Our Culture of Disincarnation…And How To Combat It
We live in a culture of disincarnation, which makes it a challenge to discern a vocation. According to the philosopher Fabrice Hadjadj, it’s the crisis of “fake wood”. First, we make laminate, then plywood, then particle board, then plastic with imitation wood grain. Finally, we put it in a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen on […]
Personal Vocation Begins at Creation
The vocational calling of every person begins in the act of creation. The story of vocation starts with creation. The Hebrew verb that describes God’s creative work in the first chapters of Genesis is bara, a word which always has God as its subject. Only God can create something out of nothing. He creates with […]
Cookie-Cutter Vocations and Authenticity
Malcolm Gladwell tells the story of the J. Paul Getty museum’s acquisition of a kouros, a marble sculpture of a nude male youth standing with his left leg forward and his arms at his sides. Its dealer claimed that it was sculpted in Greece in the sixth century BC. There are only about two hundred […]
Your Vocation Starts With Your Creation
In the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah, the Father promises to those who have strayed that he will “bring them back”—they will return to their original purpose in God’s creative design. When God creates, he calls. And when his creation strays, he calls it back. Vocation begins at birth. In fact, vocation begins at […]
Pastoral Empowerment through Personal Vocation
Although personal vocation was identified by the fathers of the Second Vatican Council and taught by the popes since that council as an important part of formation, the practice of actually cultivating it among clergy and laity remains on the periphery of Church life. Combating clericalism requires a robust understanding of personal vocation. A culture […]
Catholic Creatives: Hackathon for Vocations
In October 2018, Inscape and the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at Catholic University teamed up with Catholic Creatives, one of the most exciting lay movements in the Church, to hold a “hackathon”, a design challenge for Catholic creative professionals to investigate what was currently broken about the way Catholic culture thinks and talks about vocation. We began […]
Youth Ministry and Personal Vocation
“I’m going to be a Doctor,” Molly told me with the blind confidence only a 16 year old could convey. She had a pre-determined path and she was going to take it. She would be successful, she would be financially comfortable, and she would be helping people. Her vocation was decided. Then, a year later, […]
There are no Do-Overs
Repeatability can be a source of great comfort. Instant replay ensures that we never have to miss a great sporting moment. Digital music has a “repeat” button so we can listen to the same song as many times as we’d like. And if we lose our iPhone, Apple will gladly sell us another one exactly […]
Know Thyself
Among the 147 maxims found at the Ancient Greek Temple of Delphi, “Know Thyself” was so important that it was inscribed at the entrance to the Temple of Apollo. Many, including Socrates and Plato, employed the aphorism extensively. The advice is short, and yet a variety of meanings have been ascribed to it, from “know […]
The Definition of Personal Vocation
In one sense “personal vocation” is a simple concept. John Paul II repeatedly declared: become who you are. “Personal vocation” is God’s call to each person to become who he or she is in loving service to God and neighbor. But the word “vocation” has several different meanings. And, as we will see, “personal vocation” […]