Vocations Series: Never-ending depths of discovery

15 October 2025

Appears in: Archdiocesan News

“What have I gotten myself into?”; the question I asked myself as I found the gate of my connecting flight at the Toronto airport. My already late flight was three and half hours delayed. A 12:30 a.m. flight and about a week of missed university classes, for a conference on a topic I knew hopelessly little, and a dream I felt totally unqualified to fulfill. 

This story is part of a four-part series. Four representatives from the Archdiocese took part in the National Association of Vocation and Formation Directors (NAVFD) Canada Conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland Sept. 22-25. Thomas Corrigan of Sherwood Park, a student at the University of Alberta who is active in the Catholic Students Association.


I stepped off the plane onto Newfoundland – “The Rock”, as they say – at around 4 a.m. anxious to call an Uber and steal an hour of shut-eye in my hotel room before the 7 a.m. conference start. Disgruntled from unsuccessful attempts to sleep, I thought  “4 a.m.! What a God-less hour,” then looked around somewhat embarrassed as I realized that I had mouthed the words, instead of just thinking them. 

After picking up my bags, I was greeted by my Uber driver. I then asked him what in hindsight seems a bit of an insensitive question. “What are you doing driving this early in the morning?” 

He calmly replied that he starts driving at 4 a.m. every morning so that he can spend the evening with his wife and kids. It was then that I remembered my earlier thought, and considered that I might have been wrong. 

In a funny way, it was that interaction that kept coming back to me as I attended the retreat. Being the youngest attendee at the conference I got asked a lot why I was there. To be honest, I’m still answering that question. But I think it has something to do with the idea that I was called to encounter God’s beauty and goodness in places I hadn’t looked before. 

Despite being Catholic my whole life, religious vocational life was never really something I thought about. Even though I had a number of Pallotine priests in my home parish, religious communities were something I knew existed, but that I never took the time to learn about.

I would know names like Franciscans, Jesuits, the Missionaries of Charity, Carmelites etc. but couldn’t tell you what they did or even where they were. But in attending this conference I got to not only learn about religious life, but interact with people who lived it out firsthand.

I got to see the multiplicity of gifts and charisms that make up our Church here in Canada. I met brothers, sisters, and priests, who were artists, astronomers, preachers, and nurses. I saw people diving headfirst into topics not only relevant to the Church but also to the world today: science and religion, suicide and suicide loss, ecology, and interculturality and racial bias, to name a few.

But most of all, I saw people that, in the midst of all their differences, shared a common contagious joy. Far from the stereotypical view of curmudgeonly sisters, brothers and people who have taken vows, I met a group of people who jumped up to dance Irish jigs, were the first to give you a smile, and waved their fancy dinner napkins in the air like lassoes just for the fun of it! 

These people, too me, fit perfectly with our theme, which focused on the stars. Because, like the stars, though it may sound cheesy, the people I met each shone uniquely in their own right with their own gifts and charisms, but, together, made a beautiful tapestry that gave me hope for our church. 

So, perhaps the next time I’m up at 4 a.m. (though I hope not to make it a regular occurrence), instead of grumbling, I might think to look up at the stars, and recall how like the stars we were all made by God for a harmonious purpose. And how seeking our own unique vocation, like practising astronomy, is an endeavour with never-ending depths of discovery, but one that is worthwhile all the same. 

Donor’s generosity provides vocation training

Thanks to generous donors, Emil and Sophie Motoska, a fund was established many years ago that provides financial support for formative experiences for young adults as they search how best to live their baptismal call and for those fostering retreats, conference et cetera that nurture the living of one’s baptismal commitment.

Read the whole Vocation Series:

Each of us a mission to nurture God’s call

Joy that we are loved, called and created for a purpose

Never-ending depths of discovery

Religious communities have much to offer young adults

For information on the Archdiocesan Vocations Awareness Committee, contact Sr. Mary Clare Stack, U.J.: mctstack@outlook.com

Read more about Vocations Awareness Committee Gathering Nov. 23

Read more about Archdiocesan Vocations

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