PORTLAND — “The encouragement and formation of vocations in the Church is the task of all of us.”
The words of Bishop Robert Deeley, part of his message for National Vocation Awareness Week in November, encourage the creation of environments in which young people can hear a possible calling to serve the church, according to a news release from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
In that spirit, an Advent Discernment Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, at St. Charles Borromeo Church on 132 McKeen St., in Brunswick.
Sponsored by the Diocese of Portland’s Office of Vocations, this event is for all Catholic high school-aged men who are striving to live out their faith and to follow God’s will in their lives. Fr. Greg Dube, director of vocations and seminarians in the diocese, and other area priests will pray for discerners and each other at the event, which will include talks, social time, lunch, and discerning the voice of Christ in a casual setting.
“The importance of personal guidance cannot be overstated,” said Deeley. “When I was a young man, Monsignor Keilty, out of his own experience of Jesus and his love for the Church, invited me and other young men in our parish to consider the possibility that we might be called to be priests. Several of us entered the seminary. Who knows what would have happened if no one had invited us? We need the same to be happening today.”
“This day is for young men who are striving to live out their faith and follow God’s will in their lives,” said Dube. “My hope is that the discernment day offers each participant, in their own way, an opportunity to encounter Christ profoundly and meaningfully, so that when they go home or they continue on, they are in some way transformed for the better through the experience.”
“We all have a vocation, a call from God to live out our lives in a particular way,” said the bishop. “When we see young people who show signs of love for the Eucharist and a desire to serve others, we can invite them to pray about what God could be telling them to do with their lives.”
To register or for more information, visit vocationsme.org, call 207-321-7874, or email Jennifer Bernier in the diocese’s Office of Ministerial Services at jennifer.bernier@portlanddiocese.org.
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