Perhaps the greatest beauty of Catholic education is the schools’ opportunity to create space for our communities’ youth to discover their definite purpose—or vocation—in life. More than just a career, this vocation is our path to sainthood through the priesthood, diaconate, religious life, marriage, or a chaste single life.

During each Sunday Mass, the faithful across the Archdiocese of Cincinnati pray in the Prayer for Vocations that our communities may be “fruitful ground for [the Lord’s] gift of vocations,” and that our youth may “respond to [His] call with courage and zeal.” Our Catholic schools have been and can continue to be that fruitful ground for vocations.

Deacons Alex Parra and Luke Danis, both transitional deacons who, God willing, will be ordained into the priesthood next year, attended Catholic schools in the archdiocese for much of their education. Both men testify to how their Catholic education planted seeds and instilled an openness to God’s call to the vocation of the priesthood.

Deacon Parra attended St. Gertrude in Madeira for grade school and Moeller for high school. While much of his discernment occurred outside of school, he said that “a lot of the seeds for it were planted in my education.” Most influential for him was his exposure to different vocations from a young age. Taught by the Dominican sisters and friars present on St. Gertrude’s school campus, Deacon Parra said, “Their presence made the idea of a vocation a lot more plausible.”

Additionally, Deacon Parra found that “having learned to pray in school and, as time went on, learning to have a deeper prayer life” were helpful when discerning his vocation. He said that “to be able to hear the call, you need to spend time in prayer,” and he is grateful for how he was taught to pray in school.

Similarly, Deacon Danis’ experience with prayer and seeing vocations lived out authentically at school attracted him to the priesthood. He attended grade school at St. Luke in Beavercreek then Carroll High School before discerning the call to the priesthood at Mount St. Joseph University.

While reflecting on his discernment journey, Deacon Danis remembered an image of Pope St. John Paul II displayed in his grade school that resonated with and inspired him, making the priesthood appealing. “He’s just wearing a cassock and cool sunglasses, and he’s hiking up a mountain,” Deacon Danis said.

At Mount St. Joseph University, Deacon Danis had the opportunity to visit the Adoration chapel for prayer every day, and he said that it was there that the Lord “was moving my heart to consider this question again of ‘Are you called to be a priest?’”

Both Deacon Danis and Deacon Parra’s discernment stories exemplify how our Catholic schools have been God’s instruments in calling people to vocations.

Fr. Michael Willig, Vocations Director for the archdiocese, is hoping to help our Catholic schools continue creating a culture for vocations. He acknowledged that “the Lord has already answered our prayer” for vocations and “we believe He will continue to answer.”

But, “We want more!” Fr. Willig said. And so, he is encouraging our Catholic schools to recite the Prayer for Vocations weekly and offer penance on Fridays, hoping it helps students consider more deeply what vocational state they might be called to.

“Prayer and fasting are a great source of grace and a way that the Lord has given us to be united with him, to be on mission together, and to build up the Church” said Fr. Willig, and all of these should be achievable through our own vocations.

Additionally, Fr. Willig hopes to work with schools’ communications teams to display images around the buildings of people authentically living out their vocations, so that “the students, as they’re praying, can see examples of others who are pursuing or discerning or living out their vocation.”

By doing these small yet profound things, Fr. Willig said, our Catholic schools will continue creating a culture for students to remain open to and discern their vocation. “Each vocation builds up the Church in a unique way,” he said. “It takes a generous heart to say yes to God, and so we want to cultivate that in our Catholic schools.” We pray that, with God’s grace, our Catholic schools will continue to be fruitful ground for vocations in the years to come!