Adventure with Jesus

I asked a 15 year old girl in my Catechism Class:

“Hello dear, did you ever think of your  vocation and mission in Life?”

She answered: “why do I need to think or know about my  vocation? I do not even know what I will do tomorrow.  In my family, my mother makes the decisions. “

Her answer makes me remember a saying of Saint Paul in His letter to the Roman 10, 14-15: “How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!”

Each one of us has a mission, a vocation in life but it is not something easy to understand. Today the young are not interested to think nor to talk about it.   Vietnam is considered a source of vocations for the Religious life. However the reality is changing… There are less young men and women who are entering the convents or seminaries. 

There are several reasons for this lack of interest

• Life seems to offer the young many interesting things… entertainment, mass communication, things to make you comfortable and beautiful…
• There are greater opportunities to work, to earn an income, to have greater financial independence…
• Families have become smaller with one or two children.
• Parents demand that children support the family financially and encourage the children to go 

How do we attract the young?

How do we present Jesus to them?

How do we communicate Jesus’ passion for the Kingdom, for service?

We, the Religious of the Assumption, present in Vietnam for 30 years are challenged to reach out, to go to places to introduce the Congregation, to get in touch with parishes to speak about our Congregation.  This year we reached 3 or 4 remote parishes of Loc Quang in Binh Phuoc Province (Phu Cuong Diocese); Chau Doc in An Giang (Long Xuyen Diocese); Long Thanh My in Distric 9 (Ho Chi Minh Diocese)… We invited the young to come for a Vocation Camp (Come and See) on July 27 – 30.

We hope to welcome and interact with 25 – 30 young girls in our Ho Nai Community Bien Hoa City.  The attractions the world offers are real  but just as real is the search for God in the heart of every person.  We want to help them discover their Mission, their personal call.  We pray that they will have the generosity and courage to say YES to  God’s invitation in the religious life and make of their life… AN ADVENTURE WITH JESUS.