Sixth graders from Catholic schools across the Diocese of St. Petersburg spent time at Saint Leo Benedictine Abbey recently to experience a day of praying for and learning about vocations.

Some of the speakers shared their own story of how God called them to serve. 

“When I was 15, God gave me a message in my prayer in the form of an image of me standing at the pulpit of the church preaching, dressed as a priest. From that moment, I had this sense that God was calling me to be a priest, but I did not want to become one. I kind of ran away from it,” said Father Joseph Hill, SJ, a Jesuit priest who serves as Vocations Promoter for his province and is in residence at Jesuit High School in Tampa.

“Eventually, I sort of let go of my own will and submitted to God’s will and accepted it. I was filled with a lot of joy and peace after that,” he continued.

During the Focus 11 experience, it was apparent that God was moving the young hearts in big ways. 

Celina, a sixth grader at Bishop Larkin Catholic School in Port Richey experienced God in ways she did not expect. She shared that her favorite part of the day was the panel discussion.

“I connected to Father Joseph’s story because he said that God called him to be a priest, but he denied it at first. It’s hard to follow the call but I liked how he did in the end,” said Celina.

In addition to feeling inspired by his story, she also decided to begin discerning her vocation. She had never thought about becoming a religious sister before attending Focus 11 but she said that it is something she is now going to think and pray about

Sister Ogechi Offurum, HHCJ, a middle school teacher and sister of The Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus at Bishop Larkin Catholic School in Port Richey chaperoned a group of students. She has been a member of her religious order for over 20 years and shared that she hopes this event takes the students deeper into an encounter with Christ.

“I hope the students get a deeper awareness about prayer and a deeper awareness of listening to God calling them,” said Sister Offurum.

“We talk about vocations at school, but when they come here, now they hear it from a different person. It takes the message a bit deeper,” she continued.

The schedule of activities at Focus 11 included prayer, Mass, games, and listening to speakers. Students learned about the history of Saint Leo Abbey, played trivia with sisters and monks during snack time, interacted with a panel of priests and sisters, and learned to pray Lectio Divina with Bishop Parkes and Studio 3:16, a media ministry based out of Tampa.

As students sat in the Abbey Church, many of them looked up in awe at the stained glass casting multi-colored sunlight on their faces. Father Lucius Amarillas, OSB, offered a lesson on the rich history of the church and the Benedictine monks who founded Saint Leo University.

Bishop Parkes encouraged the students to begin the discernment of their vocation and to be courageous. 

“If you think God might be calling you to serve Him as a priest, or a sister, or a brother, or as a monk, just trust that, and know that God will never call you or ask you to do something in your life that's not good for you. He loves you and wants the best for you. Have the courage to say yes to that,” said Bishop Parkes.

Father Chuck Dornquast, Direct of Vocations for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, hopes that all of the students experience God stirring in their hearts. He acknowledged that if the students are enjoying a day focused on Jesus and prayer, then it is an incredible success.

“My hope is that these kids leave having had an experience of prayer, of having an encounter of beauty, and that it be something that almost haunts them going forward so that they remember how beautiful it is to be with the Lord and to spend this time,” said Father Dornquast.

Focus 11 was hosted by the diocesan Office of Vocations and is funded through gifts to the Catholic Ministry Appeal.

Use the arrows below to view more photos