Also, in the 2018 Ordination report, you will find that Homeschool families are encouraging vocations! So, what does that mean for your ministry? Make sure to reach out to the homeschoolers from your parish; invite them to help your ministry with activities and events. For example, they could be your altar servers at a Holy Hour for Vocations or can provide the lemonade for a Pancake Breakfast for Vocations.

• Nearly one in ten young men on course for ordination in the US was homeschooled
• American men who had been homeschooled were four times more likely to enter seminaries than those educated in Catholic institutions.
• Although the number of homeschooled American Catholics is small – just 100,000 are being homeschooled now, compared to two million in Catholic schools – nearly one in 10 young men in formation for the priesthood in the U.S. was homeschooled.
• On average, they had spent seven years being homeschooled.
• Sixteen was the average age of discerning a vocation to the priesthood.
• Roughly 30 percent of the seminarians at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary near Philadelphia are from homeschooling households
• In 2013, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore was quoted in the archdiocesan newspaper as saying: “There’s no greater feeder for the vocations than the home-schoolers.”

Read the article  HERE.

Summer is the perfect time to have an Altar Server Lunch or Dinner to recognize the service of those who serve at the Altar of Our Lord. Did you know that 78% of newly ordained priests say they were an altar server growing up? We need to affirm those who are serving, and the Serra Club, which is the vocation arm of the Church, came up with a program to recognize either the best altar server at the parish or a few of the best. Check it out  HERE.

Serra International has several awards and certificates for servers in its online store:

Get ready to create a culture of vocations at your parish, using these exciting and dynamic resources! You will find updates that took place this week, including an all new section for National Vocation Awareness Week, World Day for Cloistered Life, more Pope Francis quotes, and about 10 NEW UPDATES to the Discerning? page. Take a tour of  www.VocationMinistry.com on the home page so that you can easily navigate this website!

¡OYE!  Bilingual vocation magazine, geared toward the youth, is now available digitally. This presents a unique way to inspire others with their inclusive content and contemporary design, all with just one click!

This interactive format allows you to view the articles in your preferred language from the left menu bar, and to get in touch with the advertisers with just one click! You can also, print and share the content in social media or email from the contents view option, also available from the left menu bar.

It is distributed at no charge and communicates a dynamic message about God’s calls to young people; it encourages them to follow Him, value themselves, and serve their communities through education, leadership, marriage, family, or even religious life.

¡ OYE! is a great resource for pastors, religious educators, directors of youth ministry, campus ministry groups, and community youth program directors. To request your free digital edition of ¡OYE! please call 312-544-8200 or email  hmrcinfo@claretians.org.