MY EXPERIENCE AS A VOCATION PROMOTER

By Sr. Beatriz Bristol, ssj

Vocation promotion is not just going to different places like visiting parishes, distributing posters, giving brochures, giving talks to school and universities, etc. It is more than all these activities. It is coming from a deeper conviction that promoting and praying for vocation is a mandate, an earnest desire from the  heart of  Jesus, when he asked His disciples to “pray to the owner of the that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest.” Yes, the harvest is great but the laborers are few.  Therefore, it is a duty and a responsibility of the followers of Jesus to help the young people discover and answer God’s call with courage and generosity and to make the people aware that vocation to serve God in the religious and priestly life is a precious gift from Him.

I always find enthusiasm, passion and joy in sharing the vocation story of St. Bonifacia, our most beloved Mother, because it is a concrete example of responding to the call of God according to the signs of the time and the urgent needs of the surroundings; and likewise, in sharing how our charism was conceived, where and how it originated, where we are now, and what we do today as our contribution to the wider Church, specifically to the poor working world.

Promoting religious vocation to our congregation gave me the opportunity to re-affirm my vocation as a Sierva de San Jose. I experience inner joy and the certainty that God has called me to a particular lifestyle concretely expressed in our congregation founded by Fr. Francisco Butina,sj and St. Bonifacia Rodriguez y Castro.

It is truly invigorating to recall the beautiful passage of God in my life. Previous feelings of fear, of inadequacy disappeared when I started to allow the Spirit of God to work in my life. I am truly grateful for the companionship of my sisters in the congregation; for the prayer-commitment of the different communities such as   having a prayer brigade; and most of all for the certainty that I am being accompanied by Mama Mary and Papa Joseph. Truly, my being a vocation promoter is one way of giving witness and testimony to the Faithful God who called me to life and for life. Amen.