New Mentorship Program Launching to Help Those Discerning Religious Life
To assist Catholics discerning a call to religious life, Values Outreach, an initiative of the Catechetical Institute of Franciscan University of Steubenville, recently announced a new mentorship program for young men and women discerning religious life.
These discerners will receive online formation by watching workshops and completing tasks designed to help them grow in their spiritual lives. Workshops will feature talks from a variety of religious from different orders. Topics include the Theology of Religious Life, Monastic Practices, the Nature of Vocation, and the Desires of Our Hearts.
In addition, each discerner will be connected with a professed religious who will act as a mentor as they go through the formation program. Mentors will provide feedback on written tasks and will engage in long-distance, one-on-one communication throughout the program.
Cassidy Roderick, founder and team director of Values Outreach, said “This is an amazing opportunity to connect young adults with the people they need in their lives to help them discern well.”
Roderick noted that it is important for young discerners to relate directly with those in religious life. “It is extremely difficult to discern alone. Anything that can be done to connect them with someone to guide them is crucially important.”
The idea for the online formation program was spearheaded at a recent mentor-training meeting. The Catechetical Institute team was reviewing evaluations from learners taking their workshops, which indicated the workshops helped them to grow closer to God. Seeing this positive feedback, the Values Outreach Office and the Catechetical Institute decided to take the next step forward with this new program that focuses on vocational accompaniment.
The program will take place on the Catechetical Institute’s online learning management system: FranciscanAtHome.com.
This semester-long program is free and will begin in January 2020. The Values Outreach Office is currently accepting applications. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and actively discerning consecrated religious life.