surrounded by other gems: the Liturgy of the Hours (the official public prayer of the Church set for various times of the day), and extended time for personal prayer, private meditation, and spiritual reading.

With Liturgy and prayer so central to the life, the rules of enclosure or the cloister are necessary to preserve this focus. Communities usually support themselves through some sort of work that can be done within the monastery itself and benefit from the generous support of benefactors.

Today, the monastic way strives for development of the whole person; spiritual, emotional and psychological. Recognizing the complexity of the human creation and the necessity of calling forward the true self while abandoning the false one, the life strives for balance and looks for the invitation of Jesus Christ revealed in all things.

What is a Missionary?

While all members of the Christian community by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation are called to be missionaries (witnesses to Christ), God calls some to the special task of leaving their own country and culture to spread the Good News of the Gospel. These men and women are called missionaries. Missionaries can be sisters, brothers, priests or lay people. Missionaries are concerned with the total needs of men, women and children. This means that their work may range from general pastoral and parish ministry, to social ministry. They serve in education, medicine and community development.

What is a Secular Institute?

A Secular Institute is an institute of consecrated life in which the faithful, living in this world, strive for the perfection of charity and endeavor to work for the sanctification of the world from within. (Code of Canon Law). Members live in their own residences, and work in various positions of their choice or are retired. Moved by the Spirit, they consecrate their lives to God more intensely through vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. Their entire lifestyle of prayer, work and social activities becomes their apostolate.