{"id":33287,"date":"2026-08-14T19:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T02:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/?p=33287"},"modified":"2026-08-14T19:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T02:07:09","slug":"a-network-for-vocations-mission-and-discernment-come-together-in-medellin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2026\/08\/14\/a-network-for-vocations-mission-and-discernment-come-together-in-medellin\/","title":{"rendered":"A Network for Vocations: Mission and Discernment Come Together in Medell\u00edn"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JC Montenegro, PhD, Delegate for Mission Animation<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Medell\u00edn, Colombia) \u2013<\/strong> What happens when vocation ministry becomes the responsibility not of one person or one department, but of an entire Salesian network? This question inspired a Mission and Discernment Experience in Medell\u00edn, Colombia, where 14 young men from the SUO Province<\/strong> in the United States came together for an immersion in Salesian spirituality, service, community, and vocational discernment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative grew from ongoing collaboration among three areas of Salesian ministry: Youth Ministry, Mission Animation, and Salesian Volunteers<\/strong>. Rather than approaching vocation promotion as an isolated program, these three areas began asking how their different gifts could work together to help young adults encounter Christ and discover God\u2019s call in their lives. From that conversation emerged a simple conviction: vocation promotion happens most naturally when young people are invited into the heart of the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medell\u00edn provided a particularly rich environment for this encounter. With the generous support of the Salesians in Medell\u00edn, Colombia<\/strong>, the volunteers experienced the diversity of the Salesian mission through Ciudad Don Bosco<\/strong> and ministries including CAPRE<\/strong> y Derecho a So\u00f1ar<\/strong>, as well as schools, parishes, and Salesian communities. The Colombian Salesians opened not only their ministries but also their homes, accompanying the group at key moments and helping create an environment where service, fraternity, prayer, and discernment could come together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Throughout the experience, the young men encountered children and young people facing poverty, displacement, and difficult family and social circumstances. Yet they also encountered extraordinary resilience, joy, and hope. These relationships challenged the volunteers to move beyond their comfort zones and recognize that mission is not only about what one gives, but also about allowing oneself to be transformed by those one serves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt times it felt like the young people we met were teaching us more than we were teaching them,\u201d reflected Raul<\/strong>. \u201cThis mission and young people taught me that humility and gratitude bring joy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Diego Mendez<\/strong>, leaving what was familiar created space for a deeper encounter with Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have learned how important it is to get out, to go somewhere totally different, somewhere we\u2019re not used to, and get to know Christ\u2019s love,\u201d he said. The experience challenged him \u201cto not be complacent and be more intentional\u201d about his life and service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The missionary environment also allowed vocational questions to emerge naturally. Daily prayer, formation, the traditional Salesian Good Night animated by the Salesians in the SUO Province<\/strong>, service, and informal conversations with Salesians created opportunities for participants to see vocation not simply as a decision about priesthood or religious life, but as a response to Christ expressed through the gift of one\u2019s entire life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Isaac Alejandro Esperilla<\/strong>, service became an opportunity to look more deeply at his own life. He said the experience helped him recognize fears and questions he had been avoiding and challenged him \u201cto take the leap\u201d and make his future and spiritual life a greater priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hector Castro<\/strong> captured this same vocational challenge by looking beyond the days spent in Colombia:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe that the mission didn\u2019t start when I arrived in Colombia, but when I arrived home. The real challenge is doing something with this experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others discovered that language and cultural differences did not prevent genuine relationships. Gabriel Galvan<\/strong>, who arrived concerned about his limited Spanish, discovered that presence itself could become a language of mission. \u201cWithout being able to hold a conversation, through my presence I was able to still build connections,\u201d he reflected. \u201cWe all come from different parts of the United States with different backgrounds and different stories, but God brought us here together for this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young people taking part in this experience were also taken by surprise, like the rest of the Colombian population, by the earthquake on August 10<\/strong>. Although the earthquake and its aftermath altered the program somewhat, prompting the U.S. delegation to keep the children in the community they were due to visit that day \u2013 the El Sufragio<\/strong> center in Medell\u00edn \u2013 calm and cheerful, this event also served to teach another lesson: that service requires a willingness to help and the ability to respond with faith in God when an unexpected need arises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience demonstrated the strength of networking for vocation promotion. Pastoral Juvenil<\/strong> brought its experience of accompanying young people. Mission Animation<\/strong> created opportunities for encounter and service. Salesian Volunteers<\/strong> contributed a missionary framework. The Province of Colombia<\/strong>, local directors, Salesian communities, educators, and lay collaborators provided spaces where the young adults could encounter a living Salesian mission. Each brought a different gift, but all contributed to the same vocational question: How is God calling me to give my life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Paris<\/strong>, who first encountered the opportunity through the Salesian presence at SEEK<\/strong>, expressed how this network opened an unexpected door in his own journey: \u201cIf not for them, and perhaps Blessed Laura Vicu\u00f1a<\/strong>, I would not have known about this trip and probably wouldn\u2019t have been exposed to Salesian spirituality. I am forever grateful for this experience and for getting to know the love and hospitality of the Salesians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hope is not that every participant will make the same vocational choice. Rather, each young man is encouraged to continue discerning how God is calling him to serve the Church, whether through priesthood, religious life, marriage, lay missionary commitment, or another form of Christian service. For some, that next step may include formal discernment with the Salesians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Medell\u00edn experience offered a simple but powerful lesson for Salesian vocation ministry: when the mission is placed at the center and everyone brings their gifts to the table, new possibilities emerge. Promoting vocations is not the work of one delegate or one office. It is a shared responsibility of the entire Salesian community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Youth Ministry, Mission Animation, volunteer programs, local communities, and Salesian provinces<\/strong> work together, young people are given something more powerful than an invitation to consider a vocation. They are given an opportunity to encounter the living Christ, experience the Salesian mission from within, and ask what God might be inviting them to do with their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Medell\u00edn Mission Day 6: The Strength of Community<\/a><\/blockquote>