1) Take your time!
Most of us rush through our young adult years trying to figure out where God is calling us. We do mission trips, we go on discernment retreats, we join Catholic match. We scramble around thinking that if we’re not praying for it every single minute of our lives, then we’ll miss it. And where we begin to fail is we don’t slow down enough to hear God’s voice. If we slowed down just enough, we would hear His voice, probably telling us to slow down. As young adults, we really don’t need to rush to find our vocation. Everyone finds their way, because everyone is ready for their vocation at different times. Mother Teresa was in her 40’s when she found God was calling her to Calcutta. And we all worry that if we graduate college without finding a spouse then we aren’t meant to get married.
2) There is no such thing as a “higher vocation.”
Naturally, priesthood is one of the most incredible vocations there can be. In no other vocation will you be given the grace to transform bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. However, as in everything in your life with God, this is a decision only between you and Him. This is why there cannot be a “higher vocation,” because whatever vocation you find God is calling you to, this is the highest vocation for YOU, because He designed you specifically for it.
3) Trust and patience
Two essential qualities to your discernment. Oftentimes we hear to let God handle it, that He has a plan. We often nod our heads and say we know, but do we really know? Think about it, He has known what we would do with our lives even before we were born. I would trust him with my life plan.
The other quality is patience. This is even more difficult to swallow than trust. And this is where God really tests us. It’s easy for us to one day say, “Alright God, I’m giving this to you.” It’s harder to say that three months later when you’re still waiting for His answer.
There is another step which I didn’t include, and that is don’t freak out! If you haven’t found out what your vocation is yet, don’t worry. Truly, there is a reason you haven’t figured out your vocation yet. God has a plan, and yes it is hard to see it, and it’s hard to guess what His plan may be, because oftentimes He doesn’t show us what is in store for our lives, and there is a reason he does that. If we knew what He had in store, we would either try to change it, or hurry it along. We become so centered on ourselves that we don’t take the moment to breath and just ask God, “Okay, what do you want from me?” We spend most of our time asking God, “Why? Why do I have to wait for that guy to ask me out? Why do I have to wait and pray before I decide to enter the convent?”
There are so many moments in our lives we want to hurry along. The truth is, it is in our discernment where we grow the closest to God. It is in our times of struggle that we draw nearer to Him, and find a deeper relationship with Him. And that is the most important part of your discernment. To keep the focus on God. The months leading up to dating my boyfriend were the hardest months of my life, as I struggled with my discerning our relationship. But now, I look back on the fruits that came from that period, and how that solid faith I had established at that time influenced the solid foundation of my relationship with my boyfriend.
All we need to do is take a deep breath, and say, “Okay God, you got this one.” That is the best thing we can ever do in our discernment. Because that takes trust, that takes patience, that takes faith. We show we are ready for our vocation when we have the ability to surrender our lives to God, because no matter what vocation we are entering, that is what God is calling us to do: to surrender our lives to Him. So, just remember to breath, take your time, don’t pin one vocation against the other as the highest, have trust and patience, don’t freak out, and let God take control.
