Catholic schools obligated to teach religious vocations

Superintendent of Catholic Schools explains what students learn about religious life

Published: November 12, 2015

By Vernell Bowen
Superintendent of Schools

Vernell Bowen

Pope Francis declared Nov. 29, 2014, to Feb. 2, 2016, as the Year of Consecrated Life. The purpose of the year is to be grateful for the past and embrace the future with hope. We are all consecrated in our baptism to follow Jesus. However, some are in what we call a special state of commitment to the consecrated life and to carry out the mission of Jesus.

We are most familiar with the religious brothers and sisters of particular orders. They have taken vows and promises to live in poverty, chasity and obedience and are under some form of authority within the Church. Religious may choose to focus on education, health care or contemplative prayer life.

For the past year Sister Joan Pytlik, DC, has chaired a commission on consecrated life to assist the diocese with raising awareness about religious vocations. The committee consists of diocesan department directors and Church organizations, including the Serra Club and Knights of Columbus. As superintendent of Catholic schools I have served on this commission to learn how our Catholic schools can be more effective in promoting religious vocations.

This year the Office of Catholic School staff is committed to work with principals and particularly fifth-grade teachers to emphasis the role of the religious, both in the past and for the future. Fifth-grade teachers and teachers of religion will be given resources to include in the fifth-grade religion curriculum.

“Without the presence of religious in most of our Catholic schools, it is imperative that students be presented with knowledge about the various vocational opportunities that they might choose to commit to in order to carry out the mission of Jesus.”

The Office of Catholic Schools will coordinate a fifth-grade vocations day to take place in different areas of the state. The principals in Fort Smith have coordinated a fifth-grade vocations day for the past several years for the Catholic schools in the River Valley area and northwest Arkansas. This year a fifth-grade vocations day is scheduled for the central Arkansas Catholic schools May 12 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Little Rock. The day will begin with Mass celebrated by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, followed by various activities to introduce the students to religious vocations. There are also plans to coordinate a vocations day in northeast Arkansas.

To keep the vocations day from being just a field trip, resources will be provided to fifth-grade teachers on vocations to be used as unit studies with the students prior to their attendance. Some of these activities are the following, but not limited to just these.

Use the resources on consecrated life at the United States Catholic Council of Bishops site usccb.org. This site provides three-minute videos offering good information to help provide a better understanding of religious vocations.

Other activities students may participate in prior to the vocations day are:

research religious who have become saints,
study the different charisms of religious orders,
adopt a religious and correspond, and
research the religious who founded their school.

Without the presence of religious in most of our Catholic schools, it is imperative that students be presented with knowledge about the various vocational opportunities that they might choose to commit to in order to carry out the mission of Jesus. By being more intentional with introducing learning about the consecrated life, we will be planting seeds for the future.

Click for the Catholic Schools Herald, November 2015 index