by Kevin J. Banet, webmaster

It is God who calls, isn’t it?

In his World Day of Prayer for Vocations this year, Pope Benedict XVI said, “the Holy Spirit attracts some people to live the Gospel in a radical way and translate it into a style of more generous following.”

Yes, it is the Holy Spirit - plus our work. What kind of work? I know of certain religious communities that are successful in attracting vocations that have a lot of worldly wisdom and work very hard. I read a while ago that the vocation director for the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, MI carries a Blackberry so she can quickly respond to emails sent by young women interested in the community.

How important is being tech savvy in vocations work?

I recently spoke with Patrice Touhy, executive editor of Vision Vocation Guide, of the Catholic Religious Vocation Network. This group features Vocation Guide, a popular online service that matches candidates with religious communities. I talked with her about using traditional printed brochures versus internet material.

“PDF is the number 1, quick way to get information to discerners,” she said of the popular document format. “Number 2, it saves them the cost of postage. It will save them hundreds of dollars per year.”

The internet, she said, is “the preferred way young people want to receive information. Young people are very conscious of a paperless society.” She also said, “It’s a competitive market, believe it or not. You don’t want to be the last community to respond [to inquiries].”

Is it God calling, or our technological knowledge, or both? I think it’s grace building on nature - and this is a mystery that we can’t fully understand. As one of the saints has said, we must pray as if it all depended on God, and work as if it all depended on us.

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References:

Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

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Quote of the day: “Before the Lord, in the silence of your hearts, some of you may feel called to follow him in a more radical way in the priesthood or the consecrated life.”

- Pope Benedict XVI’s Address to Youth at the International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, June 21, 2008

“But it’s not about us,” the mother superior said firmly.

I had just been explaining to the superior of a contemplative community that “About Us” is the term used on websites to describe an organization or company. This is what internet users expect to see on a website.

But mother superior did not want to draw attention to their own members. The whole idea of a contemplative community is for its members to give themselves completely to the contemplation of God and his wonders. They wound up choosing the term “community life” for the tab on their webpage.

Giving One’s Self to God
Years ago there was an advertising slogan, “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” Well, when it comes to vocations, you have to break the rule. In fact, the steak is what is being sold - not the sizzle. You may be able to sell a car parked next to a pretty woman, but those men and women interested in religious life want to know how your community gives itself to God.

These people have seen the sizzle in the world, and they want the steak. They know that what is eternal - God Himself - is far more important than snazzy cars, fancy restaurants, and vacations in the Caribbean.

So while a website’s beauty and functionality is important, what is essential in your message to prospective vocations is the primacy of giving oneself to God. Your communication need to focus on that.

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Quote for the Feast of St. Francis
“Yesterday’s mail brought another vocation inquiry. The young woman is discerning a Poor Clare vocation. Ours was the first website she found. Even after viewing the others she came back to ours, and it is to us that she has written.”