How do I know God is calling me?

Process of Jesuit Vocation Discernment

THE CALL COMES FROM GOD in many ways
THE RESPONSE COMES FROM ME and requires careful preparation.

How do I know God is calling me to religious life?

Discernment is a word that describes the process of coming to understand how the Lord is calling me and inviting me to serve Him. It is a spiritual and personal journey. It is a journey of understanding, of seeing, and acting.

The necessary ingredients for discerning a vocation from the Lord are trust, patience, faith, and prayer. These four elements will be constantly challenged during your journey, and will need to be renewed daily.

Ask the Lord for these gifts of the Spirit as you move through the process.

Stages of Vocation Discernment:

1. Attraction or Interest - a person feels a mysterious attraction to the idea of a serving God as a priest, or religious. He feels in his heart that he was made for something different than others, that he is somehow invited to a deeper relationship with God and the Church. It may begin as a desire, or an attraction to religious things. Where does the attraction come from? Ultimately, the desire is from the Holy Spirit. Other things help stir the flame of desire: the witness of committed Jesuits in ministry, various promotional events and programs that are supported by families, schools, parishes, Serra Clubs, homilies, articles, books, websites. In addition, vocational attraction results from personal prayer, relationships (seeing or meeting a Jesuit, knowing someone who responds to a call, personal conversation, recommendation of someone), reading literature, surfing the web, hearing something in a homily, etc.

The person is moved to seek information, clarification, and assistance with the decision-making process. As the process moves forward, the person engages at deeper and deeper levels his interest and desires. He also begins step by step, to test his own identification with the values and life of Jesuits whom he may know.

2. Inquiry – A man takes the initiative to contact someone for more information (he talks with a Jesuit he knows, sends an e-mail, makes a phone call). The person will usually contact someone he has met, or he will seek out a Jesuit at a school or parish. Often this involves the first conversation or correspondence with the Vocation Director, who can offer information about the Jesuits, the ministries and life of Jesuits, or the decision-making and application process.

3. Information Gathering – This part of the process can be prolonged over the course of months or years. He gathers information from many sources: literature (brochures, books, articles, stories in magazines), personal conversations with Jesuits, meeting positive role models, visiting various ministries and communities, attending discernment events.

If discerning a vocation is anything like getting to know a person in a dating relationship, then the person should take every opportunity to be “pro-active” in seeking out events and encounters with Jesuits so that he can know them better. Information can be both positive and negative – it can move him to desire the vocation deeper, or challenge those desires.

4. Discernment – The person enters into an agreement with the Vocation Director to begin a process of prayer, conversation and investigation concerning a future decision. The person agrees to regular prayer, spiritual direction, attending some events, visiting and meeting Jesuits. This process can take place over months or years, with an ebb and flow of his interest, attraction, and desire. The process often follows the guidance of St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises.

Throughout the process the seeker follows the Ignatian tradition of evaluating our experience in the light of prayer and reflection. The circle is: experience, reflection, prayer – these elements continuously engage the person’s heart with the help of spiritual direction and conversation with others.

a. Prayer is the spiritual glue that fits the whole process together. A vocation is about a relationship with God and an invitation to deepen a person’s response to that relationship. Prayer is essential. But prayer is not something a person can master alone. We need guidance to help us pray better and to hear what the Lord is saying in prayer. Spiritual Direction is the next step.

b. Spiritual Direction – This involves finding another committed Christian who will journey with the one discerning. The spiritual director is not a counselor or problem-solver, but a companion who listens to the one praying. The director guides and gently challenges the person to be faithful to prayer. The director may offer practical suggestions on how to pray better or may help the person with struggles in prayer.

c. Initial decision – With the help of a spiritual director, the person begins to settle on a decision about the future. The person begins to move closer toward a direction, and then weighs the pros and cons, and consults all who can offer good advice.

5. Confirmation – After a while, the person begins to move toward more certainty about a decision. He commits more deeply to the process by working with the Vocation Director to set a time-frame for making a decision about formally applying to the Society of Jesus. Prayer, and spiritual direction are the guides at this stage. He begins to share his experience with other discerners in a group or a retreat. Regular conferences with the Vocation Director can confirm this movement. The man continues to feel a strong desire to apply to the Society and expresses this desire to the Vocation Director.

a. Trust – The person must always seek openness, generosity and willingness to trust the promptings of the Lord.

b. Act – At some point, the person surrenders the decision into God’s hands, and takes a step. The person begins to “test the waters” by talking more openly with trusted friends and family.

6. Application Process – After the Vocation Director knows the man well enough to make a judgment about his readiness and aptitude for being a Jesuit, he invites the man to submit an application to enter the Novitiate and become a Novice. This application process generally takes three to eight weeks.

This process consists of completing a written application, a written spiritual autobiography, background checks, personal references, complete psychological interview, interviews with several Jesuit examiners and one lay colleague, medical & dental exams, HIV test, etc. Once these steps are complete, the Vocation Director presents the full report to the Provincial. The Provincial, after consultation with an application committee, makes a decision to accept, defer, or deny the applicant.

a. Acceptance (the applicant is approved to enter the Novitiate as a Novice. Sometimes there are conditions attached, with recommendations for areas of concern that should be addressed before or during the Novitiate training)

b. Deferral (a person’s entrance into the Novitiate may be postponed until the following year while the person grows or seeks help with some area of his life.)

c. Denial (the Provincial decides that the person is not ready, or not a good fit for the Society of Jesus)

7. Entrance – If accepted, the applicant is invited by letter to join the Jesuit Novitiate on Entrance Day in August. He is given the necessary information he needs to prepare his personal goods and settle his affairs before moving. Often, during the summer months, he will be invited to a dinner at the local Jesuit community. The Vocation Director and his spiritual director remain as support for him as he prepares to enter the Novitiate.

Once accepted, the man becomes a “Jesuit Novice.” Society of Jesus assumes full legal and financial responsibility for the man’s training and education as a Jesuit. The Novitiate is a two year training program. It is designed, through various experiences of prayer, study, community life, and volunteer ministry, to test the man’s desire to live and die as a Jesuit, while preparing him to pronounce perpetual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the Society of Jesus.

Learn more by visiting one of our province vocation websites