Sulsar it seems you are not clear on the distinction between vocation and profession. They are very different. A vocation is a means to an eternal reward and salvation, the second is a monetary reward while here on earth. So if you are flipping burgers or healing the sick, it will be according to the talents you were given. Either way there is a monetary reward.
Your profession is only a small part of your vocation. Your vocation is your legacy. In it, you select a path that will allow you to demonstrate God’s love for everone. This love, tenderness/kindness is to be lavished on everyone, family, friend and foe alike. Your free time and your talent become an expression of the joy you bring to your family, your church, and the needy. The ethics you hold yourself to is another example of your vocation. I urge you to read the life of, “Pierre Giorgio Frassati, The Last Days”. He dies in 1925 and the tender age of 24, but in those short years, he teaches us all how to live out a vocation with perfection. There is a series special on EWTN now called Sanctity Within Reach.
If your vocation includes marriage you shoulder an even great responsibility as the spiritual leader of a domestic church. You must protect the souls entrusted to you. You are challenged to teach virtue and morality in both example and deeds. Like a platoon leader, you are the leader in prayer and search for the truth. Here you could read Life of Saint Thomas More. This man is a shining start of fatherhood, husband and citizen. Just as a couple of examples, he provided a world class education ‘at home’ for his daughters, in a day when women were not educated. He routinely rose at 2-3 in the morning to pray, and then commuted to work in a boat to the city so that his family could enjoy the simplicity of a home in the country. He gave his life for refusing to compromise truth. He was truly a paragon of virtue.
If your vocation includes priesthood, read the early life of John Paul II and Macmillan Kolbe for this one. You will still have to add in a dash of Pierre Giorgio and Thomas More to round it out. Keep in mind, there are many options in the priesthood besides parish life. Life as a priest will be as rich as you make it. They are educated! Theology… is a no brainer, but also in whatever other field you choose. Biology, philosophy, and astrology you name it. They travel, have TV shows, write books, go sailing, and play sports, you name it. Most of all they have the freedom to love without the entanglements and are blessed with life-long friendships that the rest of us don’t always have time for. Obviously this is a woman’s perspective, but from the outside, they have the best of all worlds.
Finally, and most important of all a vocation/ calling CANNOT be determined without much prayer and time before the Blessed Sacrament and a spiritual director (parish priest for starters). Of course you have a sense of family life because you grew up in a family, and have things you would want to add or leave out. But you don’t have a very complete sense of priesthood. It would be good to see it from the inside. Try to visit and talk with various monasteries, seminaries, and even EWTN in Alabama if you can.
The very best of luck to you and God bless.
