You are invited to join us today for a LIVE podcast at A Nun’s Life Ministry on vocations and religious life.
Here’s how to join us LIVE.
At 1:00 p.m. CST (time zone converter), visit ANunsLife.org. On the right side of the blog under the photo you’ll see a blue box displaying a green button that says “LIVE NOW” (if you don’t see it click on the A Nun’s Life header at the top of the screen to refresh the page). You won’t see the green button until it’s close to the time the podcast starts. Click the button to start the audio (takes a minute or so).
Another way to listen is by phone. Simply dial 724-444-7444 and enter Call ID number 60385 and then enter the # sign.
You can also participate by signing on to the chat room with Sister Maxine and me. This the place where you can interact with other listeners and with us. During the broadcast you can ask your questions and offer comments to our guests which Sister Maxine and I will, if possible, read on the air. Click the link that says “Join Now To Participate”. A new window will open with a chat box and a list of other participants.
Our discussion will be on vocations in general as well as the newly released 2009 NRVC/CARA Study on Recent Vocations.
We will be interviewing two folks who have a good deal of experience in the field of vocations, Patrice Tuohy and Brother Paul Bednarczyk. Here are some links to their ministries.
Patrice Tuohy, Executive Editor of VISION Vocation Guide and Founder of TrueQuest Communications
TrueQuest Communications – “award-winning publishers of Vision Vocation Guide, Prepare the Word Homily Service, and Take Five for Faith“
VISION Vocation Guide – “insightful articles, resources, and interactive features online to assist you as you discern your life’s calling and explore religious life.”
VocationMatch.com – part of the VISION website
Brother Paul Bednarczyk, CSC, Executive Director of the National Religious Vocation Conference and former CSC Vocation Director
National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) – “a professional organization of men and women committed to vocation awareness, invitation, and discernment to consecrated life as brothers, sisters, and priests”
Holy Cross Brothers (CSC) – Eastern Province
Post-show Update: Here is a recording of the podcast:
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For those who cannot listen live, the podcast will be available later and you can visit this page for further discussion.
Is this where we’re supposed to be now that the podcast is over?
Hi Stephanie! Yes, and I’m copying some of the questions to bring here.
Hi Stephanie. Thanks for joining us during the podcast. What information did you hear that surprised you?
A lot of in depth work has gone into this study. How does NRVC plan to advertise the results of this study so that the broad and diverse scope of it is reported in the media and not just segments of it that on which the media may choose to focus?
Questions that came up in the Chat Room during the discussion …
In terms of meeting religious during education … are there a lot of sisters at Newman Centers, or are Catholic institutions still ‘best practices.’?
How much to religious orders pay to be part of Vocationmatch.com and all that kind of advertising? How much does it cost to run a website?
What might be NRVC’s follow up to the CARA study project (i.e. what might be NRVC’s response to the results?)
A lot of in depth work has gone into this study. How does NRVC plan to advertise the results of this study?
I know this is the most basic question, that has been asked again and again, but how does one know if they have a vocation to the religious life?
If someone has a call from God, how can the community say no you are too old? As far as I know Jesus never asked a person how old are you?
How can lay ministers in parishes help promote vocations?
Hi Joanne … was that you in the Chat Room? Patrice and Brother Paul had to go to a conference right after — and I think Paul was presenting! But we’re going to contact them and see if they’ll respond to these questions in the next few days.
Any other questions?
JoanneCSJ asked, “How does NRVC plan to advertise the results of this study so that the broad and diverse scope of it is reported in the media and not just segments of it that on which the media may choose to focus?’
That’s an interesting question… it does seem like the media usually chooses bits and pieces. But in the end, I’m not sure it matters that much to the general public. I think people who care about these issues will read/scan the CARA document themselves after realizing it came out. I definitely went to the source document once I realized it was published because I was curious to know what it really said. But, to be quite honest, this sort of nun trend stuff probably doesn’t register on a lot of people’s radar since life is busy and they probably don’t know about the ins and outs of the biases in debates over religious life.
It’s difficult to say, Stephanie. Certainly they can only do so much, but how can we find those snippets that are compelling enough to get folks interested?
Oh, if Brother Paul gets these questions, I have another about the greater diversity among religious in formation:
Is greater diversity a factor across the board for religious orders with newer members, or is it linked to geography (orders in Southern California, Texas, New York, or something like that, etc). How are non-white candidates meeting their communities? Do minority candidates stay in religious life more/same/less than Caucasian candidates? I’m curious whether it would be tough for these newer diverse people to be young/minority sisters in old/white communities, and whether that makes a difference in whether they stay.
I’ll definitely pass those along. I’ll put an update here as to if/when they’ll be able to get to the questions this week.
I’d like to address the question about how to know if you have a vocation to religious life. For many people who’ve discerned religious life, including me, it was a gradual discovery. Often it helps to talk with others along the way, especially with people who are in religious life. It’s also important to learn about various congregations — what their ministry is, how they live in community, what their charism is, etc. And always keep an open mind and an open heart to whatever it is that God is calling you to!
Also, what about the retention for converts? I know there is a surprisingly large amount of interest from Catholic converts in religious life, but I want to know whether they ultimately feel comfortable in their communities or whether they are sort of left out since they may have missed out on a lot of Catholic culture, like going to Catholic school.
I guess I’m curious about these trends because I’ve got sort of a quadruple whammy of age, ethnicity, geography, and religious background. I’m 20 yet called to a community that has mostly older sisters… I’m half Chinese yet called to a community where almost all the sisters are white… I’m originally from California yet this order doesn’t have any ministries west of St. Louis, and I’m a convert from the Anglican church a few years back whereas most the sisters met the order when they were students in its Catholic high schools. This doesn’t bother me and I love it all – God is beautiful and works in unpredictable ways. But I’d be curious to know how CARA found these sorts of factors to be working out for newer sisters.
Reading your story reaffirms my belief that God calls whom God calls and finds the right place for us even if it defies logic or sense! It’s like falling in love, Stephanie.
Another good question. We have a couple new sisters in our community who are converts. I wonder if they’ve had struggles with this.
I’ve got to run to a meeting right now, but it sure has been good continuing the conversation with you, Stephanie. Will let you know when our friends can respond to these questions. Blessings.
Hi Stephanie – So glad to “hear” you here. I continue to love the strength and clarity of your mind and the beauty of your heart and soul. Jean
Hi Jean! It’s good to “hear” you too. I’ve been reading Anunslife a lot, and you always have very thorough posts
Did Nathalie leave you in charge of Jean-patrol?! Classes must start soon for you, and I will be thinking of you. I hope you and your mom had a wonderful visit to your hoped-for order earlier this summer. Best to you. Jean
Dear Sisters Julie and Max: Thanks so much for inviting us into the exciting world of a nun’s life. Br. Paul and I really enjoyed being interviewed by you and being part of our first-ever live podcast.
I’d be happy to answer some of the questions posted on the blog–and I’m sure Br. Paul would be as well, . What do you propose would be the best way to do that?
Look forward to hearing from you.–Patrice