Lexi Gillen
After discussing discernment and the meaning behind our calling in life, our Catholic Social Teaching class was spoken to by religious figures that feel they have been called to their vocations. Sister Helen Marie Kling, in addition to one of our priests, Father Robert Pajor, and a long time friend of Mr. Masterton, Brother Peter Lamick, enlightened us on how meaningful their journey has been. It was very interesting learning about how each different religious member has embarked upon their journey through life and with God.
Sister Helen Marie King slowly began to find herself called to her community through visiting the community and naturally becoming drawn to the lifestyle. Not only did taking the vow of obedience strengthen her relationship with God, but it helped also to broaden her life experience. Just as we have about learned in Catholic Social Teaching, Sister Helen acted upon a calling that she feels she has received from God. She felt that her vocation was not just about spreading the words of Catholicism, but by helping people through even the simplest of means. Sister Helen enjoys being a friend to the elderly that are often times forgotten about at the nursing home that Sister Helen works with. Sister Helen also helped answer some questions that our class had about the modern day system of nuns, explaining that the sisters try to accommodate for new generations by giving prolonged exposure that allows for adjustment.
Brother Peter Lamick, also a history teacher and baseball coach, helped our class to learn about the dexterity that taking vows comes with. He explained that he defines discernment as “coming to a decision that God helps you with.” Like the prophets and other religious figures that were called to their vocations in some way, Brother Peter felt that he was given his sign of confirmation when he was confirmed in the church (no pun intended). Brother Peter began to follow his path set by God as he embarked on various journeys to different parishes and schools throughout the country. Living by the evangelical counsels had taught him that his path would not always turn where he had expected, but he had to just follow his heart that was close to God. In Brother Peter’s intending to maintain his vows for life, he has been able to lead others in discernment and students to victory with God’s guidance.
Our third speaker, Father Robert, gave us insight into his vocation and journey to becoming one of our priests here at St. Benedict. I was most intrigued by Father Robert’s story about his discernment, and his unexpected path provided evidence for the faith required in the process. Not only was Father Robert only a mildly religious man born in Poland, but he was an aspiring chef with little inkling of spirituality until his mid 20’s. Although Father Robert still has a passion for cooking, amongst other hobbies, his understanding of his faith leads him down his path. Father Robert explained a vocation as “anything that God calls upon you.” This explanation helped relate the meaning of a vocation to those who are not invested in religion, and it taught that being an avowed religious leader does not just involve proper study but real life enactment of those studies.
Having Sister Helen, Brother Peter, and Father Robert speak to us about vocations and discernment helped me to understand and relate to the reality of being an avowed religious figure. I previously thought that ordained figures like priests would have been extremely religious and involved in their faith throughout their entire life. Father Robert’s story about finding his faith while balancing many different passions with his love for God helped me to grasp the flexibility that religious figures can have. Additionally, Sister Helen and Brother Peter both shared stories about their various hobbies being intertwined with their callings to discernment. Although I do not necessarily believe in God, I do believe that the activities I take part in are meant for me to do. I feel called to do many things in life, and my purpose ranges just as broadly as the speakers’ purposes from Catholic Social Teaching class. Just as we learned about, I do believe that having faith (whatever it may be in) will lead us to follow our journey down various paths that may not always be anticipated.
Hunter Kogen
There are many types of religious and ordained life. There are priests, deacons, bishops, sisters/brothers, and nuns/monks. They all have many differences but they all have one thing in common; they want to help people and serve God. People whose vocation is to be in the religious/ordained life help people in their community. They believe that they are on this planet to help others who are in need of help. Anyone who is in need of help can go to them and they are more than willing to help them out.
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you” (John 15:16). This bible verse reminded me of what I had learned last week and what I heard from the panel. God chooses us to what we are suppose to be and to do in life. We might not know yet, but God will guide us in the direction of our vocation. Every priest, sister, deacon, etc. I have met are very nice and helpful. At my parish, St. Hilary, the old priest that was there was Father Eddy. He was always welcoming to newcomers and was always there to help someone in need. He would be at every event that the school held and was always behind a counter helping out. Father Eddy sadly passed away last year and it affected everyone in the parish. Everyone was sad and shocked that he passed away during the time that he did. Even though everyone was sad that he passed away, they were excited to meet the new priest that will follow in Father Eddy’s footsteps.
Brooklynn Marchan
They are in communities and do not earn money, but they are rewarded by their happiness by giving their time. Sr. Helen is working with seniors and ministers of care, so the people who visit the sick and those who cannot come to church. She encourages these people and visits the elderly, and they are kind of like a friend. Her attraction grew by time, and she wanted to help others more and she wanted to become a part of the community. Father Robert was ordained here, and he has to promise to be obedient to the place he was ordained to. He studied in Poland for three years, one year of English here in the US, and eight years in total with some other years of education in total. After his years of studying he learned more about the Catholic faith, and this changed him and filled his empty box, this helped him understand more about his faith. Brother Peter works with students with learning disabilities; he listens about relationships and issues that people have in their life. He also brings gospel values to what they do every single day, shows them we are trying to live out the gospel, and Confirmation helped him realize he wanted to religious life. A retreat in high school also helped and reinforced it as he saw people living out their faith and he wanted that for himself. He felt an attraction; he liked going to mass, and he also liked praying.
When they came to speak to us, I was very interested to hear what they had to say about their religious orders. Although I feel as if my calling is to take care of people and look after those who need the help, it was still interesting to hear about how the three of the religious orders chose their paths and why. One of the themes that can connect to this situation would be Call to Family, Community, and Participation. The reason why that this connects with this theme is because we can clearly see how these three people expressed that their calling was important to them. When we are called to family, community, and participation it is important to focus on our family and communities. It is also important to take action in what needs to be done if we are able to act upon what is going on.
I feel inspired by these people because they found out what they wanted to do for the rest of their lives, and they they learned from the experiences they have been through. For example, Sister Helen said that obedience has given her the opportunity to do things she thought she would never do like working with seniors. Working with seniors gave her a chance to learn more about the seniors. She said some motivating words that could be applied to an everyday life situation: “you do not say no if there is not a good reason to say no, you're going to do what needs to be done unless their is a serious reason not to do it; once you get involved in it you learn from it.” This spoke to me a lot because not only is it true but we can all learn from the opportunities that are brought into our lives whether it is good or bad. The way that we can fix this is by being more open to community and helping out in their environments by donating and volunteering our time. We can also teach people that this path is not a bad path because when we usually hear about people who commit their life to a religious vocation we think that they are crazy because committing to that almost seems impossible. We can show people that this is okay for people to do and it is not about being antisocial or you get away from the world and never get to see anyone. We can see the religious orders as something positive and a path that could be for anyone no matter what.
Note: Minor grammar/style edits have been made to each post not affecting the content or perspective of these students.
