Vocations - God Calls Us All

"Becoming a priest or a man or woman religious is not primarily our own decision.... Rather it is the response to a call and to a call of love." - Pope Francis, Address to Seminarians and Novices, July 6, 2013

What is a Vocation?

A vocation is simply a call from God to a distinctive state of life, in which that person can reach holiness. The Second Vatican Council states that there is a "Universal call [vocatio] to holiness in the Church" (Lumen Gentium, 39). (Etym. Latin vocatio, a calling, summoning; from vocare, to call.)

For people pursuing the religious life, this typically looks like the priesthood or various forms of consecrated life.