From November 4-8, 2010, over 500 vocation directors from more than 140 religious institutes met in Cleveland, Ohio at the bi-annual National Religious Vocation Conference Convocation (http://www.nrvc.net/). Representatives came from as far away as Sydney, Australia, and Dublin, Ireland. There were keynote speeches on "Globalization: Spirituality, Solidarity, and Sustainability," "Vocation Ministry with Cyber-citizens,"  and "Vocation Ministry in a Globalized Nation." Workshops were offered on a number of topics from working with African-American or Latino-Hispanic candidates to methods of vocational discernment and best practices in Campus Ministry. To cap off the convocation, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, who has served as a papal ambassador on four continents, shared his personal insights on vocation ministry here in the United States.

As one might expect, the quality of the presentations varied greatly. I was particularly impressed by a talk by Sr. Angela Zukowski, a Missionary Helper of the Sacred Heart, who teaches at the University of Dayton. She is also the author of The Gospel in Cyberspace, the title of which gives some idea of the area of her greatest concern, i.e. how we must be missionaries in a new world as challenging as the missions of old, i.e. cyberspace. This is there world in which young people operate today; if we do not learn their language, understand their culture, and reach out to them effectively in this world, we will lose them. I was also extremely impressed with the outstanding Campus Ministry program which has been developed at St. Mary's University Parish, the Catholic outreach to Texas A&M University. It is dynamic, leadership-oriented, and visionary.

Perhaps, one of the best features of such a convocation is the ability to meet old friends, make new ones, and to get a sense of what resources are available for those of us who are working in vocation ministry. It is also an opportunity to get a sense of the experience of other vocation ministers, their successes and failures, and their innovations.

Archbishop Sambi's advice at the end still rings true, namely, that young people are attracted first and foremost to religious men and women who are in love with Jesus Christ and joyful in their lives.

Fr. John Franck, AA
Vocation Director