University and Young Adult Ministries

Best Practices for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life for Campus Ministries

Eucharistic Adoration

  • Make it available often, daily if possible
  • Preach on the true Presence

Confession

  • Creates an awareness of sin, and a need for mercy
  • Leads students to strive for greater conversion

Spiritual Direction

  • Teaches them the importance of daily prayer
  • Holds them accountable for prayer
  • Instills in them a fundamental call to holiness

Pilgrimage/Retreat/Conference

  • ‘jump starts’ the spiritual life
  • Takes them out of their normal surroundings to encounter God

Service Projects

Seminary Visits/Nun runs or bring Seminarians and young Sisters to visit the Campus

Discernment Groups

  • Helps each student to realize they are called specifically by God
  • Groups let them know they are not alone and that others can help them on their journey

Cultivating Christ-centered friendships

  • Teaches them how to have fun in a holy and wholesome way

Daily presence of priests or sisters

  • Students need to see priests or sisters at prayer on a daily basis
  • They also need to interact with them on a daily basis

Catechetical Formation

  • This could be number one but young Catholics generally do not know their faith
  • Introducing them to the riches of the intellectual patrimony of the Church opens them to a deeper understanding of God and their role in God’s plan

Helpful Links