Yesterday I attended the Archdiocese of Toronto’s 2022 Renew conference for young adults. This was my first experience with one of these catholic young adult conferences, and I was not disappointed. My day was filled by great encounters and listening to insightful speakers. I had a wonderful time!(On top of everything else, I also got to thank Trent Horn for his work refuting Mike Winger, which played a role in my conversion to Catholicism.)

At the end of the day, I was talking with a few friends, one of whom asked me what my biggest take-away from the conference was. Honestly, it’s a hard question to answer, and I’m sure that over the next little while I’ll be writing reflections on these lessons learned and posting them here. At the moment, however, there’s one encounter in particular that’s sticks out to me. In fact, I missed one of the speakers because I was so wrapped up in conversation with this individual. Of all the reasons to miss a keynote, a good conversation is not a bad at all.

I spent some time speaking with the Salesians of Don Bosco who had a booth set up in the marketplace, and aside from learning about some amazing opportunities—both lay and otherwise—I got a chance to talk to a Salesian brother, who has professed vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but has no intention of becoming a priest. I thought this was fascinating! After all, people generally seem to talk about these vocations as a stepping stone, like the Diaconate. I’m certainly guilty of viewing these vocations as transitional rather than in light of what they are, and that makes me dead wrong.

So, I asked him: why just a brother? You can see my error even from the way I worded the question, but he was more than happy to answer. He explained it in a way I haven’t heard it before: he told me that he felt called to act as a brother to everyone, that he didn’t feel called to be a father-figure or act in persona Christi like a priest. He felt called to be among the people, to sit next to them in the pews, and stand next to them in the line for confession; and as he was saying all of this, I could see how joyful it made him to be living out a brotherly vocation, and this made me understand.

Similarly, a conversation I had during the car trip home rebuked my misconceptions of the Diaconate in a similar way. It’s not just a vocation for future priests. It is a vocation in its own right, and doesn’t need to apologise for itself because it can be a part of the journey to priesthood. Its aims belong to itself, and are liturgical, doctrinal, and charitable. Yes, there is some overlap with the priesthood, but that is readily explained by the fact that priests have not only been ordained as priests but as deacons, too.

So what’s my point? That there are more vocations than you may think, and that we do ourselves an injustice to see them only as transitional. (Even single life is like this.) Perhaps in the church today they aren’t as spelled-out as some other vocations are, but they are their own vocations in themselves. They are not simply lesser than something else.

I’ll end with this thought. We tend to go through life with lots of plans. It’s so easy to get caught up in thinking my real life will start when I get married, when I have kids, when I’m ordained a priest, or when I meet some other goal. But we forget that, as the Preacher says:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is a purpose to every time in our life, not just those that we’re looking forward to. So, if you’re single, think about what it means to live out your single life. If you’re a brother, think out what that means. If you’re married with no kids or a deacon, do the same. Maybe you want to get married, maybe you see kids in your future, or maybe you want to be a priest, and if you’re called to that, then do it! But God is not only asking for you to live out that vocation five, ten, or fifteen years from now. Not at all: God wants you to live out your vocation today. In the words of St Paul:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31