The following ideas for encouraging religious vocations in your family come from the vocations site of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis.

• Let your children notice an attitude of openness to God’s will in you and hear you thank God for each day.
• Encourage your junior high child to pray to discover and use the gifts God has given to him or her.
• Include a vocation prayer in your personal and family prayer.
• Attend an ordination of a priest or deacon or a profession of a Sister or Brother.
• Invite your parish priest or a Sister or Brother to supper with your family.
• Promote teen Holy Hours, especially during Advent and Lent, so they can have a time of silence with the Lord or bring their troubles to Him.
• Show Catholic movies to your family. Check out Leaflet Missal Company’s movie rentals for all ages.
• At a Family Night, ask your children to study their patron saints (their given name or Confirmation name or other saint’s name) and tell why the saint is their hero. Start off by telling your own saint’s story.
• Promote vocation knowledge by having your children research a Religious Order on the Internet. Give them a list of things to include in their search. Check our Links page for connections to many Religious Orders.
• Build a miniature altar; make costume vestments and Religious garb for youngsters to teach them about the Mass (Serran idea), and to more closely observe what goes on at Mass when they attend the real thing. Children have been playing Mass and dressing up as priests and Religious for centuries.
• Arrange an “On the Road” family visit to a monastery, convent, friary, motherhouse, or shrine once a year.
• Discuss with your spouse your feelings and reactions to one of your children choosing to live their life as a priest, Brother, or Sister.