FAQ's

What is a vocation?
Put simply, a vocation is a calling from God. It is our own unique way of responding to God’s invitation to happiness. God wants us to be happy and fulfilled and at peace. This is the invitation that God extends to us. To find peace in our lives is to focus our lives around God and to allow everything that we do to be centered around His presence in our lives.

What are my options?
There are four possible vocations into which all of us fit.

How do I know who God’s calling me to be?
It can be difficult to figure out who God is calling us to be and which direction He wants us to go. The most important way of discerning God’s will for us is to pray. Through prayer we establish a relationship with God and through this relationship we find out the best way for us to grow closer to God. This “best way” is our vocation: it is the way that will lead us to happiness and peace.

Another way of figuring out where God is calling is to listen to the people around us. God calls us through other people and we have to listen to the voice of God even though it comes from the face of a family member or a friend.

A third way of discovering which vocation we are called to is to become active in the life of our parish community. By using our talents for the sake of others we can become aware of what we are good at and how we can use those gifts to help others come to know God.

What do priests and religious brothers and sisters do all day?
Certainly at the heart of the lives of priests and religious is prayer. Those who are called to religious vocations make a promise or vow to prayer the Liturgy of the Hours, which is a collection of Psalms and other Scripture passages, on a daily basis.

Most priests in the Diocese of Evansville serve in parishes, which means they spend the majority of their day tending to the needs of the people entrusted to their care. Priests visit hospitals, provide spiritual direction, do marriage preparation and a host of other things that are directed toward the wellbeing of their people.

Religious brothers and sisters do a wide variety of things. Some stay at the monastery while others are out in the world carrying on normal careers. At the heart of the religious life is community, which means that while those called to this vocation work like single and married people, they are part of a community that prays together and supports its members.

What if I want a wife and kids but feel called to the priesthood or religious life?
This is a good thing. The type of men and women who are most effective as priests and religious would also be wonderful fathers and mothers. The same skills that it takes to raise are family are needed by those who dedicate themselves to the Church in a religious vocation. Usually, it’s only after someone has embraced the vocation to the priesthood or religious life that they realize that they have a greater family than they could have imagined.

How long does it take to be a priest or a religious brother or sister?
The length of time it takes to join a religious community varies by community. You should check with each particular community to find out their process of discernment.

For the priesthood, if a young man enters college seminary right out of high school, he would go through four years of college with a substantial amount of credits in philosophy and four years of Theology. If a young man is already in college or has graduated from college, he would take two years of philosophy and then four years of Theology. In short, it can take from 6-8 years of education and formation after high school.