VocationsThe Vocation Director

I am happy that you have found your way to the vocation section of our website and hope you find these pages helpful.

My assignment as Vocation Director is a great grace, enabling me to join in the work of Divine Providence as I daily speak with young women who are searching to know God’s plan for their lives. This search for a deeper meaning in life is one that we all face. Though it can be a bit frightening, it is, at the same time, an exciting journey with the Lord. As you open your self in a new way to God, you will be surprised and delighted where He may lead. My advice for tackling the question of discerning God’s will is to surrender to Him—all your hopes, desires, and dreams—and allow Him to lead you on this journey of love.

I continue to marvel at the women with whom I am in daily contact. These women are talented, generous, selfless, idealistic and ready to embrace the will of God. Whether they discern the call to the religious life or the married state, they consistently want to be about the Lord’s will. They are women who want to seek wholeheartedly God’s radical plan. They want to be honest with themselves and with God.

Sometimes this process (and it is a process) can be very difficult. Young people today have so many options awaiting them: great Catholic Colleges, programs for study abroad, the joy of falling in love and the promise of a beautiful family...the list is endless.

Yet as I talk to the young women, I challenge them to take an honest look at their lives and to see if God is calling them to give themselves wholly to Christ, holding nothing back. If there is the smallest inkling of desire there, I want them to give God a chance. College will always be there, as will traveling to Europe; but in their youth, it is only right to give God the best—the first fruits! In the end, a young woman feeling herself called to give her whole life to Christ, will find that Jesus’ love is irresistible. If she is receptive to His love she cannot help but surrender her very being into His hands.

When Pope Benedict XVI spoke at Dunwoodie Seminary in New York City in the spring of 2008, he so simply yet beautifully reminded us how to discover our vocation:

Friends, I again ask you, what about today? What are you seeking? What is God whispering to you? The hope which never disappoints is Jesus Christ. The Saints show us the selfless love of his way. As disciples of Christ, their extraordinary journeys unfolded within the community of hope, which is the Church. It is from within the Church that you too will find courage and support to walk the way of the Lord. Nourished by personal prayer, prompted in silence, shaped by the Church’s liturgy you will discover the particular vocation God has for you. Embrace it with joy. You are Christ’s disciples today. (New York City, April 19, 2008)

For more information:
Sister Mary Emily, O.P.
St. Cecilia Motherhouse
Vocation Office
801 Dominican Drive
Nashville, TN 37228-1909
615.256.0147
vocation@op-tn.org