YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO OPEN THE DOOR AND

TO SHARE IN THE MISSION OF JESUS

For adult men and women interested in religious life

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Open the door to be…

Nourished

by prayer
both personal
and communal

Challenged

To personal
growth and
a deepening of
your spiritual life

Supported

By a community
that shares
a common vision
and
common values

Energized

by Ministry

There are religious men and women who are

• teachers
• in street ministry
• nurses
• working with gangs
• community organizers
• counselors
• diocesan directors of ministry
• drug and alcohol counselors
• lobbyists
• religious educators
• social workers
• retreat directors
• secretaries
• hospital chaplains
• psychiatrists
• occupational therapists
• advocates for the poor
• spiritual directors
• musicians/artists
• vocation directors
• physical therapists
• engineers
• campus ministers
• agriculturists
• administrators
• missionaries
• parish ministers
• doctors
• youth ministers
• liturgists
• lawyers
• lab technicians
• gerontologists
• in prison ministry
• cloistered contemplatives

Different doors to different ways to Share in Jesus’ mission

Type of communities

• Monastic
• Active Apostolic
• Cloistered Contemplative
• Missionary

Stages of Incorporation Into Religious Life

Candidate/Postulant

1 to 2 years living in community while ministering and/or continuing studies; some will continue the jobs they had beforehand while living in community.

Novice

1 to 2 years, time to explore in depth the call to vowed life in community.

Temporary Professed

3 to 6 years living in community under temporary vows of poverty, cahstity, and obedience and sharing in full time ministry.

Permanently Professed

Total incorporation in the community where you can live out the Gospel in service of God and God’s people.

Do your doubts and fears match any of these?

• How do I know if I have a vocation to religious life?
• How certain do I have to be?
• Do you have a fear of the unknown?
• Am I afraid of making a permanent commitment?
• What if I fail?
• How do I know which religious order could be the right one for me?
• I’m not holy enough!
• Will my personal story fit in with the story of the community?
• Will I be able to keep my friends?
• Will my needs for intimacy be met?
• Will I have to give up something valuable in order to join?

If you feel a tug in your heart to consider religious life…

If the thought keeps coming back again and again and you wonder…

These may be the signs that you are called!! Why not do something about it!

FOR HELP IN CLARIFYING YOUR LIFE CHOICES, CONTACT:

Office for Religious/CAVA
Chicago Archdiocesan Vocation Association
P.O. Box 1979
Chicago, IL 60690-1979