about Catholic vocations
A vocation is simply a calling from God in one’s life. “Vocation” originates from the Latin word vocare, meaning to call or to summon. There are 3 main types of vocations within the context of a Catholic’s life: the universal vocation, the state in life vocation, and personal vocations.
What is a Vocation?
Also known as the “Baptismal vocation,” this vocation comes with Baptism and is shared by all members of the Church to become saints - to be in heaven after having lived a life of holiness and evangelizing the world. The Baltimore Catechism states in Question #6 that “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.”
In the process of discerning one’s state in life or personal vocation, one must not lose sight of the fact that the foundational vocation is the universal vocation. This universal vocation is not discerned, but rather received as the goal of a Christian’s life.
The Universal Vocation
Whether a person recognizes it or not, his or her deepest desire is for God. This most intimate desire for God is lived within the context of a state of life vocation. God knows us better than we know ourselves since He formed our inmost being, knows our deepest selves, and shaped our days before one came to be (Ps 139:13-16). He knows the type of life, i.e., state of life vocation, that will best allow us to love like Him, be loved by Him, and be fulfilled.
There are three main categories of state of life vocations - laity, ordained, and consecrated.
God does not impose a vocation on His children - He invites them to one.
These vocations are “discerned,” meaning they are carefully prayed and reflected over with the Lord. The word “discern” comes from the Latin word discernere, meaning “to separate.”
In Catholic circles, it is common to hear phrases like “vocational discernment,” “discerning a vocation,” or “praying for vocations.” These usually refer to state of life vocations.
Since man is made in God’s image and God is love itself (1 Jn 4:8), the purpose of the Christian life is to love like God loves us. Matthew 16:24-25 states, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’”
These verses are further fleshed out in Saint Pope John Paul II’s words in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.”
Within the Catholic faith exist different state of life vocations.
The State in Life Vocation
The majority of people are called to be the laity. The laity consists of those who are not ordained or consecrated.
Laity
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The Catholic Church recognizes that God created man and woman in His image and likeness and for their mutual love to become an image of God’s love for man. Marriage has a twofold purpose of the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children. It is a beautiful calling that the majority of people are called to. More information on marriage can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraphs 1602-1605.
The Church also addresses single persons in CCC 1658 by stating: “We must also remember the great number of single persons who, because of the particular circumstances in which they have to live — often not of their choosing — are especially close to Jesus' heart and therefore deserve the special affection and active solicitude of the Church, especially of pastors. Many remain without a human family often due to conditions of poverty. Some live their situation in the spirit of the Beatitudes, serving God and neighbor in exemplary fashion. The doors of homes, the "domestic churches," and of the great family which is the Church must be open to all of them. "No one is without a family in this world: the Church is a home and family for everyone, especially those who 'labor and are heavy laden.'"
The ordained or clergy comprise another category of state of life vocations.
Ordained
In the Catholic Church, ordained (also known as “clerical”) vocations to the diaconate, priesthood, and episcopate, known as “Holy Orders,” are reserved for men alone. This is not because the Church believes women are less than men, but primarily because it follows the example of Christ in choosing only men to be His Apostles. Pope Saint John Paul II states in this apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis that “the presence and the role of women in the life and mission of the Church, although not linked to the ministerial priesthood, remain absolutely necessary and irreplaceable.”
Consecrated life is the third category of state of life vocations.
Consecrated
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- Eremitic Life: Hermits are called out of the world and hidden from it to solitarily pray and perform acts of penance (see CCC 920-921).
- Active Religious Life: These women profess the evangelical counsels within a community that shares a common spirituality or founder. Go by the title “Sister” and are referred to as “religious sisters.” They traditionally wear a common habit (see CCC 925-927 and Code of Canon Law 603).
- Cloistered Religious Life: Like a blend of eremitic and active religious life, these women live in a cloistered community and have an apostolate to pray and perform penance in their enclosure. Go by the title “Sister” and are technically the only consecrated vocation to be referred to as “nuns.”
- Private Dedication: These women have made a private vow of chastity or virginity, along with possible vows of poverty and obedience under the guidance of a spiritual director, and they live a typically secular life.
- Secular Institutes: These women take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and have a shared spirituality with their particular secular institute. They live a secular life hidden in the world. They do not wear a particular religious attire and can live alone or with a few others (see CCC 928-929 and canons 710-730)
- Societies of Apostolic Life: These women do not take religious vows and have a common apostolic purpose within their community. They live in community together (see CCC 930 and canon 731).
- Order of Virgins: Also known as Consecrated Virginity. There are technically two forms, one for those living in the world and one for nuns. These women passively receive their consecration at the hands of their local bishop and make a promise to persevere in a life of virginity. They live in the world and do not wear any particular religious attire. They can live alone or with a few others (see CCC 922-924 and canon 604)
Consecrated life is the umbrella term for those vocations whereby a person lives out the profession or spirit of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience without entering into the hierarchical structure of the Church (CCC 914).
To be consecrated means to be set apart or devoted to a holy purpose. The Catechism states “from the very beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, to be intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please Him, and to go out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming. Christ Himself has invited certain persons to follow Him in this way of life, of which He remains the model:
“For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it” (CCC 1618).
While the aforementioned vocations of marriage and ordination are sacraments of the Church, consecrated vocations are considered “an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and the ardent expectation of His return, a sign which also recalls that marriage of this present age which is passing away” (CCC 1619).
Consecrated life in all its forms is meant to be a sign of every Christian’s calling to one day be perfectly and eternally united in love with God in heaven. Since there will no longer be the sacrament of marriage in heaven (Mt 22:27-30), the consecrated woman or man lives and models here on earth what we all are called to experience in heaven.
The life of the consecrated woman is one meant to be lived in freedom, joy, and love. Looking to the Blessed Virgin Mary as its prototype, all consecrated women strive to receive the great love of the Lord and generously love Him and His children in return.
As a note, the innate sexuality of a woman called to a consecrated vocation is not missing, destroyed, or removed upon entering her vocation (the same goes for men called to Holy Orders).
For brief reference, here are all the presently available women’s vocations in the Catholic Church. Note that all of these vocations are also available to men except Consecrated Virginity, which is reserved for women alone.
This third category of vocations refers to the unique calling throughout a person’s lifetime. God created each of us with a specific purpose in our lives that must be discerned in accordance with His Will. Personal vocations are where our particular callings - jobs, missions, etc. - are lived out.
The Personal Vocation
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Explore the roots of Consecrated Virginity. The origins are deeply rooted in Sacred Scripture.