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May 23, 2023What is discernment, and how does one discern a vocation to the priesthood?
Vocation is a way of life. You don’t choose your vocation – rather, the Lord calls you to it. Your vocation is what he created you for. It is through your vocation that you are called to serve the Lord and to serve the Church.
There are five men being ordained to the priesthood in The Diocese of Tucson this year! Thank the Lord for the gift of these five men who have discerned the vocation that they are being called to and who are now prepared to give their “yes” to God in just a few days.
Why do we have so many seminarians to be ordained this year, but none or so few in other years?
This is the first time in 20 years that the Diocese of Tucson has had five seminarians to be ordained to the priesthood, and it may be the last time for many more years to come. What might be the reason for such a high number of ordinations this year?
In this podcast, the Diocese of Tucson's Vocations Director, Fr. Alan Valencia, discusses this year’s ordination and the process of discernment that each of the seminarians have undergone.
He explains this phenomenon of feast or famine in vocations by comparing it to a pendulum swing, or a roller coaster effect: some years there will be many ready to answer the call, some years it will be like a famine. But “God never ceases calling men to the priesthood and men and women to the religious life,” says Fr. Alan.
God is always calling men and women to their vocations, to service, and to holiness. Listen the next time you are participating in the holy Mass, when the faithful all pray together with the priest for an increase in vocations: it is specifically acknowledged in that prayer that “God never ceases to call people to himself.”
Fr. Alan suggests that, perhaps, during the years that it would seem like a famine of religious vocations, that is our sign to be more intentional in the way that we promote vocations. “Even during those times, we must trust that the Lord is still present.”
Fr. Alan jokes that, when we are praying for “more vocations to our diocese,” we aren’t telling God to “get to work and call more men and women to religious vocations,” no!
“What we are really praying for is a greater grace for men and women to listen, and to answer [God’s call].”
We are praying that the Church and clergy do well in their job to promote religious vocations the right way, and to preach the right way. We are also praying for those in the pews who may be called to a religious vocation, that they listen to the ways that God may be calling them.
What we are praying for is an increase in grace. Every person is called to holiness and, ultimately, to sainthood. Because sin entered the world, this call can only be realized through the reception of the gift of grace from God and from the Holy Spirit.
We receive this grace by answering the daily call to holiness, by asking God, “What do you want me to do today?” When we practice answering God’s call every day, this becomes habitual grace.
When we practice discerning the way that God is calling us every day, God shows us what our vocation is – he reveals to us the “how” we are to live out holiness in our unique life. When we are living our vocation, we receive sanctifying grace, or actual grace, and this is the grace that enables us to lean on God to accomplish our daily duties to serve him and his Church.
What can parishes and schools do to help people who may be discerning the priesthood or religious life?
It is imperative that parishes and schools make talking about vocations a normal part of regular conversation! When asking kids, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, we need to talk not just about their future occupation, but also about their vocation.
“Vocations are different from occupations,” says Fr. Alan, “‘Occupation’ is what you do from 8-5, and you choose it, and then you retire from it. But a ‘vocation’ is a way of life. It is how you will serve the Lord and the Church. It is what God created you for.”
It is so important to talk about vocations on a parish level. Statistics show that many priests and religious say they first heard the call around the time they were receiving their first Holy Communion.
We trust that God never ceases calling people to himself, and he never ceases calling men to the priesthood and men and women to religious life. We know that God calls each of us to a specific vocation, and we know that, when we listen, God often calls us from a very young age.
What parishes and schools can do is:
Continue to trust God and the way that he calls each person to himself.
Talk to youth and parishioners about religious vocations and about each person’s unique vocation. Make “priest” and “nun” a normal answer to the questions “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Listen to kids when they talk about what they want to be when they grow up. Listen to their questions. Listen to youth and discerning young adults who may feel that they are being called. Listen, be encouraging, and meet them where they are to help them get to the next stage of their discernment.
How does one discern their vocation?
“Ever since discernment became popular, no one makes a decision anymore!” Fr. Alan loosely quotes another priest as he leads into explaining this vital yet apparently ambiguous tool that we are told to use when making life choices: discernment. “People always says, ‘I’m discerning right now’… Everyone is perpetually discerning!”
But discernment isn’t “sitting around and waiting for a sign.” It isn’t waiting for the perfect time, or the perfect place, or the perfect circumstance.
“Discernment is an action! It's asking yourself, 'now what?' and 'what’s next?' It’s taking a small step, and then another small step, and then another small step.” -Fr. Alan Valencia
In the Gospels, we read that when the Lord called the apostles, his call was very clear, and the apostles followed him immediately! And the Lord stayed with them and guided them as they strove to follow him.
In the same way, the Lord will not let you discern alone. Especially during those tough times that you need to make a decision, the Lord is with you. If you believe the Lord may be calling you to a specific vocation, ask him, “What’s next?” and then take the next small step. This action of taking the next small step, THAT is answering the call, THAT is discerning.
When discerning a religious vocation, the next small step may include things like talking to a priest or a religious person about their vocation, going on a discernment retreat, scheduling an appointment with a vocations director, talking to your spiritual director, getting more involved in your parish and service ministries, or visiting a religious order.
Fr. Alan notes that, if a man is being called to the priesthood, he must be in love with the Lord and in love with the Church – the Church that Christ died for and redeemed – for who she is, and most importantly, he must pray and give time to God. A man who is discerning the priesthood must be open to formation, and he must be trusting of the process, of the Church and her traditions, and of his bishop.
What does discernment of the priesthood and formation look like?
“Encounter the Lord and listen to the Lord.” Fr. Alan says that to hear God’s call for your life, you must listen to him. This could be why so many priests and religious first hear the call when they receive their first Holy Communion – because they have encountered Christ in the Eucharist. Many people say that they encountered Christ on a retreat or in youth group. The first step is to seek out the Lord, and to listen to him.
If you believe you may have a calling to the priesthood, trust that God knows what he is doing. Fr. Alan says, “God calls all sorts of lives from all sorts of backgrounds to serve all the needs of the Church.”
Once you’ve sought the Lord, encountered him, listened to him, and trusted him, a man’s subsequent discernment journey might look something like this:
Getting more involved in your parish
Talking to your pastor, getting an idea of what the day-to-day is like for a priest in your diocese
Speaking to the Vocations Director
Apply to the Diocese and to Seminary: Once you’ve applied, you will undergo evaluations that are in place to help you understand whether you are ready, if this is the right time, or if you might need other preparation before entering Seminary.
Formation in the Seminary: This step can take a man anywhere from six to nine years, depending on what kind of background he brings with him. Seminary isn’t simply study. You work on who you are – the way you think, speak, and pray, and you work on this with 200+ other men, all discerning together and helping each other.
In Seminary, as a man is discerning the priesthood, he is working on himself in the four pillars of formation: human, academic/intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral.
Human formation is shaping who you are as a person. It is recognizing and fine-tuning all the faculties that God gave you, so that you might see them as God sees them, not as society sees them, and learn to use them the way God intended.
Academic and intellectual formation has to do with the doctrine of the Church, the Church’s history, philosophy, and theology.
Spiritual formation is strengthening your relationship with the Lord, learning how to pray, and allowing God to breathe into you. Once you’ve allowed God to breathe into you, then you learn how to breathe into the Church – this is pastoral formation. It is learning to use what God tells you to help you walk with people and speak to people, to shepherd them.
Learn more about vocations to the priesthood and religious life