Called Session 1: What is a Vocation?
When a teen misses a session of High School Faith Formation, the Concord Carlisle Catholic Collaborative expects that teen to view the video(s) missed and complete this simple online form.

The videos for this session are found at Formed.org (free subscription - choose our church when you sign up), then choose from the Menu at the top "Programs" - "Youth Programs". Choose the channel "YDisciple" and find the series "Called: Discover Your Vocation".

Session 1 is titled "What is Vocation?" Watching the video will take about 18 minutes, and answering the questions may take 15 minutes.
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Teen's First Name *
Teen's Last Name *
Which session does the Teen regularly attend?
 *
Overview
God has created each of us with a specific mission in mind. As the prophet Jeremiah affirms: “For I know the
plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope”
(Jeremiah 29:11). In this session we will define vocation in terms of personal identity and mission. In addition,
we will discuss how to discern our vocation by beginning with the desires of our hearts and offering those
desires in trustful surrender to the will of God.
Icebreaker: Aladdin's Lamp
Let’s say you have found Aladdin’s magic lamp. As you rub it, a genie appears and grants you three wishes—under one condition! They have to come from the following list.
Please choose only three:
Icebreaker: Looking Back
Looking back: what is the most significant event, either positive or negative, that happened to you between the ages of 0-8?
Looking back: what is the most significant event, either positive or negative, that happened to you between the ages of 9-present?
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Looking back: what was one dream or goal you had for your future, when you were between the ages of 0-8?
Looking back: what was one dream or goal you had for your future, when you were between the ages of 9-present?
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Looking back: what was your view of God, when you were between the ages of 0-8?
Looking back: what was/is your view of God, when you were between the ages of 9-present?
 *
Looking back: it may be an icebreaker, but it is important to the topic at hand!
If we were to take the time to dig deeply into our experiences, desires, and
perceptions of God, we would likely discover important connections between them. For
example, if we have experienced unconditional love from our parents, it is more likely
that we will have a hopeful outlook on the future and a positive view of God’s love and
providence. Likewise, painful experiences in our past can affect our view of ourselves,
our outlook on life, and our perceptions of God.

As we begin this study on discerning the vocation that God has for each of us, we want
to be sure our thoughts about ourselves and about God are rooted in the truth He has
revealed to us. The beginning of discernment is to invite God into our thoughts, feelings,
and desires.
Theme Scripture: Jeremiah 29:11
For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we give You thanks for the gift of our lives. We know
that You have created us out of love and for a specific plan. Help us to see the many
blessings You give us every day. Lord Jesus, we long to be Your faithful disciples.
Forgive us for the times that we fall short and fail to trust in You. Holy Spirit, open
our hearts and minds so that we might know the will of God and have the desire to
follow it.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is
now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Watch Video Segment 1 and answer the questions below.
Father Traynor mentions that God is the author of the good, generous, and noble desires of our hearts. What good, generous, and noble desires are in your heart? *
Why do you think a sense of purpose in life leads to a stronger self-esteem and positive behavior? *
Watch Video Segment 2 and answer the questions below.
Father Traynor had the intelligence, talents, and discipline to succeed in Navy ROTC and
pursue his dream of being a fighter pilot. However, he had doubts if he would truly be
happy in this occupation and began to question the motives underlying his desire. He
gained greater clarity around his desires when he decided to pursue a relationship
with Jesus.

Some worldviews, like Buddhism, teach that personal fulfillment is found in eliminating
your desires to the point of wanting nothing. Other worldviews, like hedonism, teach that
personal fulfillment is found in indulging your desires in order to maximize pleasure.
What did Jesus teach us about desire? How fulfilling are the things of this world?
 *
Katharine Drexel was born in 1858, became Sister Katharine Drexel in 1891, and was canonized St. Katharine Drexel in 2000. As an heiress to a fortune, Katharine Drexel could have had a comfortable, luxurious lifestyle. Instead, she used her personal fortune to start schools for Native Americans and African Americans and founded a religious community to serve them. She wrote: “If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing.”

St. Katharine Drexel demonstrates that life is not about what you have but what you give. Why do you think joy is found in service to God and others?
 *
Watch Video Segment 3 and answer the questions below.
Vocation comes from the Latin word vocare, which means to be called to something. To
be called means that someone is calling you. Before anything else, God is calling you to be
in relationship with Him. It is in that relationship that God invites you to make a difference
in the world through a particular state of life.
Father Traynor makes a distinction between the jobs he does as a priest and his vocation as a priest. Why is this distinction important? *
According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average
worker today stays at one job for 4.4 years. For younger workers, it is even less. Why
do you think so many workers are changing jobs so frequently? *
Jesus says: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work... Amen, amen, I
say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his
Father doing; for what he does, his son will do also” (John 5:17, 19). What is the
work of the Father that Jesus is speaking of, and what does this have to do with
our vocation? *
What do you think of Father Traynor equating the idea of vocation as an adventure of love?
 *
Watch Video Segment 4 and answer the questions below.
Why does it take courage to ask God to give us the desires to be who God has called us to be?
 *
Pope Francis told the pilgrims at World Youth Day Rio 2013: “God calls you to make definitive choices, and He has a plan for each of you: to discover that plan and to respond to your vocation is to move toward personal fulfillment.” Why would you be most fulfilled in the vocations to which God calls you?
 *
Closing Prayer Thought - from the late Pope Benedict XVI
“Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves
totally to Him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid
to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then
risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and He gives you everything. When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ—and you will find true life. Amen.”
—Pope Benedict XVI
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, You have promised us in Your Word: “For I know the plans
I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a
future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). We ask for an increase in faith so that we might
trust Your promises without reservation. We ask that You would make clear to us in the
desires of our hearts the vocation that You are calling us to. And we ask these things
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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