Vocation Discernment

Vocation Dinners

Monthly dinners with those in religious life are offered to those wanting to discuss religious vocations. Dinners are held at the Vocation Director's home in Lawrence each month. We invite representatives from various Catholic religious communities to expose participants to different charisms and ministries.

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The Samuel Group

The Samuel Group is a community in which you can discover your call. It is a one-year program invented by Cardinal Martini of Milan, Italy, to help the youth in their vocational discernment.
He took the inspiration of this group from the story of Samuel found in the Book of Samuel.

The goal of the Samuel Group is to help young people in vocational discernment. The commitment to the program lasts one year and helps give direction to a student’s freedom and creativity so that he/she may discover his/her role in the Church and in the world.
The program has a three-fold goal for each candidate:

· to know oneself
· to know Jesus
· to know one’s role in the Church and in the world

The means by which to reach this goal is an interior spiritual discernment. This spiritual discernment involves three main aspects:

· Purification
· Meditation
· Scrutiny

Purification is the process of detachment from sin, wrongful inclinations, selfish affections, and illusions.

Meditation involves daily reflection on the word of God and spiritual writings.

Scrutiny involves self-reflection on the interior movements of the soul, where Jesus speaks to us.

Requirements:

The Samuel Group is open to all young adults (ages18-30), male and female, who wish to discern seriously the will of God in their life. Interested students are invited to fill the application form that is stapled on this sheet and turn to the Apostles of the Interior Life at the St. Lawrence Center

Structure of the program:

The program will begin in September and last trough May.
1) One monthly meeting lasting five hours (Sunday Mass is included).
2) Each meeting will involve a brief social period, time for guided reflection, an hour of adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, time for small group sharing, a talk, and Holy Mass.

3) Throughout the month students must meet at least once with their personal spiritual director, develop a regular schedule of prayer, and abide the rules of the Samuel Group as outlined by the program.
The rules involve:

a) Full and active participation in all the monthly meetings, meaning serious time for silent prayer and reflection
b) Desire to grow in the exercise of prayer
c) Less frequent viewing of television
d) To rid oneself of anxiety involving vocational discernment
e) To be aware of and to expect difficulties and struggles
f) To develop a balanced schedule of daily work, activities and prayer
g) To meet with your spiritual director at least once a month

4) At the end of the year candidates must submit a letter to the Bishop expressing plans for the future.
At the second-to-last meeting candidates receive a booklet with many opportunities for volunteer work so that if they are still uncertain about their vocation they are able to choose among many opportunities that might aid in continued discernment.

Lord, what do you want me to do with my life?

If you’ve ever had this question, the Samuel Group is an outstanding community in which you can discover this answer. Samuel Group is a one-year spiritual journey involving one Sunday afternoon of recollection each month (from 1-6 p.m., Mass included). The prayer and the talks will help you to deepen your relationship with God, and to get to know yourself better. The Samuel Group is open to all young adults (ages 18-30). If you are interested, return this form to the St. Lawrence front office, in the mailbox of the Apostles of the Interior Life.

The meeting dates are:
2003: 9/28, 12/14, 3/7, 10/19, 11/9

2004: 1/24, 2/15, 4/4, 5/2

For more information: [email protected] or 785/856-7717.