We understand that it is very difficult to know where to begin to explore the real possibility of Religious Life! Unveiling Religious Life is an initiative sponsored by the Handmaids and by the Jesuits, in collaboration with diverse congregations in the Church, meant to:
- “Demystify” Religious Life
- Accompany those who are exploring by providing practical resources for their vocational discernment
- Foster connects and community among those who are exploring the possibility of entering Religious Life
The initiative is open to men and women who are undergraduate students or recent college graduates who are open to exploring Religious/Consecrated life, but who have not yet established a formal connection with a particular religious order. (Vocational discernment is certainly not limited to that age range, but the questions of a discerner who has already been working and living on their own for years are particular and deserve a different space.)
Format
The Unveiling Religious Life Initiative offers 2 panel discussions hosted on Zoom that feature panelists from a variety of women’s and men’s religious orders.
- November 12, 2022 – to celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week (one of our male panelists on this panel will be a diocesan priest, as many men have questions about discerning between diocesan and Religious priesthood)
- February 4, 2023 – to celebrate World Day for Consecrated Life
- All sessions: 9am PST / 10am MST / 11am CST / 12pm EST
Registration Link (currently available for November’s Panel)
If desired by participants, the Initiative will create discernment groups among those undergraduate and recent college graduate participants who seek to continue in the discernment process. These groups will meet on a regular basis via Zoom to provide peer support and foster community in the discernment process.
We will also provide individuals with spiritual and practical resources they might need to help them move forward in the discernment process, including finding a spiritual director and contacting vocations directors of various religious orders.