Young people travel for vocations retreat

2 PN vocations group

by AZHURE DURSTON 

On Friday, August 26, myself and several other young Catholics and religious travelled from throughout New Zealand to attend a weekend vocation retreat directed by Father Trung Nguyen. Although the group of 18 attendees came mainly from Palmerston North diocese, we also were joined by participants from Christchurch, Auckland, and Wellington, as well as visiting priests and nuns. 

The vocations retreat offered us an opportunity to learn more about how God calls each of us to live our vocation, the difference(s) between job and vocation, and how we can use both to serve God. The discernment of vocation — of what God is calling you to — is of primary importance, whereas a job may only be a mode of making a living, vital though that is. You can still use your God-given skills and talents within your job, or your job can align well with your vocation, but your job is only for this earth and will pass, whereas a vocation is a higher calling to serve right until your last breath.  

During the retreat, we were told that we shouldn’t expect to leave with the answer to what we are discerning, but with more questions. Initially, this might seem to defeat the whole purpose of a vocations retreat. But does it? Questions can draw us closer to God. I started the retreat determined to find direction in what I should be studying at university, but left discerning a consecrated life, because my priorities had shifted. This was the same for many of the participants who had come to discern for clarity in their work life but, because of the retreat, realised the foundational importance of vocation and knowing what God is calling you to. 

Alongside the talks from Father Tien Cao, the vocations director for Christchurch diocese, we had several group discussions, late-night Q&A sessions, and testimonials from the priests, a Marist brother, Cluny and Compassion sisters, and from our peers. The two main topics we covered were vocation and how to discern vocation, based on the teachings of St Ignatius of Loyola. Within these presentations, we also learnt about diocesan priesthood and various congregations and orders of brothers, priests and sisters, as well as about charism and what service might be involved in the different vocations. 

I appreciated the opportunity to attend the vocations retreat, because the relaxed nature of the weekend allowed each participant to learn and discern at their own pace and in their own way. I learnt a lot from the presentations, and I took away a lot from the conversations that I had with the other participants and with the priests. 

Certain comments stood out and resonated with me, helping in the process of my discernment. One such moment was during a discussion about commitment when Father Tien bluntly said to us, “make a decision and stick with it. . . and if you later find out that you made the wrong decision, then that’s it, you made the wrong choice”. This made me resolve to have confidence in my decisions, and to take accountability for the consequences. 

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