Who Is God Calling You to Be?

The Archdiocese of Detroit’s office of priestly vocations wants more people asking that question of our young people. On January 12, 2018, St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Allen Park, hosted Cultivating the Call, an informational evening designed to educate those interested in identifying young men and women who exhibit a call to the priesthood or consecrated life.

The evening was organized around the theme of invitation. Beginning with adoration and praise and worship, testimony was then given by James Bird, a second-year college seminarian for the Archdiocese of Detroit, Sr. Magdalena Kizy from the Congregation of the Chaldean Daughters of Mary Immaculate, and Fr. Joe Horn, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Detroit.

During his testimony, Bird shared how his pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth, Michigan, encouraged him to think about the priesthood and to develop his prayer life, when he called him out one day, saying, “James is a real man, he devotes his life to Jesus.” Hearing this affirmation challenged him to know more of what God was asking of him.

Sister Magdalena was an assistant catechist in her parish before receiving an assignment to teach fourth grade on her own. She did not know much about the faith and wasn’t even sure how many Gospels there were. Her pastor encouraged all catechists to take theology courses. It was through study that Sister Magdalena found herself falling in love with the Church, and through prayer, she fell in love with Jesus.

Father Horn ended the evening by sharing some of his vocation story, including the people in his life who encouraged him at a young age to think of priesthood as a normal career. He also shared tips on how to invite young people to consider vocations.

“It’s everyone’s responsibility to invite,” said Father Horn. “We need to help others see what they don’t yet see in themselves.”

By partnering with those who work closest with young people—parents, priests, deacons, religious, catechists, educators, youth and young adult coordinators, campus ministers, coaches—we can help the Church create a culture encouraging vocations.

The next Cultivating the Call will be held in the spring of 2018. For more information about vocations, events, and discernment, visit detroitpriest.com.