Inspired by the charism of Regnum Christi to equip and send out apostles, the National Vocation Summitgathers Christian leaders with a heart for vocations and a desire to help the next generation become vocation apostles. Rooted in the holy Eucharist and working effectively in teams, the Summit communicates to the younger members of the Church this message: God has a plan for you, and we want to help you discover it!

The National Vocation Summit seeks to build a true vocation culture in any Christ-centered community in the Church, building leadership teams of committed vocation apostles. The summit aspires that all participants leave with a greater dependence on the Lord of the Harvest (Lk 10:2), a renewed love for the Church, zeal for their common mission, and an ever deeper hope in Christ and his grace for their lives.

From March 13 to 15, the Legionaries of Christ seminary in Cheshire, Connecticut, hosted the 5th annual National Vocation Summit. Over 50 religious, priests and consecrated were present from over 20 different communities, with a total of 140 participants. The sold-out event was marked by a deep spirit of collaboration and love for the Church, inspiring the participants to build a culture of vocation wherever God has placed them—home, school, or parish.

The event was sponsored by Vocation Action Network, a network of apostles who pray and take action to help build a vocation culture within the Church and society.

Apostles of Hope in an Apostolic Age

The theme of this year’s summit was “Awakening Apostles of Hope,” and Monsignor James Shea, president of the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, gave the opening keynote address, titled “Apostles of Hope in an Apostolic Age.” For Monsignor Shea, to make oneself wholeheartedly and generously available to God takes radical hope. Hope, then, is the central theme of vocational discernment.

That hope is in very short supply in this ambient culture, says Monsignor Shea, which has often been labeled “post-Christian.” However, this era offers unique signs of hope, and it is in times like these that the Church can flourish, and that the virtue of hope continues to be the foundation of vocations.

“In order to make your life available to God, in order to know that the stakes are so high that you’re willing to do whatever he asks, in order to know that deep down, and assent to it, you have to have that kind of supernatural hope that locates happiness in the Kingdom of God and in eternal life, and not in the things of this world. If he called me, would I go? It’s a question of hope.”

- Monsignor Shea

“And that’s the kind of hope which allows us to make our lives available to God, which causes us to be able to say, ‘Whatever it is, whatever he calls, whatever he wants, that’s what I’ll do. I would say yes. Yes, I would say yes.”

Other speakers and panelists at this year’s summit included Legionary priests Fr. Edward Hopkins and Fr. John VanDorpe; and Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi Tammy Grady, Laura Matthews, and Gaëtane Auger. Thomas Wurtz, who is finishing his 25th year in FOCUS, serves as senior director of Affinity Outreach and Digital Outreach and is the directing founder Varsity Catholic, FOCUS’ outreach to college athletes. He gave the closing keynote on finding hope in the universal call to holiness.

Building a Culture of Vocations, Together

Besides learning from vocation action speakers, participants at the three-day event had the opportunity to connect to a network of vocation apostles across North America. They left inspired and equipped to build a dynamic vocation culture in their local parishes and dioceses.

Fr. Martin Connor, LC, is the national vocation director for the North American Territory, and he believes that initiatives like the National Vocation Summit are critical now more than ever.

“In the words of St. John Paul II, we live in an anti-vocational culture,”

says Fr. Martin,

“and collaboration across all sectors of the Church is essential to rebuild a true vocation culture. We need to be bridge-builders of trust and confidence in God as we evangelize the secular culture.”

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