Called Beyond is a week during the liturgical year dedicated to listening and responding to vocation. The Called Beyond Vocations Weeks prompts a parish to begin developing a culture of vocation and helps to foster discipleship as the foundation of any vocation.
The foundation of the week is a prayerful group of parishioners who plan three phases of the project locally: (1) Preperation, (2) The Week, (3) Follow-up.
The Called Beyond Vocations Week helps parishioners to explore the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, set in the context of the personal call of Christ and the communal life of the Church. By celebrating the baptismal vocation to live as disciples of Christ, more people may come to hear Christ calling them to a specific way of life. In this way, a vocations week can contribute to the longer-term development of the parish as a sanctuary where the thirsty come to drink in the midst of their journey and a center of constant missionary outreach.
As a parish based program, Called Beyond benefits the wider church by encouraging more purposeful disciples of Christ, and also builds up the local parish community by promoting reciprocal appreciation and friendship within that parish community. It has the additional benefit of nurturing new initiatives and leadership within the parish.
In today’s world of personal determination and choice, our culture can make us feel ungrounded. People are assaulted with choice in a society which offers little guidance, support or structure. Called Beyond is important because everybody should feel called by God, into a personal and purposeful relationship with him. Our first call is to form a relationship with God, and from there we are sent as apostles of the Good News of Jesus Christ, according to our various gifts.
The program was a direct response to some research done on behalf of the National Office for Vocation in England & Wales, which sought to investigate the barriers to people embracing their vocation. The research indicated that there is a need to move the conversation outside the Church buildings to more informal spaces for encounter. These spaces are places where people feel free to share and be witness to the ways God has invited them into a particular vocation, and for others to learn and appreciate those testimonies and be influenced by them in their lives.
The parish community provides the funding for the Called Beyond Vocations Week. Since the website provides the manual, the local parish volunteers can tailor the events of the week according to their needs. The manual is available to download for free. The website also provides access to an easy-to-use commercial website which will allow parishes to purchase supplementary booklets, prayer cards and various banners and posters which can be personalized to the individual parishes.
Contact the National Office for Vocation at www.calledbeyond.org.uk/about or enquiries@ukvocation.org
Only in England and Wales, currently.
Consult the website htttp://www.calledbeyond.org.uk and convene a small team of volunteers in the parish.
