prayer & discernment Discernment retreat participants pray with the Carmelite Fathers of Middletown, N.Y.
Come and see! Vocation discernment retreats offer opportunities to experience the prayer life and work of a religious community and let you get a feel for this unique way of life.
by
Laura Dodson
L
istening is the main task of discernment,” says Sister Mariette Therese Bernier, O.S.B., vocation director for the Benedictine Sisters of Elizabeth, New Jersey, as she reflected on her experience at a vocation discernment retreat before she entered religious life. “In daily life, it’s not usual to come in contact with other people considering a religious vocation. I attended a discernment retreat and enjoyed the interaction
Laura Dodson is a freelance journalist blessed to be able to combine her pastoral ministry education and experience with her passion to spread the good news of the Catholic faith.
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with other discerners. It was a time for personal reflection and with the community—it furthered the process of my calling. The more time I spent, the more I realized that it was my calling, and the more comfortable I became, the more I realized that I could do this.”
“Just come” A discernment retreat is a stop along the journey to explore God’s purpose for an individual life. It offers a chance to come away, to be with others on a similar path, and to find a place of quiet to listen so as to hear God speak. It is
VISION 2013
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