Young Catholics caffeinate and discern vocations

For many young adults, finding a career can be a stressful if necessary part of life. For those considering a religious vocation, there could be other concerns, as well.

High among these may be the reservations of relatives and friends, not just the person's own worries, according to Sister Rosemary Cuneo, CR, of the Albany Diocese's vocations team.

"A lot of them have questions about what the life is like," she said. "Some have doubts about whether it's a vocation; they worry what people will think about them; they worry about their parents and worry they'll fail. But it's just a deeper way to serve God and it can bring a lot of fulfillment."

Doubts aside
In an effort to make young adults who are interested in religious life feel more comfortable, Sister Rosemary and colleagues run a coffee hour for vocations.

At the Muddy Cup in Albany, people gather, enjoy some coffee and discuss a life which involves a vocation in the Church. One such person is Kinsey Crawford, who attended a recent coffee hour.

"One day I was in church and it just popped into my head," she recalled of her desire to enter religious life. "At first I just pushed it away, but it kept coming back."

Ms. Crawford, a 20-year-old junior at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, traveled all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to the Albany Diocese in order to be a part of religious life.
Ms. Cranford will be joining the Sisters of the Resurrection, an order that serves in health care and education. She said she is confident it is what she meant to do.

"Absolutely," she stated. "I know now my life wouldn't be fulfilled if I didn't do this."
She did admit, however, that it has not been an easy transition for her family.

"My concern would be for them to cope with me," she said. "Sometimes they feel like they're losing me."

"We've been doing this about three years," said Sister Rosemary, the founder of the program. "First, we went to Slow Jed's, a coffee shop in Averill Park, then that closed and we moved to Starbucks [on Route 40 there], but that was too small, so last month we came here."

The Muddy Cup, located just west of the Saint Rose campus, seemed to the vocations teams like a fitting place to find young adults at their sessions on the first Monday of the month. Sister Rosemary said the results did not disappoint.

Turning out
"We had ten people show up last time, which is very good," she explained.

The vocations team reported some success afterwards, as well. Two Franciscan Brothers, Steve Merrigan and Ken Lucas, who also attended the most recent session, were contacted by a young man who had attended a previous meeting.

"All it takes is being consistent with your beliefs," explained Brother Ken. Brother Steve agreed, saying: "For any vocation it can be discouraging, but you've just got to keep with it."

Despite their best efforts to reach out to those interested in religious life, Sister Rosemary insisted the coffee klatsch was not a recruiting tool, per se.

"This is just an invitation to those who think they have a calling to God. We really believe there are people who have vocations," she explained. "However, if kids don't have a faith background, they don't get the connection. We need to show our young people the importance of having a relationship with God."

Though the most recent meeting did not have the same turnout as the previous one, Sr. Rosemary was not concerned.

"We don't look at numbers," she said. "God will never stop calling."

(11/13/08)