A group of young adults joined with Cardinal John Dew, Diocesan and Marist priests, seminarians, Sisters of Compassion, Marist Brothers, married couples and their families and consecrated singles from around the archdiocese of Wellington at the Home of Compassion, Island Bay.

The event was facilitated by Young Church Ministries as part of the Young Church's Month of Vocation in August.

Isabella McCafferty from the Young Church Ministries says the purpose of SEEK was two-fold:

• To celebrate an intergenerational church, sharing wisdom and stories with each other.
• to promote a post Vatican II model of Vocation, ultimately our universal call to holiness and to then explore the how this is lived out in our lives.

"Pope Francis in his latest encyclical, Laudato Si, speaks of communities where people feel 'held within a network of solidarity and belonging'," she said.

"This was the hope for SEEK; that each person would feel comfortable to share and that people would be held within this network of solidarity."

The first half of the afternoon allowed for people to literally walk alongside each other to the top of the hill overlooking the Home of Compassion, asking honest and open questions of each other in relation to their vocation.

The second half of the afternoon included a reflection led by Sr. Sue Cosgrove which asked the group to consider what makes them feel joyfully alive.

Sr Sue concluded with a quote from Suzanne Aubert in response to the time shared together saying, "Gratitude is the most beautiful ornament of the human heart."

SEEK finished with Mass celebrated by Cardinal John Dew.

During his homily, Cardinal John reflected on the gift that the time together at SEEK had been and called the group to reflect on the gifts God had given them and to remember those words of Suzanne Aubert.

Source

• Suppled
• Image: Supplied

One woman and two men briefly spoke about their motivation and about their experience of living in a community.

The report noted that while there are not lot of people opting for religious life these days, the numbers, both locally and world-wide are recovering from the lows of the 80 and 90s
Source

• radionz.co.nz

Its purpose is to promote vocations to the priesthood, women and men religious, diaconate and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations.

In 2013, Pope Francis declared that a Year of Consecrated Life (YCL) be celebrated throughout the world.

YCL began on the First Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2014.

It will close on the World Day of Consecrated Life, February 2, 2016.

Cardinal John Dew, the Archbishop of Wellington has invited religious women and men have come together to celebrate the year of Consecrated life on the feast of St Mary MacKillop.

Midday prayer will be prayed in of the Church in St Joseph's Church, Mt Victoria.

Lunch and social time will follow.

4 people, at various stages of lives life have offered some thoughts on vocations.

• Neil Vaney has been a Marist religious and priest for 46 years
• Bryan Buenger was recently ordained for the Diocese of Palmerston North
• Daniel Kleinsman is a first year seminarian
• Elizabeth Julian is a Sister of Mercy and a lecturer and distance learning education co-ordinator for The Catholic Institute of Aoteraroa New Zealand.

Read what they have to say

Source

• w2.vatican.va
• wn.catholic.org.nz
• Image: vocationnetwork.org