Christian Brother: Beauty of consecrated life options is like a tapestry

To many, the term religious vocation refers to priests and nuns. It’s about the parish pastor or the religious sisters who teach at the local school or help with faith formation at church.  

But the world of religious vocations is much broader: More than 700 religious institutes and societies of apostolic life are found in the U.S., according to the National Religious Vocation Conference. Each and every vocation is celebrated during National Vocations Week, this year Nov. 6-12.  

DeLaSalle Christian Brother Larry Schatz said he uses the image of a tapestry as a metaphor, with “all kinds of different colored threads woven together into a wonderful design” and capturing the varied beauty of consecrated life.  

Brother Larry said his 40 years in consecrated life have been “the greatest adventure.” Today he serves at St. Mary’s University in Winona as director of vocation ministry for the Christian Brothers of the Midwest District.  

Greg Darr, originally from Chisago City, said he first thought he might be called to the priesthood. But in learning about “the extraordinary range of opportunities” for service in religious life, he realized he was called to do missionary work. He graduated from the University of Minnesota and served with Catholic lay volunteer programs in Florida and Philadelphia. 

Darr joined the Maryknoll Lay Missioners in 1992 and was sent to Kenya, East Africa, where he worked with community and Church leaders in creating grassroots initiatives in peacemaking. Today, he is based in Minneapolis as a member of the Vocation Ministries team of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. Darr is married and has two college-age daughters. 

Secular institutes are an option, too. Natasha Sager made her first dedication to the Caritas Christi secular institute at age 34 last September at Epiphany in Coon Rapids. Members of her secular institute, a form of consecrated life, live and work in society, different than religious sisters living in community, but they share commitments to prayer and their institute’s apostolate. 

“One of the things that we need a lot of help with in the Catholic Church is understanding the full range of consecrated life” because people think of being a father, brother or sister as the definition of religious life, said Sister Sue Torgersen, of the Congregation of St. Joseph. “They automatically go there, and (we need to) help people widen the picture, and let them know there’s a range of vocation possibilities within the term ‘consecrated life.’’’  

“We who are in these various forms of consecrated life would welcome invitations (from) Catholic schools, faith formation programs, youth ministry, campus ministry,” she said. Resources are great for learning, she said, but people interested in consecrated life might consider in-person visits. 

School Sister of Notre Dame Stephanie Spandl said it’s also important to create a culture of vocation and of being invited “from childhood on.” “That’s the sense that we’re all called by God, we’re all called to holiness and that we live that out in different ways and at different points in our lives,” she said. 

Vocation ministers can help create “that culture of vocation, so that people are always discerning, listening for God’s call in their life,” said Sister Stephanie, who is one of four members on the vocation team for her order’s North American provinces.  

For more information and resources visit 10000vocations.org and the National Religious Vocation Conference website at nrvc.net. Vision Vocation Network can help those discerning religious life, at vocationnetwork.org, as can the blog anunslife.org. For information about secular institutes, visit the U.S. Conference of Secular Institutes website at secularinstitutes.org. Brother Larry suggested a podcast called Brothers Banter, created by two religious brothers.