Search
Create a Culture of Vocation
-
September 14, 2023Over 240 catechists from 41 parishes throughout the Diocese of Corpus Christi gathered last Saturday at Most Precious Blood Parish for a workshop on fostering vocations.
The goal was to educate catechists, directors of religious education, RCIA directors and Catholic school instructors on unique ways to promote vocations in their parish ministries.
“Every year, catechists from all over the diocese are brought together for a Faith Educator’s Workshop to focus on some aspect of catechesis to improve our ministries at the parish level,” said Deacon Santos Jones, organizer of the event and Director of the Offices of Catechesis and Adult Formation for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
“This year, after seeing that no one was entering the seminary for our diocese, we felt we needed to educate and train our catechists in vocations ministry,” he added.
Vocation Ministry, a Houston-based non-profit established in 2015, trains dioceses and parishes to promote vocations through their signature workshops. The organization has trained thousands of parishioners and priests across the United States to create a culture of vocations at their parishes so that men and women can more easily answer God’s call.
Deacon Santos noted this group was the largest Vocation Ministry had presented to before. “We surveyed participants and learned our catechists felt this was an important topic, and most of the participants agreed they would be implementing what they learned in the classroom. We hope that we will soon begin to see fruit from this endeavor,” he said.
Sesi and Jose Lopez, a married couple from St. Mary’s Mission in Robstown, said the workshop helped motivate them to bring families back together to Church after being away due to COVID-19. “We are reinvigorated to plant the seeds of vocation in the youth at St. Mary’s Mission. It’s a very small church, but we are full of love,” said Sesi Lopez.
Jose Lopez added he would also like to encourage men to join youth ministries and educate young people about vocations. “I think sometimes men can be embarrassed about not knowing the answers to children’s questions, but the thing is, no one is responsible or expected to know everything. Young people need to see things from both a male and female perspective about all the different types of vocations for everyone. We absolutely enjoyed the workshop; it was time well spent,” he said.
