Vocations Handbook - Knights of Columbus Home

1 VocationsHandbookVOCATIONSHANDBOOKA Handbook for Vocations Chairmen, Vocations Committees, andAll Brother KnightsPLEASE DO ALL YOU CAN TO ENCOURAGE PRIESTLY AND RELIGIOUS VOCATIONSKNIGHTS OF COLUMBUSSUPREME COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS1 Columbus PLAZANEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT MessageA vocation is a fruit that ripens in a well cultivated field of mutual lovethat becomes mutual service, in the context of an authentic ecclesiallife. No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself. A vocation flowsfrom the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people,in the experience of fraternal love. Did not Jesus say: By this all menwill know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (Jn 13:35)?

2 Let us dispose our hearts therefore to being good soil, by listening,receiving and living out the word, and thus bearing fruit. The more weunite ourselves to Jesus through prayer, sacred Scripture, the Eucharist,the sacraments celebrated and lived in the Church and in fraternity, themore there will grow in us the joy of cooperating with God in theservice of the Kingdom of mercy and truth, of justice and peace. Andthe harvest will be plentiful, proportionate to the grace we have meeklywelcomed into our FrancisWorld Day of Prayer for VocationsMay 11, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTSA bout Vocations .. 4 Priesthood .. 5 Religious Life .. 6 The Knights of Columbus and Vocations .

3 7 Objectives: Awareness, Climate, Motivation .. 8 Structure and Meetings .. 8 Responsibilities of the State Vocations Chairman ..10 Responsibilities of the Council/Assembly Vocations Chairman ..11 Programs and Resources ..13 Refund Support Vocations Program (RSVP) ..13 Vocations Scholarships ..16 International Support for Seminaries ..17 Support for Diocesan Vocations Offices and Programs ..17 Vocations Ads ..18 Vocations Materials ..18 Vocations DVDs ..19 Holy Hour for Vocations ..20 Vocations Awareness Days.

4 20 Poster and Essay Contests ..21 Other Programs ..21 Definitions and Clarifications ..22 Policy Statement ..264 ABOUT Vocations Every Catholic has a vocation. In fact, as a member of theChurch, every Catholic participates in the reality of vocation in three distinct but related senses. First, there is the common Christian vocation that comes inBaptism. This can be expressed in various ways, but in generalterms it means loving and serving God and neighbor andhelping to carry on the mission of the Church. Vocation also refers to a state in life or a way of beingChristian priesthood, religious life, marriage, and so in life are the special, lifelong settings in which peoplelive the baptismal vocation.

5 Finally, there is personal vocation. The personal vocation ofeach one of us takes shape in the unique combination oftalents, personal characteristics, relationships and lifecircumstances including both our common Christian vocationand our state in life that point to the special role God wantsus to play in his redemptive plan. Membership in the Knights ofColumbus is part of the personal vocation of many Catholic people speak of vocation, they usually meanvocation in the second sense state in life. Most Christians arecalled by God to the married state, and some are called to thestate of single laypersons living in the world. But Jesus alsochooses certain men to act in his Person through the celebrationof the Holy Eucharist and the other sacraments; they are calledto be priests.

6 Others are called to the clerical state as permanentdeacons. And still others, both women and men, are called towhat is known as consecrated life a way of life marked by theevangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience whosemost familiar expression is religious Knights of Columbus cherishes and celebrates all formsof vocation as gifts of God. But because of the Church s urgentneed for priests and consecrated religious women and men, theOrder s Vocations program gives special priority to promotingthese Vocations . Vocations of all kinds arise and are nurturedwithin families. This family dimension of Vocations makes layinvolvement particularly s look briefly at the state in life Vocations of priesthoodand religious life on which the Vocations program is called his first disciples at the Sea of Galilee (cf.)

7 Mk1:16-20) and later said to them: You did not choose me, but Ichose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit (Jn 15:16). Christ, the Head of the Church and Lord of allcreation, continues his salvific work in our own time. Theministerial priesthood is a privileged share in his work. As the life of Christ was consecrated to the authenticproclamation of the loving will of his Father, so too the life ofpriests should be consecrated, in the name of Christ, to thesame proclamation. The priest is called to assist the bishop inhis threefold responsibility of teaching, sanctifying, and priest must be a teacher of the Word, a minister of thesacraments, and a pastor of his flock.

8 Pope John Paul IIreminded us: Without priests the Church would not be able tolive that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart ofher existence and her mission (Apostolic Exhortation PastoresDabo Vobis, 1). In his 2007 World Day of Prayer for Vocationsaddress, PopeBenedict XVI further taught: The People of God, organicallystructured under the guidance of its Pastors, lives the mystery ofcommunion with God and with each other, especially when it6gathers for the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the source of thatecclesial unity for which Jesus prayed on the eve of his passion: they also may be one in us, so that the world maybelieve that you have sent me (Jn 17:21). This intensecommunion favors the growth of generous Vocations at theservice of the Church: the heart of the believer, filled withdivine love, is moved to dedicate itself wholly to the cause ofthe Kingdom.

9 Religious LifeJesus also chooses certain men and women to be signs of hislove while imitating his own way of living by embracing theconsecrated life, whose most familiar expression is the religious life is a special Christian lifestyle a specialway of holiness marked by publicly professing or promisingthe evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience,and living them as a sign of the in-breaking Kingdom of life has several forms including religious institutes,secular institutes, hermits and consecrated virgins. For most Catholics, the religious institute is the form ofconsecrated life that is most familiar. In addition to the elementscommon to all consecrated life, religious life requires that thosewho have professed the evangelical counsels live the commonlife, sharing all they possess and engaging in the commonapostolic works of their religious community.

10 The Churchrecognizes many religious institutes, commonly called religiousorders, congregations or societies. A religious man may be amonk, friar, or brother, and may or may not be ordained as a priest. A religious woman may be a cloistered nun or anactive THE Knights OF Columbus AND Vocations Founded by a parish priest, the Knights of Columbus hasalways been a strong defender of the priesthood and religiouslife and a generous supporter of seminarians and religious information. As the largest Catholic fraternal organization in theworld, the Order seeks to assist the Church with financial andmoral assistance for this purpose.