As we stand in the beauty of this Christmas Season, I want to express how privileged I feel to be serving as Vocation Director with you in the Green Bay Diocese. I would like to thank the parishes and schools of the Green Bay Diocese for offering me such a warm welcome as I travel around and proclaim the Good News about Vocations in the Church. The work of fostering Vocations is arduous. We are constantly reminded that all of this "work" is for naught if it is not deeply rooted in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. This is true of each of us as individual disciples, and this is true of us at the parish level as well. Prayer is primary; and all of the so-called tactics of marketing and promotion are secondary.

As the Vocation Director of the Diocese of Green Bay, I invite you to celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week January 8th-14th, 2012, by helping your parish take an extra look at the priesthood and religious life. The theme for this awareness week comes from the first reading for the Feast of the Epiphany: Rise up in spendor! It is my hope that along with the whole Church in the United States, Vocations can be highlighted in the Liturgies of this upcoming weekend. Please also pay attention to the special articels in the Compass. The website foryourvocation.com may also be of help to your school and/or religious education program.

Bishop Ricken's pastoral letter contains a section titled Leadership.It makes clear that: "Vocations to priesthood is the number one priority in our diocese and will be for many years to come as the shortage of priests continues to impact negatively upon our parishes." The pastoral letter also insists that prayer and holiness need to be at the center of all that we do.

May you have a joyful and eventful National Vocation Awareness Week. This week is not about creating new programs or "recruiting" more religious vocations. Rather, this week is simply about awareness. Perhaps it will bring about an awareness that will call the Church to even deeper prayer.

Fr. Schuster

Read Bishop Ricken's thoughts on National Vocation Awareness Week 2012

Read Fr. Schuster's thoughts on National Vocation Awareness Week 2012

Vocations

God calls. We respond. A vocation is a response to a specific call that Jesus Christ places on our hearts. It is our individual way of living discipleship in the Church.

Our primary call, through the Sacrament of Baptism, is to be a follower (disciple) of Jesus Christ. It is to be a holy person. Within that first call to follow Christ, God calls us in specific ways to live a vocation to the married life, the single life, the consecrated religious life, or the ordained life.

Please check out the various pages related to vocations from the drop-down menu on the top of this page for much more information.

Fr. Daniel Schuster
Vocation Director

Types of Vocations

• Vocation to the Diocesan Priesthood is a life of serving God’s people within the parishes and diocese by being a visible sign of the presence of Christ.
• Vocation to the Religious Life involves living vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as a religious sister, brother or priest within community life.
• Vocation to the Married Life is living committed love to spouse and family in a way that shows others the kind of love that God shares with us.
• Vocation to the Single Life involves using the freedom of a single person to live as an example of great generosity and service to God and others.

Call to Ministry

• Vocation to the Diaconate is following Christ’s call to serve the Church as a Deacon through service of the word, service of the liturgy, and service of charity, justice and pastoral outreach.
• Lay Ministry is a way for lay persons to share their gifts and talents as members of parish ministry teams or serving as the Church in other settings.