By EmmaLee Italia | Correspondent

"God has extraordinary dreams for every one of us," said Father James Grogan, regional vocations director for Burlington County and parochial vicar, Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Moorestown.

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These and many other inspirational thoughts were offered to the students of Holy Cross Academy, Delran, during their Vocation Awareness Day Nov. 17.

All classes began the day with Mass in the school auditorium, celebrated by Father Grogan, and concelebrated by Father Todd Carter, parochial vicar of Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish, Hamilton; Father Walter Quiceno, parochial vicar of St. Rose Parish, Belmar, and Msgr. Ronald Bacovin, a retired priest of the Diocese and current chaplain of Holy Cross Academy.

 "Where do our dreams line up with God's?" Father Grogan asked during his homily. "We all have dreams and plans for our lives; so do our parents, and so does God ... The real challenge (in life) is to find God's dream for us so we can allow our dreams to align with his."

Father Grogan urged the students to become comfortable and familiar with talking to those in religious vocations, and asking them about the life God chose for them.

"We are created in the image of God, created to be the fulfillment of his dream," he continued. "All of our experiences give us the opportunity to ask God, 'what do you have in mind for me?'"

Encouraging them to pray for each other as well as themselves, Father Grogan reminded the teens to "give yourselves the gift of time ... to ask what (God) dreams for you."

While the boys remained in the auditorium for a presentation about the priesthood, the girls proceeded to the cafeteria to listen to three sisters of different religious orders recount their personal vocation stories, and to answer questions they might have about religious life.

Filippini Sister Shirlee Tremont began by asking the girls, "How much will you give? Give of yourself in whatever way God is asking you to."

Sister Shirlee had wanted to serve God in the way she saw fit, but came to realize through prayer that God was asking her for more.

"I heard in prayer, 'I don't want the fruit of your labor - I want the tree that produces the fruit!' God wanted me," she said. Drawing inspiration from the Gospel of the loaves and fishes, Sister Shirlee realized that "The Lord is asking me to give all my gifts back to him, so he can take those gifts - like the bread and the fish - and give them to the multitude. And I allowed him to work through me."

Meanwhile the young men, following a short YouTube presentation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' video "Fishers of Men," were treated to the personal stories of several priests and a seminarian of the Diocese.

"In high school, I began to think more deeply about everything," said Chris Pinto, a seminarian studying at St. Mary Seminary (and University), Baltimore. "The thought struck me: 'What am I going to do with my life? What can I do to have a lasting impact?" Pinto thought that through teaching he had found his calling; after 15 years as a school band director, he felt that God was calling him to more.

"I can only give credit to the Holy Spirit who inspired me," Pinto recalled. "The question all of a sudden became for me ... 'how am I meant to love?'"

As Father Grogan passed out vocation discernment cards to each young man in attendance, Pinto encouraged them not to get caught up in the pressure of trying to figure out their life's plan immediately.

"You have time," he said. "When you're trying to figure out what college you're going to, what career you want to pursue, know that you have time... Just think about how you're meant to love with your life."

Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Marianne Lallone and Salesian Sister Theresa Lee also addressed the young women, sharing their personal stories of being called to their vocations, and answering questions - everything from "do you have to be born Catholic to become a nun?" to "do you have to wear your habit all the time?"

"This is who I am publicly and privately ... and I'm very proud of it and I'm very happy, so I have no desire to be wearing anything else than what I'm wearing now," said Sister Theresa, to enthusiastic applause from the girls.

"God is good - God will not be outdone in generosity," she continued. "Don Bosco (our patron saint) always advised, 'Trust in Jesus and Mary, and you will see what miracles are.'"

Father Todd Carter, who is also chaplain in Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, converted to Catholicism while in college, thanks in part to many friends who were great witnesses of the faith. His involvement in campus ministries and Bible studies led him to consider the priesthood as a potential path.

"If God is actually calling you, listen," he told the boys. "And you can only listen through prayer ... I think one of the reasons we have something of a vocations crisis is that people aren't listening, and people are afraid to open up in prayer, to turn to the Lord."

Father Carter said he believes that the calling to the priesthood is one of the best lives that anyone could have.

"It's a life of being there for people at the greatest moments of their lives. It's a life of doing something incredibly meaningful."

As vocations director for the Hispanic community of the Diocese and chaplain of St. Rose High School, Belmar, Father Quiceno knows all too well the struggles his young charges face when considering a religious vocation.

"I can guess that many of you are thinking, 'We are wasting our time here; I don't want to be a priest,'" he said. "When I was in high school, I said that over and over. And when my elder brother became a priest, I said, 'Forget it; the family got its priest' ... But you never know how God is gonna call you."

He also recalled not wanting to learn English, thinking he would never use the language and he had no intention of going to the United States "But God is laughing at you when you are making your plans," he explained. "God is powerful; God can really convince you that you can be a good priest."

Father Quiceno left the young men with a final bit of advice.

"Don't block your mind and your heart. Let the Holy Spirit work through you. And let God call you at the right time. (There are) marvelous deeds God can work in your life."