Vocations
"Do not be afraid of the supernatural. It makes sense of everything" +David Consecrated LifePriestly VocationsWhat is a vocation?
The word ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin verb vocare, which means ‘to call’. Every person is called to come to know God’s unconditional love for them. For those of us who are baptised, we have already become adopted sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus. All of the baptised share in what is called the ‘baptismal priesthood’, where we come to know the love that God has for us personally as members of God’s family, and seek to share that love with others as we follow Jesus faithfully as his disciples and allow him to transform our lives.
Saint Augustine (354-430AD), a Catholic bishop and theologian, said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. At the heart of every vocation is what Jesus describes as living life to the full (see John 10:10). The Lord knows the deepest desires of every human heart, and so knows how we can become truly ourselves and truly fulfilled in God.
Every person should therefore ask the question, “What is God calling me to do?”
What different types of vocation are there?
Building upon our baptismal priesthood, we are then called by God to live out our Christian lives in more specific ways. There are several states of life officially recognised by the Church as being particular ways in which Christians are called to serve God and neighbour. For more information on single, married, religious and consecrated life, please see the National Office for Vocation website which can be found at https://www.ukvocation.org/.
One of the states of life to which God calls men to is the ordained ministry. Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, men become deacons, ministerial priests, and bishops. For more information on the diaconate, please visit [website page]. The remainder of this section will be focused on the ministerial
What is the Catholic priesthood?
All priesthood in the Church is a sharing in the one priesthood of Jesus Christ. Ministerial priests are called to share in the priesthood of Christ the Head and Shepherd of the Church. A man does not choose priesthood for himself, rather he cooperates in God’s call upon his life to this ministry: ‘No one takes this honour upon himself but each one is called by God’ (Hebrews 5:4).
The Sacrament of Holy Orders imparts what the Church calls a ‘sacred seal’, which changes a man at the very core of his being. Priesthood, therefore, is not simply about what a priest does, but about who a priest is. Through receiving the Sacrament of Holy Orders a priest becomes another Christ, or ‘alter Christus’.
A priest’s life is centred upon the Sacraments and upon the Holy Eucharist, where above all Jesus is present. People will also meet Christ the Good Shepherd in everything that a priest does for them and simply by his presence with them.
Who We Are
Our Contact details
Fr Pius Amoako – Diocesan Vocations Director
vocationsdirector@northamptondiocese.org
01753 523147
