Karol Wojtyla is a 38-year old priest heading to vacation with a group of canoeists when he receives a call to head to Warsaw for an important meeting. He leaves his group, canoes part of the way, rides a flour truck, and finally takes an all-night train, sitting up to read Ernest Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea and wondering about this meeting. In Warsaw he learns he has been made a bishop. His life is about to change.

Before their marriage, Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, initially pursue religious vocations. They discern that, though attracted to religious life, God is calling them to marriage and family life. Their family will produce one of the greatest saints of modern times, a Doctor of the Church.

Venerable Maria Luisa has a happy marriage to her husband, Dr. Pascual Rojas, but is widowed at the age of 29. Who could have predicted that she would become a Carmelite who mentored her religious sisters through terrible persecution?

What can these stories teach us, as people committed to supporting vocational discerners?

These stories teach something we have also experienced: vocations develop over a lifetime. We take new assignments, embark on new apostolates, and welcome new priests, religious, or children into the world. Why is this important to remember?

Some of the people entering seminary or religious life or getting engaged this year will discern that God has a different plan. They need to continue discerning. But they may be worried about other people’s expectations; for example, anyone who strongly discouraged their vocational discernment. Or they may fear to disappoint people who might have been anticipating the first mass, final vows, or the wedding.

Pope St. John Paul II, Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, and Venerable Maria Luisa remind us that God’s will usually turns out to look very different from our initial plan. So we build a culture of vocations when we:

• Encourage discerners to take vocational steps – both the first, and again when it seems God has something else in mind.
• Focus on the present. For example, with a seminarian, focus on this year’s discernment and growth in relationship with God, rather than “when he’s a priest.”
• Share saint stories and personal stories about the surprising turns vocations can take.

If we show it is normal for vocations to develop, we can help young discerners have the courage to pursue their vocations even when they do not develop as expected, and to continue discerning as they grow in understanding God’s will.