Does God give us a desire for a particular vocation?

[angell1]

does God give us a desire for a particular vocation, for example, a desire for religious life or marriage?

I thought he did, however, in listening to quite a few testimonies, I often hear things like “well, I didn’t really wantot become a priest or a sister but I did it anyways.”.

I don’t really have a desire for marriage or religious life, like I said before. for some reason, I just don’t feel like I am supposed to do the whole dating routine and have kids later on. as for religious life, I don’t know if I would be able to cope with more strict rules, that’s what I’ve been raised all my life with and the idea of needing permission for pretty much everything such as when to use the phone or when you’re allowed to go visit family, it’s a bit suffocating for me. and just deep down, it just doesn’t seem like it would be the right fit somehow

and I know there are other options for vocations, which I’m still working on looking in to

but I don’t know if I’m doing my will or god’s will. maybe I am just trying to block these things out because I don’t want to do it. or maybe I’m not actually being called, I can’t really tell the difference.

is a vocation something we are suppose dto want to do? or are we just stupposed to try and push ourselves in one. or have others just given off the wrong impression about that.

 

[St_Annes]

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I thought he did, however, in listening to quite a few testimonies, I often hear things like “well, I didn’t really want to become a priest or a sister but I did it anyways.”.

I would be surprised at that. It doesn’t seem right that one enter a vocation that they don’t want.

It may start out with a sense of a calling but not much desire, but I would think the desire should be there by the time one makes profession or gets married or whatever.

For myself, I know I started out without a ton of desire, but as I learned more about religious life and the beauty of it, my desire for it really grew.

 

[friardchips]

does God give us a desire for a particular vocation, for example, a desire for religious life or marriage?

I thought he did, however, in listening to quite a few testimonies, I often hear things like “well, I didn’t really wantot become a priest or a sister but I did it anyways.”.

I don’t really have a desire for marriage or religious life, like I said before. for some reason, I just don’t feel like I am supposed to do the whole dating routine and have kids later on. as for religious life, I don’t know if I would be able to cope with more strict rules, that’s what I’ve been raised all my life with and the idea of needing permission for pretty much everything such as when to use the phone or when you’re allowed to go visit family, it’s a bit suffocating for me. and just deep down, it just doesn’t seem like it would be the right fit somehow

and I know there are other options for vocations, which I’m still working on looking in to

but I don’t know if I’m doing my will or god’s will. maybe I am just trying to block these things out because I don’t want to do it. or maybe I’m not actually being called, I can’t really tell the difference.

is a vocation something we are suppose dto want to do? or are we just stupposed to try and push ourselves in one. or have others just given off the wrong impression about that.

All desire for God comes from Him and that is what true desire is: a yearning for God.

How that desire works in our lives according to who we are, in Christ, will shine through what we do, say, think, with whom we come in contact and our communication with them, and what we feel in our hearts, over a period of time.

The only time I can think people with vocations would get tired would be if they rushed into things too early, maybe under some type of pressure, or they picked a vocation that was the wrong fit. I expect this might happen with marriage, for the most part. It might be that the odd Religious says that they are tired because they are suffering from something called Acedia. I don’t think it is best to speak to bored people regarding your vocation if you wish to gain positive insight.

God guides the person to their vocation. I sometimes think of Jonah, not wanting to do what God was calling him to do, and he did not want to do some of the things he was meant to do, but in the end, he did. And what about Moses; part of his duty was to go and speak to Pharoah, and really didn’t want to do this. In the end, God finds a way to put us on the right track.

Sometimes, we can block things out; yet, we have to participate, and we do this by praying words of certain prayers and meaning those words:

“Our Father, who are in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us THIS DAY our daily bread…”

Praying for God’s Will to be done in your life, is a good idea, rather than one’s own will. And this discernment starts today, through the life lessons that God will put on our plate, and this will lead us each day toward those things we might not be able to see ourselves as being able to do, in the future, because from this “daily bread”, we are given grace - the grace to reflect and to ponder the meaning of events in our lives, when they happen and afterwards, and the grace to grow deeper in awareness of where we might be heading.

Attend the Sacraments and pray. Attend Adoration. Spend a little time in silence each day.

If you don’t feel you have a vocation in one of the more obvious choices then it might be you are not ready to know this or it might be that you don’t, and your service is elsewhere. But prayer is the only way to know, and when praying, ask God. If you keep knocking then He will answer, eventually. You have to be patient.

A few things you can do, practically:

• get involved in some charity work.
• go on retreat.
• go on a pilgrimage.

These sorts of things will help you discern.

Certainly, a prayerful retreat would help any kind of blockage.

 

[angell1]

All desire for God comes from Him and that is what true desire is: a yearning for God.

How that desire works in our lives according to who we are, in Christ, will shine through what we do, say, think, with whom we come in contact and our communication with them, and what we feel in our hearts, over a period of time.

The only time I can think people with vocations would get tired would be if they rushed into things too early, maybe under some type of pressure, or they picked a vocation that was the wrong fit. I expect this might happen with marriage, for the most part. It might be that the odd Religious says that they are tired because they are suffering from something called Acedia. I don’t think it is best to speak to bored people regarding your vocation if you wish to gain positive insight.

God guides the person to their vocation. I sometimes think of Jonah, not wanting to do what God was calling him to do, and he did not want to do some of the things he was meant to do, but in the end, he did. And what about Moses; part of his duty was to go and speak to Pharoah, and really didn’t want to do this. In the end, God finds a way to put us on the right track.

Sometimes, we can block things out; yet, we have to participate, and we do this by praying words of certain prayers and meaning those words:

“Our Father, who are in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us THIS DAY our daily bread…”

Praying for God’s Will to be done in your life, is a good idea, rather than one’s own will. And this discernment starts today, through the life lessons that God will put on our plate, and this will lead us each day toward those things we might not be able to see ourselves as being able to do, in the future, because from this “daily bread”, we are given grace - the grace to reflect and to ponder the meaning of events in our lives, when they happen and afterwards, and the grace to grow deeper in awareness of where we might be heading.

Attend the Sacraments and pray. Attend Adoration. Spend a little time in silence each day.

If you don’t feel you have a vocation in one of the more obvious choices then it might be you are not ready to know this or it might be that you don’t, and your service is elsewhere. But prayer is the only way to know, and when praying, ask God. If you keep knocking then He will answer, eventually. You have to be patient.

A few things you can do, practically:

• get involved in some charity work.
• go on retreat.
• go on a pilgrimage.

These sorts of things will help you discern.

Certainly, a prayerful retreat would help any kind of blockage.

I’ve done all those things.

and it’s been quite a few years so I really don’t think the obvious choices are for me.

I just want to be single and have a job to support myself and my family and some elderly friends from church. do some other ministry work if possible. perhaps join a secular third order if I am meant for that direction

 

[friardchips]

I’ve done all those things.

and it’s been quite a few years so I really don’t think the obvious choices are for me.

I just want to be single and have a job to support myself and my family and some elderly friends from church. do some other ministry work if possible. perhaps join a secular third order if I am meant for that direction

God works with where we are. He works with who we are. He teaches and guides through our present circumstances. If this is how you see things, right now, today, then offer your whole current situation up, in prayer. You could say exactly what you just said in your last post, to God. And if you feel like this tomorrow, and the day after, keep praying the same thing. And the day after that. Asking him, if your will - the way you are seeing things - is from Him, and if what you just expressed is what He is desires for you, while doing all the things in your life that you are doing, in your parish and with the family you are thinking you might support, through work. If you do these things, then at some point, maybe the Holy Spirit will show you something else too, very specific. Days are like building blocks and it is not until we get to a certain point that we can see the design those blocks have made.

 

[shebalee]

I agree with the previous post in that God works where we are and with who we are. You may not be called to serve in religious life (the priesthood or as a nun), but you can certainly fulfill Christ’s ideals and serve in other ways. For example, I feel that God works through me by way of my profession : I am a nurse. Although I am not a nun, I still believe that I am upholding our Faith’s ideal of caring for the sick. Sure I get paid, but if I didn’t truly love what I do and feel called to do it, there is no way I would be able to do it, day after day.

 

[Bluebright]

Thanks for this post, it makes for interesting reading.
Might I add that reading some books on saint’s/holy people’s lives helps. Personally, and I know very little, so please try not to take offence this is only an observation, while you are saying ‘I want this and that’ in your life, it seems to me it might be hard to discern what God wants with the ‘I’ in there. I read a book once …He leadth me (Walter Ciszek) all about getting the ‘I’ out of doing God’s will and put the He in it. It may be this that is your stumbling block. Please ignore me if you wish, but read the book it’s well worth some time.