ABSECON – Often, hearing firsthand accounts of how people discovered their vocation or discerned God’s will can make a lasting impression.
It was with this approach in mind that Father Stephen Robbins and Father Thomas Piro, associate directors of vocations for the Diocese of Camden, visited some of South Jersey’s Catholic high schools during National Vocation Awareness Week, which was Nov. 1-7.
“I think people respond very well to stories,” Father Piro said during the visit Nov. 4 to Holy Spirit High School. “Hearing someone’s stories right in front of you gives students the opportunity to reflect on how God works in their lives.”
Father Robbins agreed. “You can always identify with one of the characters in a book.” Hearing someone else’s story, he said, can help a person ask, “Where do I see and hear myself in that story?” It can make a person think about his whole life differently, the priest added.
Throughout their visits, Father Piro and Father Robbins discussed the role God plays in one’s life, especially in regards to a potential vocation to religious, single or married life, as well as the priesthood. Both also shared their personal vocation stories and talked about when they heard God’s call.
The theme of God’s will struck a chord with Holy Spirit junior Chase Willson. “Everybody has a calling, whether it be a priest or whatever it is in life,” he said. “God has it for you, and you will find it.”
Added sophomore Finley Hieb, “Regardless of where we end up, we always end up back with God. Even if we choose a path that might not fit us the first time, there is going to be another opening for us down the road.”
Another common theme that developed from each priest’s story was the idea of indecision, especially as Father Piro and Father Robbins explained being young students preparing for college.
Looking back, Father Piro said, “I wish I knew [then] that people would be more supportive than I initially thought. The priests were very supportive, but to recognize that my teachers would have been supportive as well, my friends would have been supportive. You don’t discern a vocation alone.”
Father Robbins said, “I wish I would have known how helpful it is to wrestle with the question of my vocation with other people. … Bringing people who you trust, who love you and know you, along alleviates the burden so much.”
Some of the students were not expecting being able to relate.
Senior Isabella Normane, for example, was surprised to hear that Father Robbins had once been “in our shoes, too,” especially in “trying to make a decision on what he was going to do after high school.”
Normane’s classmate Vaughn Amalfitano felt similarly. “I thought it was interesting how Father Robbins was thinking about all the different possibilities – not knowing even after going to college for a little bit.”
As junior Lilliana Harbright listened to Father Piro’s story, she could not help but wonder how he dealt with some of the second-guessing he experienced.
Sophomore Michael Newhall, meanwhile, recognized that “priests are people, too. … They have had the exact same thoughts I have. Down-to-earth, real issues have run through their heads.”
As each priest reflected on their vocation stories, they returned to the theme of God’s role in the students’ lives.
“Sometimes I feel like we go into this autopilot mode – I just have to go high school, get into college, have a career,” Father Piro noted. “We never stop and say what is the big picture or the deep meaning of your life.”
Father Robbins added, “Our hope is that they bring the Lord into that decision process.”
More Online
Vocations director Father Joseph Szolack, as well as Father Piro and Father Robbins, talk vocations on the Nov. 9 podcast. Visit talking.catholicstarherald.org.
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