DISC E RNMENT IN THE MODE RN W ORL D
FACILITATING VOCATIONAL
DISCERNMENT AT SACRED HEART
H e lpin g M e n D iscern a C all t o t he
Priesth ood a n d C elib acy
Msgr. Daniel Trapp
D
iscerning a call. At St. Augustine/St. Monica church on Detroit’s East Side, a beautiful
painting on the triumphal arch shows Jesus calling people from every state of life to
holiness. After World War II, the pastor of the then St. Catherine of Siena Parish brought two
Italian artists to reproduce, in paint, the fourth century mosaics of St. Paul-outside-the-walls.
Monsignor Vismara designed this interpretation of the vision from the Book of Revelation 4:4 to
show Christ surrounded by the saints, as in Rome. But, instead of showing the twenty-four elders
surrounding Christ, Monsignor Vismara directed that the artists paint male and female saints of
every state of life, demonstrating, through liturgical art, the universal call to holiness.
The first call that students at Sacred
Heart must discern (that is, see through) is
the call to follow Jesus, the call to holi-
ness. That discernment, for seminarians
and lay students, takes place in the years
preceding applying to the seminary. If a
student did not hear that call, if the stu-
dent were only racking up credits, chanc-
es are he or she would take their classes,
but look and not see, listen and not hear.
While we rightly distinguish academic
from human and spiritual formation, all
seminary formation is faith formation di-
rected to living out the holiness and righ-
teousness which exceed that of the Phari-
sees (Mt 5:20). That call to holiness and
righteous living, when heard and lived
out, leads to a second call which is the
state of life to which we are called.
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DISCERNMENT FOR SEMINARIANS
We are very blessed at Sacred Heart to
have hundreds of lay students who dis-
cern and live out their call to holiness as
they study at the seminary. As graduate
spiritual director for seminarians, I know
best the vocational discernment process
for seminarians, and will describe that.
DISCERNING THE CALL
ACCORDING TO THE LAW
OF THE GIFT
Pope John Paul II coined the term “the
law of the gift” to describe the law within
us to make ourselves gifts for others. This
law is rooted in our creation according to
the Book of Genesis. In the first chapters
of Genesis, we have the capacity and duty
to leave “the aloneness that is not good
Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Fall 2018
(Gn 2:18),” and we have the capacity and
duty to be life-giving, to make the earth
fruitful and productive (Gn 1:28).
No matter what state of life we live in,
whether we are called to be married, sin-
gle or celibate, God has created us each
to move out of the aloneness that is not
good, to find intimacy with others, and
to be life-giving. As members of the Body
of Christ, grace assists us to both live
out this capacity and to fulfill our duty.
There is an aloneness which is good (in-
timacy with God) to which all people are
called and there is a fruitfulness, a gen-
erativity to which we are called as well.
For married people, the law of the gift
is expressed most fully when their love be-
comes alive in new children of God, but
the law (capacity and duty) is expressed