Chicagoland

Vocation focus of 2012 ‘Tap’

By Michelle Martin | Staff writer
Sunday, July 29, 2012

Vocation focus of 2012 ‘Tap’

As young adults flock to their local parishes to enjoy some refreshments and discussion of their Catholic faith at Theology on Tap this summer, they are finding something new on the menu: each of Theology on Tap’s 36 host sites was asked to include at least one discussion about vocation.
Anne and Francis DeCastro visit with Tony Hilger after Theology on Tap at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights on July 23. The topic was the topic "Syncing your God and Praying in 140 Characters or Less". (Karen Callaway / Catholic New World)
Molly Strzelecki looks at some of the remaining seminars during a break. Janet Cobb spoke on the topic "Syncing your God and Praying in 140 Characters or Less" at Theology on Tap at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights on July 23. (Karen Callaway / Catholic New World)
Valerie DeMay listens as Meaghan Hummel (center) particpates in a discussion during Theology on Tap at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights on July 23. (Karen Callaway / Catholic New World)
Aracely Hernandez listens during a discussion on the Holy Hours at Theology on Tap at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights on July 23. (Karen Callaway / Catholic New World)
Brenda Torres listens to speaker Janet Cobb talk about the different Apps available for prayer at Theology on Tap at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights on July 23. The topic was the topic "Syncing your God and Praying in 140 Characters or Less". (Karen Callaway / Catholic New World)
Molly and Elizabeth Strzelecki vist with speaker Janet Cobb at the end of the evening during Theology on Tap at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights on July 23. (Karen Callaway / Catholic New World)
Participants listen to speaker Janet Cobb discuss the topic "Syncing your God and Praying in 140 Characters or Less" at Theology on Tap at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights on July 23. (Karen Callaway / Catholic New World)

As young adults flock to their local parishes to enjoy some refreshments and discussion of their Catholic faith at Theology on Tap this summer, they are finding something new on the menu: each of Theology on Tap’s 36 host sites was asked to include at least one discussion about vocation.

The talks will focus on a broader conception of vocation, said Kate DeVries, co-director of Young Adult Ministry. “How is God calling us to use the gifts we have been given?” DeVries said. “How can I best put them to use? How do I figure out or decide what God is asking of me? ”

While speakers will discuss religious and priestly vocations, DeVries said, it doesn’t mean that each site will have someone come in to encourage all the single men to consider the priesthood and all the single women to consider becoming a religious sister.

Figuring out how God wants them to spend their lives is a key issue to the people Theology on Tap is intended for: men and women in their 20s and 30s, married and single.

This is the second time that Theology on Tap has asked each site to dedicate one session to a particular topic. Last year, each site held at least one talk on the revised Roman Missal, and that was very well received, DeVries said.

When organizers were planning the program this year, Father John Cusick, director of Young Adult Ministries, suggested vocation as another topic that would work well across the board.

Prayer will be another emphasis this year, DeVries said, because “a lot of young adults tell us they don’t know how to pray.” And, she noted, prayer is central to discerning a vocation.

Having each of the sites include one vocation talk meant that Young Adult Ministries had to find several speakers to lead discussions on the topic, and DeVries said the archdiocese’s Office for Vocations and the Chicago Archdiocesan Vocations Association were instrumental in doing so.

Each of the 36 sites hosts a talk once a week for the four week duration of the annual summer program, so participants can go to the closest parish or find one that meets their schedule. They can also look at the complete schedule online at www.yamchicago. org and pick and choose the sessions they’d like to attend.

Every participant is invited to the closing Mass and picnic. This year’s event is set for Aug. 5 at the Archbishop Quigley Center, 835 N. Rush St., and a $5 donation is requested.

Also, all participants will be invited to be part of the archdiocese’s first multicultural Encountering Christ/Encuentro 2012-2013. The Encuentro process, which has been used several times in the Latino Catholic community, provides a forum for young adult spiritual enrichment and for young adults to voice their needs to the church.

Parishes will begin having Encuentro meetings in September, leading to vicariate Encuentros and then finally an archdiocesan Encuentro in early April.

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