Young adults start religious discernment journey later

By Kerry Lester
Contributor

The recent announcement of Quigley Seminary’s closing has highlighted an important question facing today’s Catholics. Just who is discerning to be a brother, sister or priest these days? Certainly, the times, they are a-changin’.

In fact, most religious communities have experienced a decline in vocations over the last 30 years, said Passionist Father Robin Ryan, director of Catholics on Call at Catholic Theological Union.

These communities face a number of obstacles in attracting new members. In a day where sex sells, “celibacy has become countercultural,” Ryan said.

The persistent clerical abuse scandal is also “continuing to have its effect—resulting in a loss of trust in religious institutions.”

The fact that many religious communities do not have many younger members is yet another blow.

However, as Ryan’s experience with Catholics on Call proves, many young adults are in fact considering a religious life. They are just doing it according to a different style and timeline.

Catholics on Call at CTU currently involves 43 young adults between the ages of 18 and 30—all considering a life of service to the church. With a median age of 23, its men and women from a variety of backgrounds are all very seriously considering a religious life.

“More people are thinking about this than we realize,” Ryan said. “They’re just waiting longer to make life commitments in general. Because of advanced educational opportunities, the period of adolescence in many young adults is extended.

Our culture encourages young people to explore as many options as they can,” he said.

So, in fact, does the church.

“It’s hard to put a timeline on the discernment process,” said Father Patrick Rugen of the University of Chicago’s Campus Ministry Office.

“It involves listening to the spirit in your life, seeing what direction it’s moving you,” he said. “It’s being aware of your own desires and seeing if you could be happy in a life of prayer and service. At the level of high school or college, this really is a lot of judgment by inclination—you have a feel for things rather than a cognitive judgment. Time depends on the individual person,” he said.

Sister of Charity Kathleen Bryant writes in her book “Vocations Anonymous: A Handbook for Adults Discerning Priesthood and Religious Life,” most young adults who enter a seminary or formation program for a religious community describe a gentle and persistent invitation that from time to time comes into their lives and tempts them to think about priesthood or religious life. It is not dramatic, it doesn’t contradict their present value system, and it is often recurring. Most young adults experience this call more persistently after they have achieved significant goals: they have earned their bachelor’s or masters degree, have started to climb the corporate ladder or they have found the job they thought they always wanted … and end up wanting “something more.” That something “more” is often described as a call. “I want to be more” or “I want to give more” is frequently heard in this call.

“I think what [attracts people] to vowed vocations today is a communal support in their call, a clear sense of identity and mission, especially if it involves service to the neediest of society,” Ryan said. “They might also be looking for a little more structure than is found in their existing lifestyles.”