Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening!

The theme of discernment at the Third Annual Diocesan Vocations Rally was certainly well-presented to the over 350 participants at St. Michael’s Church in Calgary on Trinity Sunday. It really began on Friday before the Vocations Rally with the 40-Hour Adoration for Vocations in the small chapel. Every year, the St. Michael’s community sponsors this devotion. This year, the over-30 table displays from Religious communities and other Catholic organizations were open early for exploring various vocations. An often-expressed comment made to Consecrated men and women is that they are too seldom seen in our Diocese. This offered a real opportunity for people to meet them and engage in conversation with them.

The Sunday Mass offered for Vocations with Bishop McGrattan and a number of concelebrating priests was truly beautiful with the seminarians serving at the altar and members of the St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy choir providing the music. Thank you to Fr. Edmund and the St. Michael’s community for hosting this vocations event. The St. Michael’s volunteers who helped with preparing the lunch, coffee, and in many other ways were wonderful.

The first presentation of the day was given by Fr. Bryan Duggan, a priest of the Archdiocese of Vancouver and a licensed psychologist. His talk offered a thoughtful exploration of discernment through the lens of human psychology.
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Fr. Bryan presented a new way to explore discernment, by engaging in what he called “compassionate curiosity”. He told us that there is nothing to fear in ourselves. In our discernment of God’s plan for our lives, we bring something of the gaze of our Heavenly Father Who looks on us with love. We do not have to rush to judgement of ourselves or rush to action. Instead, we need to sit in a state of rest to allow reflection.

We need to have an awareness of our own identity. Fr. Bryan explained that it is crucial that we do not jump to a conclusion about who we are until we have done sufficient exploration of what lies in our heart. He also cautioned against too much exploration and never making a decision. Once we know ourselves adequately, then we can make a good discernment of the vocation to which we are called.

Fr. Bryan explained that vocational discernment is not about arriving at a fixed outcome but engaging in the process, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus with Jesus. One participant shared afterward that Fr. Bryan’s talk was “an affirmation of our body-soul unity, that everything we experience is not just purely bodily or purely spiritual, but always both. And part of discernment is sifting through those experiences in light of God’s calling for me.”

​The second presenter was Dr. Michelle Diment, a certified Spiritual Director trained through the Avila Institute and the Lanteri Centre for Ignatian Spirituality. She is a parishioner of St. Albert the Great parish. Hearing from a member of our own diocese was truly a blessing, knowing that we have such talent among us.

She explained the process of discernment developed by one of the experts in this, namely St. Ignatius of Loyola. Discernment is not just good decision-making. Vocational discernment is about becoming more open to God, available for mission, free in love, and attentive to God in prayer. God initiates discernment and invites us into discernment. Our goal is union with God, eternal blessedness. Our purpose in life is to know, love, and serve God so discernment is really only open to those who seek union with God. She told us that vocation is about gift of self. Discernment is about what path makes me most able to bring glory to God, and we cannot hear God’s voice if we do not take time with Him. Discernment requires a “God-ward self-knowledge”, knowing our good and bad qualities and our limitations.

The third presentation was a panel of people already established in their vocations to marriage (Sergio and Mary Plazas), priesthood (Fr. Nathan Siray), and Consecrated life (Sr. Katrina Le, SDM, and Br. Aldin Canobas, OFM). Their witnessing to their particular vocations and their reflective answers to the thoughtful questions of the audience were most impactful. The Masters of Ceremony, Francesca Ambrosino and Fr. Santiago Torres, guided the discussion well as they navigated the variety of questions from issues in marriage, sources of inspiration for their calls, the role of others in helping them to discern their vocations, and dealing with fears and doubts, and the experience of suffering.​

Mary Plazas Ma explained, our desire in any vocation should be that we become saints. As one participant remarked, "I was incredibly impressed by the witness of the young married couple (Sergio and Mary) and their commitment to personal holiness. This message, desperately needed in today's world, was shared with refreshing authenticity and vulnerability. Let's all be saints!" ​

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Written by Sr. Dianne Turner, OSE - Assistant Director of the Office of Vocations
Photography by Luke Fuentebella, for the Diocese of Calgary.