Gods Plan for Your Life

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Finding a Calling
Finding a calling is different from
finding a profession

A profession is associated with a

career

Career:
A chosen occupation that is more likely to
express ones talents than a job
While one might have several jobs,
people tend to change careers less
frequently
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Finding a Calling
While thinking about future professions, it is also
important to choose a course of life based on
vocation

The word vocation comes from the Latin word vocare,

which means to call

The primary Christian vocation is to love and serve God

by loving and serving other people

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Finding a Calling
Laity
All of the baptized faithful except those who
have received the sacrament of Holy Orders
Seek the kingdom of God by engaging in daily,
worldly tasks and directing them towards Gods
will

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Finding a Calling
Married people Share a love for each other and
raise a Christian family

Priests Dedicated to the service of

the Church

Bishops Entrusted to teach, sanctify, and

govern the Church in the name
of Christ

Religious sisters Engage in missionary work

and brothers dedicated to community
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Created in Gods Image

A persons vocation is much different from

having a job or choosing a career. The risks
are greater but so are the rewards.

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Journeying to Perfection
Besides choosing a college and an academic major, you
will face other decisions involving a particular Christian
vocation

? Will you enter the ordained priesthood?

? Will you be married?
? Will you be a religious sister or brother?
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? Will you be single for life?
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Journeying to Perfection
The universe, including each person, is in a state of
journeying toward an ultimate perfection

Divine Providence: the ways in which God guides his

creation towards perfection
Jesus tells us to put our trust in divine providence, the will of
God
Trusting in God means we depend on him for every detail of
our lives

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Journeying to Perfection
The more we seek Gods plan for us, the more we
advance toward perfection

When we resist Gods plan for our desires we go

backward.
We are given free will, the choice to shape our own lives and
direct ourselves to the goodness that God intends.
Because this choice is free there is a possibility of going
astray and committing evil acts

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Discernment through Prayer
Constant and consistent prayer helps us determine
what God intends for us.

Types of Prayer

Vocal

Meditation

Contemplative
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Meditation through Prayer
Meditation is defined as a mental exercise of regulating
attention, either by focusing it on a single object
(focused attention meditation).
By keeping it open flowing through whatever is in our
present moment experience (open monitoring
meditation). It involves relaxing the body, calming the
mind, going beyond discursive thinking.
By looking inside. The objective usually is to take you
to deeper states of consciousness, to experience
yourself beyond the mind, or to see things as they
are

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Discernment through Prayer
Discernment: name for a process of prayer that
incorporates many types of prayer
Helps us determine what God intends for us

Calls us to look at many sides of decisions considering all of

the different alternatives

Involves praying over a decision and asking for guidance from

the Holy Spirit, then making a decision and evaluating it

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Discernment through Prayer

A first step for discernment is finding a time and

place to center prayer

This is done with the purpose of

finding God within the depths of
yourself

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Discernment through Prayer
As a child you may have been taught that prayer is
talking to God

However, prayer is a dialogue with God in which the

most important part is listening to what God has to
say to you

Other sources of prayer:

1. Sacred Scripture

2. Liturgy of the Church

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Discernment through Prayer
Steps of Discernment:
Step One: Find a quiet place to pray. Relax and find a
comfortable position. Close your eyes and become
aware of Gods presence.

Step Two: Select a special word that makes you

think of God and recite this word over and over in
order to keep distractions away.

Step Three: Thank the Lord for his presence, tell

Jesus of your love for Him and ask the Holy Spirit
to remain with you always. Then slowly recite an
Our Father.
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Planning for a Vocation
A discernment process is not intended to predict what
may end up being your ultimate vocation, only to begin
the journey to a particular vocation while allowing God
to direct and guide you.
Prayer is the most essential element of this process
Three steps of planning:
Dream and imagine
Gather information
Pray over the options
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Planning for a Vocation
Discernment is really a prayerful pondering or
deliberation of the many options available to
you in life.

The more you pray and think about

the many options in life, the more
likely a sense of direction will emerge

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Exploring Christian Vocations
Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are intended for
our personal holiness and salvation
They provide us with the graces we need to live a life in
Christ and evangelize the world with our words and
actions

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Exploring Christian Vocations
Holy Orders and Matrimony are directed to the holiness
and salvation of others

These sacraments are also called Sacraments at the

Service of Communion

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Exploring Christian Vocations
Committed Single Life
Single people can have a dedicated devotion to their career
They have a greater opportunity for silence and solitude
leading to a deep prayer life
Single persons are free to love all and have deep friendships
with many men and women
Loneliness is a large challenge faced by single people
Living a chaste life is also difficult in this day and age

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Exploring Christian Vocations

Being single does not necessarily mean

yourre available. Sometimes you have to put
up a sign says, Do not disturb on your heart.

Anonymous

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Presenting the SINGLES

Strictly single
squad

Later-Im-not-yet ready
group
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 Presenting the SINGLES

Super busy
Singles

High Value
Singles
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Presenting the SINGLES

No partner is available group

The Love hurts group

The last trip passenger

group

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Exploring Christian Vocations

The Single-
blessed
assembly

Etc. group

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 Problems faced by single men/women
1. Emotional Panic
2. Loneliness
3. Low self-esteem
4. Uncertainty of lifes
direction
5. Oppressive social
pressure
6. Sexual urges and
temptation

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 How to overcome the challenges of
being single
1. Maximize your freedom
2. Develop your
personality
3. Have an accountability
group
4. Practice chastity
5. Never compare
yourselves with others
6. Find your happiness in
the Lord

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Exploring Christian Vocations
Other types of Consecrated Life
Consecrated Virgins Women who live a life of perpetual
virginity but remain lay women and
support themselves
Support clergy through prayer and
sacrifice

Secular Institutes Forms of consecrated life for single

lay people and diocesan priests
Profess evangelical counsels but do
not take public vows or live in
communities
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Exploring Christian Vocations
Other types of Consecrated Life

Societies of
Apostolic Life Members do not take public vows
but engage in many good works for
the church
Example: Knights of Columbus

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Exploring Christian Vocations
Marriage
Modeled after Christs union with the Church
Man and woman work in their marriage to duplicate for each
other the committed and eternal love that God has shown to
them

Priesthood
Holy Orders confers a sacred power on the priest for the
service of the faithful
Conferred only on baptized men following the example of
Jesus

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And a voice came from heaven: "You
are My Beloved Son; in You I am well
pleased.
Mark 1:11
 My life
Timeline

Q: Who am I?
Who are we?
I am what I do
I am what people say about me
I am what people say about me
I am what I have
 I am what I do

I am what people say about me

I am what I have

3
8
 The Temptations of Jesus
Satan tempted Jesus to use his
The Gospel
divine accounts
power to create bread to
satisfy his hunger.
of Jesus beingHe then
tempted him to throw himself
tempted
off the Temple by Satan in
parapet,
the desert
knowing helpwould
that angels us to
catch him and the crowd
understand
become that
his devoted followers.
Jesus Satan
Finally, had offered
free will
Jesus
worldly power if only he would
like all human
worship him. Jesus resisted all
beings,
these but that
temptations, and he
resistedsinless.
remained every
temptation put
before him.
4
0
And a voice came
from heaven: "You are
My Beloved Son; in
You I am well
pleased.
Mark 1:11

4
1
4
2
And a voice came
from heaven: "You are
My Beloved Son; in
You I am well
pleased.
Mark 1:11

4
3
 For we know, brothers and sisters
loved by God, that he has
chosen you
1 Thessalonians 1:4

I am
Chosen
4
4
Brokenness Uniqueness
 MISSING
PIECES
ROUGH EDGES

LIFES
CHALLENGES

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the first step to healing
pain is not to step
away from it, but to
step toward it.
Healing is often so
difficult because we
dont want to know the
pain.
 We are chosen,
blessed and broken
so as to be given
 In our
BROKENNESS
we become
whole!

We are
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 Talents and Gifts

We have few talents but

many gifts.
Our Gifts expresses our
humanity. They are
part of who we are
Do your gifts often remain
buried beneath your
talents?
 TIMELINE OF LIFE

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What is our greatest calling in life?

Matthew 5: 48

BE HOLY JUST AS YOUR FATHER IN

HEAVEN IS HOLY.

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 Share your ideas
on Holiness

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 God calls us to share
in His Holiness

LIVE A LIFE of GRACE,

Offered to everyone by
The Risen Christ and His Spirit

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 The center of holiness is LOVE

Vatican II:

Love as the bond of perfection and the

fulfillment of the laws governing , gives
meaning to and perfects all the means of
attaining holiness.

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 TWO
GREAT COMMANDMENTS
OF LOVE

Love God with all your heart and love

your neighbor as you love yourself.

A TRUE DISCIPLE OF CHRIST

Loves GOD and HIS Neighbor

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PCP II
All are called to holiness though not all
pursue the same path to holiness.

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WHAT PATH WILL YOU
TAKE IN BECOMING HOLY?

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 Everyone who is
baptized is called to a life
of holiness.
All the faithful of Christ
are invited to strive

for the holiness and

perfection of their own
proper
state.

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 The Christian faithful, inasmuch as they have
been incorporated in Christ through Baptism,
are called to exercise the mission which God
has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world,
in accord with the condition proper to each
one.
In the Church there is diversity of ministry but
unity of mission. All the vocations are directed
towards the building up of the Body of Christ.

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 Vocabulary
Career Evangelical counsels
Laity Eremitic life
Divine providence Vocation director
Free will Messianic secret
Centering prayer Religious novices
Seminarians Sacraments at the
Service of Communion

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Exploring Christian Vocations
Consecrated Life
Those who have made a commitment to follow Christ and
give themselves to God above all other things
Teaching and the operation of Catholic education has been
one of the primary ministries of religious
Many are involved in various types of service to the Church
The most common characteristic is belonging to a community
Contemplative religious spend their days in solitude and
silence, praying, studying, and doing penance (eremitic life)
Active religious are out in the world participating in active
ministries
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