Publishers’ Note
Be holy in your own way
SIX COMPELLING EXCUSES
FOR NOT BECOMING A NUN—DEBUNKED 86
ACCEPT THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS 122
The art
of discernment
Pilgrims here on earth
PATRICE J. TUOHY
130
MEN’S COMMUNITIES SEARCH
131
WOMEN’S COMMUNITIES SEARCH
144
COMMUNITY ADVERTISER INDEX
168
COVER DESIGN AND PHOTO T & J STUDIOS
PoPE JoHn xxiii was
pondering his
path to holiness
when he wrote
in his spiritual
journal: “God
desires us to
follow the examples of the saints
by absorbing the vital sap of their
virtues and turning it into our own
life-blood, adapting it to our own
individual capacities and particular
circumstances. if saint Aloysius had
been as i am, he would have become
holy in a different way.” That is what
God is asking each of us: To become
holy in a different way—to become
holy in our own way.
What is your unique path to
holiness? We hope the information you find in Vision in print
and online will help you answer
that essential life question. Every
person featured in the 2013 issue is
someone just like you—thoughtful,
faithful, open to all that God has in
store. We hope they will inspire you.
As for your course, the best
advice we can give you as you
discern your vocation comes once
again from John xxiii, who is on
our minds because this year the
church celebrates the 50th anniversary of the second Vatican Council,
which he convened: “Consult not
your fears but your hopes and your
dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled
potential. Concern yourself not with
what you tried and failed in, but
with what it is still possible for you
to do.”
2013CATHOLICRELIGIOUSVOCATIONDISCERNMENTGUIDE APublicationoftheNationalReligiousVocationConference
SponsorsofVocationMatch.comandEncuentroCatolica.org
VocationNetwork.org
DigitalVocationGuide.org
Find your calling
at the crossroads
Read our stories inside and learn more
about religious life and church vocations
Online at VocationNetwork.org
VOCATION MATCH SERVICE
Fill out an online profile and find the
vocation/community that might best suit
you.
COMMUNITY SEARCH
EVENTS CALENDAR
VIDEOS
VOCATION FAQS
QUESTIONS CATHOLICS ASK
SPIRITCITINGS BLOG
SPANISH/FRENCH RESOURCES
DIGITALVOCATIONGUIDE.ORG
MOBILE APPS
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Update from the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC)
IN JUNE 2012 the NRVC was awarded a $650,000 grant
from the Conrad N. Hilton
Foundation to strengthen our
organization and its resources
and publications, including
VISION, and to host a national
symposium to address the problem of educational debt, which we determined in
our 2011 Educational Debt Study was adversely
affecting vocations to religious life.
In other areas, through a generous grant
from the GHR foundation, we continue to expand
our Moving Forward in Hope National Vocation
Brother Paul
Bednarczyk, C.S.C.
Plan with gatherings of women religious sched-
uled throughout the next 12 months. We also
look forward to participating in World Youth
Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.
As we enter into the Year of Faith called
by Pope Benedict XVI, our hope for all of you
who are considering a call to religious life is
that you gain a deeper knowledge of the tenets
of our life-giving faith and experience the joy,
hope, and love that faith in Jesus Christ brings
so that you may faithfully respond to God’s call.
—Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C.
NRVC Executive Director
—Patrice J. Tuohy
VISION Executive Editor
