St Columba's Catholic Church, Culloden
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    • ** LENT STATION MASSES 2O18 **
    • *** CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES 2017 ***
    • *** HOLY WEEK MASS TIMES 2017 *** >
      • ** Lent Station Masses 2017 **
    • *** CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES 2016 ***
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      • ** Lent Station Masses **
    • *** CHRISTMAS MASS TIMES 2015 ***
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    • Returning to the Church?
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  • Events
    • OBERAMMERGAU 2022
    • ** Pope Francis' Urbi et Orbi **
    • Oberammergau Passion Play 2020
    • Pilgrimage to Barcelona and Catalonia, 2-6 September 2019
    • Priestly Ordination of Dominic Nwaigwe
    • Scalan Mass 2019
    • Pentecost 2019
    • ** First Holy Communions, 2019 **
    • Easter Vigil 2019
    • The Seven Last Words
    • Bene Merenti Joy!
    • Parish Holy Land Pilgrimage, 12-19 November 2018
    • ** BISHOP BARRON IN EDINBURGH! **
    • ** ANNIVERSARY MASS **
    • ** LENT WITH DANTE **
    • Rome Pilgrimage, 8-12 October 2017
    • John Drew's 90th Birthday, 23 July 2017
    • From Genesis to Jesus
    • First Holy Communions, 2017
    • Feast of St Columba, 10 June 2017
    • "Come Down O Love Divine": Living our Faith with and in the Holy Spirit - Saturday 3 June 2017
    • Easter Sunday Mass, 16 April 2017
    • Behold the Lamb of God: Reflections for Holy Week - Saturday 8 April 2017
    • Diocesan Chrism Mass at St Mary's Inverness - 6 April 2017
    • Solemnity of the Annunciation: Blessing of the new outdoor altar by Bishop Hugh Gilbert, OSB - 25 March 2017
    • Theresa and Iain Hamilton: 40th Wedding Anniversary - 12 February 2017
    • Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, 9-16 January 2017
    • Ordination to the Priesthood of Rev. Andrzej Niski, 6 January 2017
    • Inaugural Hogmanay Dance at St Columba's, 31 December 2016
    • Children's Christmas Party, 10 December 2016
    • Dedication of a Memorial Plaque to Sr Barbara Campbell LSU, 8 December 2016
    • Day of Mission for Young Believers, Stratherrick, 3 December 2016
    • Morning of Renewal for Readers and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, 19 November 2016
    • Coffee Morning in aid of Mary's Meals, Saturday 29 October 2016
    • Iona - Parish Year of Mercy Pilgrimage, 10-14 October 2016
    • Highland Deanery Annual Pilgrimage - St Mary's, Beauly, 10 September 2016
    • "Saint Mother Teresa: Missionary of Mercy", Saturday 3 September 2016
    • Parish Trip to Orkney, 6 August 2016
    • Bishop Hugh's Pastoral Letter on the recent Brexit Referendum
    • Diaconate Ordination of Andrzej Niski, Saturday 2 July 2016
    • Scalan 300th Anniversary Mass, 3 July 2016
    • First Holy Communion Mass, 26 June 2016
    • Confirmation Mass, 19 June 2016
    • Power of Grace Retreat for Teenagers: Saturday 11 June
    • Pluscarden Pentecost Lectures, 17-19 May 2016
    • Our Lady of May at Stratherrick, 14 May 2016
    • Divine Mercy at Stratherrick: Wednesday 6 April 2016
    • Book Launch of "Like a Blazing Fire", Saturday 9 April 2016
    • Thirsting for Mercy: Journeying with Christ through Holy Week - Monday 21 March 2016
    • Inter-Diocesan World Youth Day Gathering: 20 March 2016
    • "Blooming Youth" - A Day for Teenagers at Stratherrick: Saturday 5 March
    • Day Workshop – “The Sacrament of Confession: Reconciling Ourselves with Our Merciful Father”: Saturday 27 February
    • "Mary, Mother of Mercy" - Day of Reflection at Stratherrick, 8 December 2015
    • "World Youth Day in Culloden", 5 September 2015
    • Highland Deanery Pilgrimage to Tain, 22 August 2015
    • The McLellan Report, 18 August 2015
    • Installation Mass of Fr Domenico, 12 August 2015
    • AGAP Theatre presents "The Martyrdom of Saint John Ogilvie" by Stephen Callaghan
    • St John Ogilvie 400th Anniversary Mass
  • Contact Us
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    • Secular Franciscan Order (OFS)
    • Our Altar Servers
    • Iona Group for Teenagers
  • ** Gaudete et Exsultate **
  • ** Amoris Laetitia **
    • St Columba's "Amoris Laetitia" Reading Group
  • Jubilee Year of Mercy
    • YoM Evenings of Reflection
  • Vocations
    • Single Life
    • Married Life
    • Diaconate
    • Priesthood >
      • Good Shepherd Sunday, 7 May 2017
      • Good Shepherd Sunday, 17 April 2016
      • Pope Francis & The Scots College Community - Private Audience, 14 April 2016
    • Religious Life
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View from the Old Man of Storr (Isle of Skye). Photograph by Moyan Brenn on Flickr.


What is my path in life? - discerning my vocation.

What is a vocation? First things first: we ALL have one! The word ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin ‘vocare’, which means ‘to call’. Each of us is ‘called’ by the Lord. Each of us was created in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26), and the Good Lord has a loving plan for every one of us – a plan that has existed from the very beginning, even before we were born: “For it was you who formed my inmost being, knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139, v. 15)

A vocation is God’s unique invitation to us, a particular way for us to live our lives to the fullest, to live a life that offers us the opportunity to be who were meant to be. By taking time to discern - to reflect and pray - on God’s call for us, we can fulfil His deepest will, and embark on the path towards holiness and towards union with Him.

Vocation is never only about “me” and my personal fulfilment. Living out one’s vocation is always about entering into a loving relationship with others, in the service of the Gospel, the Church, and the world.

A vocation is a lively movement of call and response. It begins in the realisation of God’s great love for all of creation and within that reality, God’s personal and unconditional love for each one of us. As Scripture tells us, “We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4: 19)

A vocation, then, is always a call to love in truth. It is about “falling in love with God” and trying to live our lives most fully, in doing God’s will for us in the world. The way we love as humans teaches us much about this dynamic. When I hear the words, “I love you” from another person I am faced with a choice. I can either “run in the other direction” so as not to become more deeply involved or I can respond with an “I love you too”! When I respond in love to the other person it immediately involves greater commitment in my relationship with that person. It means being there for that person, listening to him or her, caring and loving unselfishly. It is a joyful commitment. It is fulfilling, but it will involve a “cost” – the cost of loving.

So it is when I hear the Word of God telling me in the depths of my being that I am loved by God. I have a choice to respond freely. When I respond in love to God I am called into a deeper commitment, to a more attentive “listening” to God in prayer. I am called to seek truth in my life guided by Scripture, the realities of the world, and my own person and teachings of the Church. I’m called to live each moment of my life in all its realities for God, to care and love unselfishly in God’s world.

There are various and equally important ways of living out this vocation to be loved and to love in return. Traditionally, men and women have lived out their vocation to love in marriage, in the single life, in the priesthood, or in the religious life (being a vowed member of a religious order).

At the root of all these forms of vocation, however, is the ultimate call from God to be loved and to love. Fr Pedro Arrupe S.J., the Superior General of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) from 1965 to 1983, described a vocation in the terms of “falling in love”:


Nothing is more important than finding God,
that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination will affect everything.
It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends,
what you read, who you know,
what breaks your heart and what amazes you with gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.

(Source: http://vocations.ca/how_am_i_being_called/personal_vocation/)

RC Diocese of Aberdeen Charitable Trust.  A registered Scottish Charity Number SC005122.
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