In the Old Testament, Samuel was awakened from sleep by the voice of God calling his name. In the New Testament, Paul, on encountering the Lord, fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 

Does God call in this way today? Usually not.

One seminarian describes his experience of call: “I was very involved in my parish doing youth ministry and teaching C.C.D. and I was happy with that. But for some reason it wasn’t enough. I had a nagging feeling that I wanted to do more for people.”

The parish is the heart of Catholic community life. It is from vibrant Catholic communities that our future vocations to the priesthood and religious life will emerge, especially with the awareness, support and prayer of the Catholic families and the active Catholic laity. Many - if not most - priests, sisters, and brothers readily admit that their vocations were influenced directly by their families or their parish, or both.