Pope Benedict XVI has named Sunday, April 29th, as the 49th world day of prayer for religious vocations. I highly encourage you to read his address, which is available here. Here is a small piece:
"It is in this soil of self-offering and openness to the love
of God, and as the fruit of that love, that all vocations are born and grow. By
drawing from this wellspring through prayer, constant recourse to God’s word and
to the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, it becomes possible to live a life
of love for our neighbours, in whom we come to perceive the face of Christ the
Lord (cf. Mt 25:31-46). To express the inseparable bond that links
these “two loves” – love of God and love of neighbour – both of which flow from
the same divine source and return to it, Pope Saint Gregory the Great uses the
metaphor of the seedling: “In the soil of our heart God first planted the root
of love for him; from this, like the leaf, sprouts love for one another.”
(Moralium Libri, sive expositio in Librum B. Job,
Lib. VII, Ch. 24, 28; PL 75, 780D).
These two expressions of the one divine love must be lived with a
particular intensity and purity of heart by those who have decided to set out on
the path of vocation discernment towards the ministerial priesthood and the
consecrated life; they are its distinguishing mark. Love of God, which priests
and consecrated persons are called to mirror, however imperfectly, is the
motivation for answering the Lord’s call to special consecration through
priestly ordination or the profession of the evangelical counsels. Saint Peter’s
vehement reply to the Divine Master: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you”
(Jn 21:15) contains the secret of a life fully given and lived out, and
thus one which is deeply joyful."
Below are a few videos I've found about discernment, or religious life in general. I know that all together, they take a lot of time. Maybe if you can't watch them all here and now, stop by again another time to watch some more :) Each is very good in its own way, so I can't recommend one over another!
(note: the postulant in this video says Mother Angelica founded the order of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration... I guess she was tongue-twisted, because the PCPA have been around since 1800's. Mother Angelica founded a particular community of PCPA in Alabama. Granted, it seems that it is largely thanks to Mother Angelica that there has been a revival of the order in the U.S.!)
Last night, I attended a mini-conference which three of the Sisters of Life (from NY) gave for high-school girls. I didn't care if I was a little older than most of the girls, I wasn't going to miss this rare opportunity! I only wish now that I had spread the word more. It included a holy hour, dinner with the Sisters, a talk, discussion groups etc. I'm so glad I was able to attend and meet the sisters!
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