When Fr Mark Ravizza, SJ, Counsellor for Formation at the General Curia, addressed the MAGIS Think In gathering in Rome, he posed a question that cuts to the heart of the meeting: Is vocational discernment an “add-on” to young adult ministry, or is it integrated into the very heart of accompanying young people?

The distinction matters. An “add-on” approach treats vocation promotion as one more item on an already busy schedule – a talk here, a retreat there, a poster on the wall. An integrated approach sees vocational discernment as inseparable from the mission of accompanying young adults to discover who they are and what their lives are truly about.

Let Your Life Speak

Fr Ravizza drew on the wisdom of Parker Palmer, the Quaker educator and author, to illuminate the path. “Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am”, Palmer writes. This insight re-imagines the entire conversation about vocation. It is not primarily about recruiting young people to particular states of life but about helping them listen deeply to what God is already doing in their lives.

“Vocation does not come from willfulness”, Palmer continues. “It comes from listening. I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about – quite apart from what I would like it to be about – or my life will never represent anything real.”

This is precisely the gift that Ignatian Spirituality offers: a tradition of discernment, of paying attention to interior movements, of finding God in all things. When young adults are accompanied in this way, the question of vocation emerges naturally from the depths of their own experience.

A Summons from Without

Vocation is not only about interior listening. The German novelist Hermann Hesse captured another dimension: “There are many types and kinds of call, but the core of the experience is always the same: the soul is awakened by it, transformed, or exalted, so that instead of dreams and presentiments from within, a summons comes from without. A portion of reality presents itself and makes its claim.”

This is why service, encounter with the poor, and immersion experiences are so central to the MAGIS movement. When young adults come face to face with the reality of suffering – in Myanmar, in Gaza, in the favelas of Brazil, in the margins of their own cities – something happens. Reality makes its claim. And in that encounter, many discover a call they never expected.

From Add-On to Integration

Fr Paul Shelton, SJ, Young Adult ministry representative from the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States (JCCU) and Provincial Assistant for Vocations for the Midwest Jesuits, reflected on what integration might look like in practice. “For too long, we’ve treated vocation promotion and young adult ministry as separate tracks”, he said. “But when you accompany a young person through the Spiritual Exercises, when you walk with them through a service immersion, when you help them reflect on their deepest desires – you are already doing vocation ministry. The question is whether we name it as such, and whether we create space for all vocations to emerge: marriage, single life, religious life, priesthood. Our job is not to push young people toward any particular answer, but to help them hear the question that God is asking them.”

This integrated vision will shape the MAGIS movement going forward – and will be a key theme at MAGIS 2027 in Korea, where thousands of young adults will gather for experiences designed not just to inspire, but to help them discern the life that wants to live in them.

To learn more about the Magis Think In gathering that took place in early January in Rome, read our article “Lift Off for MAGIS: Young Adults Answering the Call”.