Year 8 Vocation talks

In the build up to Vocations Sunday, year 8 had an online question and answer meeting with those living religious lives, such as monks, nuns and missionaries. They spoke about religious life and Vocation, along with some details about their lives. We were introduced to different forms of religious life and their experience of Vocation.

One of the guests was Fr Hugh, who was a missionary father and had spent thirty years in Mozambique in Africa. He talked about the difference in life there compared to Britain, along with the certain dangers and risks he had to take, while spreading the message of the gospel to people there. At the end of his talk, he stated that these developing countries are improving and that walking through the streets of Africa nowadays would be no different from walking through the streets of London.

Fr John was a friar, which is not that different from a monk. The main difference being that a friar works and lives among people in society, while a monk will often live a secluded life in a monastery.

One of the questions that was asked was “What if you find yourself wanting to have a romantic relationship?”. The sisters helped answer this, saying that by choosing to dedicate your life to God, you are accepting that you won’t be having a romantic relationship. This goes the same for priests as they must dedicate their lives to their parish without any distractions. She likened it to married couples who also devote themselves to one another even though they may still be attracted to others.

Another question was asking about how many times they prayed a day. The nuns said that they often pray five times daily, each for around an hour or more. They said that they separated the prayers, often doing some in the morning and some before they went to sleep.

Sr Maria spoke about how her work revolves around the community, helping people in society. There are lots of nuns with similar jobs that they do for the benefit of society.