Diocese hosts first Vocation Family night at Sacred Heart Cathedral
By Maggie Parsons
Parents and children were excited to be at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus’ parish hall on Nov. 7 as they chatted with priests and religious Sisters during the first Vocation Family Night in celebration of National Vocation Awareness Week, which took place Nov. 3-9.
Sister Madeline Rose Kraemer, OP, enjoys an entertaining encounter with two young members of the Catholic faith. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
The event attracted more than 50 people who were interested in God’s plan for His faithful, including the ministries of men and women religious in the Diocese of Knoxville.
“I was inspired to organize Vocation Family Night because I wanted to create an opportunity for families to come together and explore how God calls each of us to a unique purpose in life,” said Beth Parsons, manager of the Office of Vocations for the diocese.
“Whether it’s through marriage, priesthood, religious life, or single life, understanding and celebrating our vocations are essential. Bringing families into this conversation fosters an environment where faith, discernment, and support for one another can grow,” Mrs. Parsons remarked.
At the event, there were opportunities set up for kids and parents for faith-based fun. Each station held a different activity, including making a Benedictine rosary with a religious Sister for the doorknob of a home; writing a postcard to a seminarian; coloring with the Sisters; playing a board game with a priest; or having conversations with the priests and Sisters.
“My advice to families who are open to God’s will in their life is to foster a real joy in the Lord. A life with the Lord is an adventure, so life as a Christian is an adventure. I think that is a great thing families can foster, and that joy in the Lord will lead each member, each soul of that family, on the path God has for them,” said Sister Scholastica Niemann, OP.
Vocation Family Night gave parents and their children a chance to be exposed to a variety of vocations.
“Especially since this one is family- and kid-friendly, my kids are having a blast. They don’t get a lot of opportunities to sit down with religious Sisters or anyone like that, so they can do that here in a very comfortable setting. My children were even sitting asking them questions. I think this is lovely,” said Mary Hanneman, a mother from one of the families that attended the event.
Father Danny Herman competes in a game of Uno with some young card players attending the first Vocation Family Night on Nov. 7 at the Sacred Heart Cathedral parish hall. Some 50 parents and children attended the event with priests and Sisters serving in the Diocese of Knoxville. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
Father Danny Herman, associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, spoke about how marriage is not the only vocation option for young adults.
“When you talk about vocations, expose them to priests, expose them to religious,” Father Herman said. “Because, sadly, right now we live in a society where the normal thing is to get married and have a family, and that is a good, holy vocation. … What trips up a lot of people when discerning a vocation is, I don’t want to be weird, I don’t want to do anything different. Tell them the fruits of vocations, the fruits of having a priest in the family, a religious in a family, or a religious Brother in the family.”
A vocation is a calling from God to live a life of holiness and serve God in a particular way. The term comes from the Latin word vocare, which means “to call.” In the Catholic Church, everyone is called to a vocation in the community, not just those who chose priesthood or religious life.
Vocations include marriage, priesthood, religious life, the diaconate, and consecrated single life.
The Diocese of Knoxville has several offices to help people live out their various vocations: the Office of Vocations, the Office of the Diaconate and Deacon Formation, and the Office of Marriage Preparation and Enrichment. There are many discernment groups in the diocese as well. For more information, contact any of these diocesan offices and look into joining one of the discernment groups to help discern God’s call.
Sister Scholastica shared how grateful she was for the support of people in her life when she was discerning her vocation.
“I can speak in my own experience when I was discerning religious life; I was so supported at the parish that I was at, encouraged in so many ways,” she said. “They prayed for me; they provided things that I might need. Just their joy to see a parishioner enter religious life was very touching and something that in times I was struggling at the convent wondering is this God’s will for me, is this the path I am called to, just remembering the parishioners and their support was helpful.”
Father Herman shared that during his first year as a priest, the people have been a blessing to him with their welcoming spirit and love.
“The greatest blessing is people who have been open and allowing me to enter their lives and be a part of their family,” he said.
Father Herman continued to describe the blessing of being available to the people he shepherds “100 percent of my time.”
Sister Maria Trinity Dagher, OP, engages in conversation with young students attending Vocation Family Night on Nov. 7 at the Sacred Heart Cathedral parish hall. The girls are making Benedictine door rosaries as part of the vocation festivities. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
“It is a vocation; it is not a job. So, I can never take off my clerics and I am done for the day, relax, I am not a priest anymore. At the end of the day, I will always be a priest. I will always be the one whose life is set aside for glorifying God in the sacraments but also sanctifying His people.”
Sister Scholastica shared that the greatest blessing of her vocation is to “live so closely to the Lord.”
“He is present in the Blessed Sacrament in our convent, and our day begins and ends and is permeated through and through with prayer. To spend all that time with the Lord is a great blessing,” she said.
Discerning a vocation can bring out many emotions, including fear. One can feel alone or lost, not knowing what to do.
“Something that tripped me up from not entering seminary sooner was this fear that I was always going to be alone, that I would come home to my rectory and be miserable and not see people on a daily basis,” Father Herman said. “But for everything I thought I was going to lose as a priest, I have gained 10 times over in the love and vulnerability that people have presented themselves to me to enter in that woundedness and to heal.”
Praying for vocations as a family makes the family stronger and allows children to think about where God is calling them and increases the awareness of all vocations.
Mrs. Parsons spoke about how her family discusses vocations and how everyone should be asking for God’s help and seek His will.
“A way our family discusses vocations is to say a ‘vocation prayer’ each night. It helps us all to think about where God is calling us right now and how we will live out that call. The end of the prayer reads, ‘Mary, Most Holy Mother of God, pray for me, that I can discover my vocation and have the courage to respond in faith.’ This powerful intercession encourages us all to seek God’s will,” Mrs. Parsons shared.
