Sisters and priest to speak at Vocation Awareness Night

Friday, Oct. 17, 2014

WEST HAVEN — Saint Mary Parish in West Haven will host its third annual Vocation Awareness Night Nov. 24, which will be open for Catholics through the diocese and especially for youth in religious education classes.

During the event, participants will be divided into age groups so the speakers can address them accordingly.

Among the speakers are Benedictine Sister Marilyn Mark, Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish pastoral associate in Hyde Park and campus minister at Saint Jerome Newman Center in Logan; Dominican Father Peter Hannah from Saint Catherine of Siena Newman Center in Salt Lake City; and Daughter of Charity Sister Lisa Laguna from the Diocese of San Jose.

In her talk, Sr. Marilyn will explain how she heard her call; she has been a sister for 36 years. She grew up in Saint Joseph the Worker Parish, and felt the call early, but didn’t want to respond at first, she said.

“Confirmation was a turning point in my life; I developed my relationship with God then,” said Sr. Marilyn, who taught religious education classes as a high school student and also was  involved with music ministry.

After college, Sr. Marilyn was introduced to the Sisters of Saint Benedictine and, after serving at Notre Dame de Lourdes School in Price for a year, went to Saint Benedict’s College in Minnesota. She entered the order as a postulant in 1976.

The topic of discernment came up for each of the speakers. 

Sr. Lisa, who has been a religious for 11 years, will include the topic of prayer as part of making career decisions, she said. “When we think about our future, we also have to be open to the possibility that God might be calling us to a vocation as a priest, brother or sister,” she said. 

Although many people consider the vocation of marriage, they aren’t always convinced that religious life is viable in the Church today; “they think of it as in the past,” Sr. Lisa said.

Fr. Hannah spent the last seven years in formation at St. Albert’s Priory in California; he was ordained May 31.

“God has given the Body of Christ, which is the Church, a variety of gifts to carry out his mission to bring the love of Christ to the world,” said Fr. Hannah, who will cover the discernment process. “I will explain the vital questions to ask, and spiritual pathways to seek out in discerning a vocation. God desires your happiness, and that you be an instrument of happiness for others. Come and discover the critical questions to ask in seeing what kind of a gift God means you to be to others, the Church, and the world.”

For the past two Vocation Awareness Nights, participants have come from as far south as Draper and as far north as Logan, said Donna Masek, parish vocation coordinator. “All the vocation talks have been different.” 

The talks given by the priests and religious have included how some of them were called when they were quite young or after going through a difficult life, said Father Gustavo Vidal, St. Mary pastor, who will emcee the event and answer questions as the evening concludes. 

“It is interesting to see the kids ask so many questions about the speaker’s religious lives during the talks,” Fr. Vidal said. 

St. Mary Parish prays once a month during the Nocturnal Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for Vocations on first Fridays; individuals sign up to pray specifically for vocations, said Masek. 

 

WHAT: Vocation Awareness Night

WHEN: Nov. 24, 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. 

WHERE: St. Mary Parish, 4050 South 3900 West, West Haven 

For information, contact Donna Masek at 

angels.gardenning@gmail.com.