Any teens discerning vocations?

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I’m 15 and doing my GCSEs in 2 months. I personally don’t feel like discerning as I want to become a neurologist or paediatrition. I also don’t think my mum would like it if I became a nun (I have considered it) because she was a nun for about 4 years (age 16 to 20) before my grandfather took her out of it as he “didn’t want her to waste her life or suffer so much”. I’m just afraid that if I go down the path of going to university then my beliefs will change (my sister is a strong Catholic, and still is but before she went to university, she only wanted sex after marriage but now she’s in University and has a boyfriend who she has had sex with) I just don’t want to do that but I feel like it’ll be hard from everything going on around me. I guess it’s a test of faith. My sister is still very faithful in God but I feel like what she does is so widely accepted now that it doesn’t seem so bad to her. God bless and have a good week! 😄
 
Hello,
I am 18 and am starting to discern Religious Life. I have thought about it for a while, but am starting to move more toward a process of discernment. It is wonderful that this topic was created for us all to connect as similarly aged discerning young people.🙂
 
Welcome! It is really helpful to talk with other teens about discernment.
 
I can understand your fear. I might go to a Catholic university, but I am worried that I won’t be able too. It really is a test of faith. I guess you will just have to get involved with other Catholic students at the university.
 
I mean that it takes a lot of self-knowledge to be able and willing to pray that much that often! I struggle with rote prayer because I get distracted and don’t focus on Christ when I pray. Just something I’ve got to work on, and something I admire in others (:
 
@EllieC Welcome!

@amazingcatholic @rosepeach I’m in my junior year at a very secular, liberal college; the concern is real and valid. However, I’ve found that everyone who’s tried to talk me into something I don’t agree with (ranging from sex to porn to simple stuff like “God loves everyone and Hell isn’t real”) usually pushes me harder than I would push them. That is, they demand that I turn away from what I know to jump into this new train of thought that doesn’t give them peace. I don’t care how happy they are on the surface, somewhere there’s a deep sorrow, a deep ache that they want filled, and thus fill it with other, temporary things.

Basically what I’m saying is, the pressures will be there, and they will be constant. I’m sorry to hear your sister accepts her behaviors as normal along with her belief in God…I really don’t know what to say there and it’s not my right to comment either. My point is, though, that consequences are a thing, and I’d rather have good consequences after a hard battle (e.g. not having STDs at age 20) than bad consequences after a questionable or bad thing.

Another thing: college can be extremely isolating. The Catholic group at my college is underwhelming, and it’s hard to hold to what I know and love - if I feel like others don’t like what I like, it’s hard for me to want to keep it, y’know? But, I have a very good family and a good supportive group of real friends - friends who, even if we disagree, will support me and encourage me to stay true to my soul and my God. They know how much it means to me and how much it affects who I am, and they won’t let me ditch it just because I feel bad one day. Don’t give up, be brave, and don’t be afraid to talk to strangers 😉 God is with us always! The battle is constant but so is His love and grace (:
 
Thank you! And this is nice. I am also trying to find where I will go to college in 1.5 years, and this exactly is my concern. Do you go to a Catholic college? Living at home, I find that I have very strong morals and beliefs in the faith and I never want to lose them. It terrifies me that I might conform to what society says is good or even agree with maraca and drum liturgies, and the sector of people in the Catholic Church who are very lax and accepting of acting on LGBT or fornication and living with the person your dating etc. etc. etc. (if you understand what I mean). Also, my own family and friends are either grocery store/lukewarm Catholics or not Catholic at all and do not share the same moral values. I fear going to a college surrounded by people that push society standards… and having no support at any end! Am I the only one?
 
I definitely feel you. I am the only practicing Catholic in my family. I am already having a hard time as it is, imagine college.
 
I am 17 and feel called to the life of either a monk or a priest. My family is non-denominational. I attended a Lutheran school from first to seventh grade, so I’ve grown up for a love for liturgy. I was probably fourteen when I first felt the calling from God to serve him as a priest or a monk and I explored which faith traditions of the church had monastic orders. I’ve been attending alot of traditional churches, and I eventually landed on an Anglo-Catholic (Episcopalian) church and I got involved as an altar server there. It was later that I found that the Roman Catholic church was for me (I completely left behind my Protestant PROTESTING) and I am now pursuing converting to Catholic. I will be received into full communion (Lord Willing) next year. I will then pursue the religious life. I’ve always felt drawn to the Carmelite or Carthusian orders.
 
Welcome!! My story is quite similar to yours. I was 12 when I first felt God calling me to be a nun. My family is Anglican, but I started thinking about becoming a nun and then I ended up learning about Catholicism. I am 17 also and hoping I can convert next year, or at least be able to attend Mass regularly.
 
@hawkmaid7

That’s true, it really is a test. And yeah, after she got to university (which is a general public one) her views changed I think from what she saw around her. It was very widely accepted and because she was away from home and our Catholicism for so long, she also started having those views. I really hope I will be able to, with the grace of God keep until marriage, but sometimes I’m just scared nobody will wait for me. (Because I think we’re still allowed to be in a relationship as long as it’s not sexual) Thankyou and I hope all goes well, God bless x
 
Best of luck on your journey! May God guide you and the blessed Virgin Mary be there with you! Our situations are very similar indeed! Do you know which monastic order you feel drawn to?
 
catholic03 said:
I’ve wondered the same thing. I don’t think teenagers are really that visible here. Perhaps it reflects how people our age tend to be leaving the faith 😦😦😦.
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On the contrary, it seems that an unprecedented number of young people are joining the faith. I strongly suspect that the revitalization of the TLM is connected to this miracle. As for visibility, I speculate that the degree of maturity that would prompt one to spend time on a Catholic forum might also veil a youthful age.

I’ve seen you around on the forum and, given your contributions I would have never guessed that you were a kid 🙂 Pretty inspirational IMO.
 
Thank you!

I have a feeling that the Latin Mass does draw many young people in, although in my archdiocese it is not celebrated by the FSSP/diocesan priests so I have not seen for myself if a large number of young people do attend.
 
I really like the Sisters of Life. Their apostolate is awesome. How about you?
 
Honestly, at this point I don’t expect my husband will be a virgin, but I’m growing to be okay with that - not in the sense that I agree with his past choices, but I respect that people can chose new lives and new morals, or stronger morals. Since I want to get into foster care, it may almost be better to have a husband who converted from a more heathenistic way of life so that the kids can have a little more support growing up. That is, my biggest fear is that they’ll go “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE” to me and they’ll be right, you know?

Maybe it’s not the best reason, maybe it’s college, but I’m learning to love people for who they are rather than who they were, and hope for who they will be. Besides, it’s a worthy challenge, to stay pure, and I can respect those who fell and got up to grow stronger. So, whatever God wills!
 
More than likely the Carmelite order. I find their way of living to be beautiful and a great expression of monastic life.
Sisters of Life is also great too. 🙂
 
It is most gladdening to see that there are so many fellow young people who love Christ and are faithful to His Holy Church.

If any of you are interested in furthering your faith and studying it, I would really recommend reading the Bible and the Compendium to Catechism of the Catholic Church, or the proper Catechism depending on whether you want to study the faith more in depth.

God bless you all.
 
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