Mrs. Renée Dee

Tell us about your role in vocation ministry.

I'm the national vocation director for the Missionaries of La Salette. I'm also the co-coordinator of the NRVC Southeast Member Area. 

How long have you been in vocation ministry, and what did you do prior to that?

I've been in this role nearly two years. Before that I was a parish director of religious education and had also taught first grade in a Catholic school.

Are you part of a vocation team?

I work with priests and brothers who serve part time as regional vocation directors. With me in the office full time, they can better use their time ministering in parishes and shrines, while still supporting vocation ministry.

Has being a member of NRVC been helpful?

NRVC’s "Orientation for New Vocation Directors" workshop is invaluable, providing ideas, support, and resources to new ministers. Ongoing, the staff is supportive and energetic, quick to answer questions and offer resources.  

What ideas have you used lately that you were excited about?

Integrating our La Salette Laity with our vocation programming has been exciting and effective. We held our summer Come and See Retreat (for men discerning consecrated life) at the same time and place as the La Salette Laity National Retreat. The discerners experienced the support of La Salette Laity through conversation and shared meetings. The interaction was wonderful and created a vibrant environment of prayer.

What has been an important insight for you in this ministry?

Working with men interested in religious life is only one part of my position.  A valuable part of this ministry is creating a culture of vocations, where churches, laity, parishioners, schools, and students are involved in a conversation about vocations. The more we talk about vocations, display posters about vocations, distribute vocations “swag,” initiate vocation prayer opportunities, and construct vocation discussion events, the more evident a vocation culture is.

The greatest compliment I have heard recently is, “We haven’t talked this much about vocations in years!”

Can you share a fun fact about yourself?

My husband and I are parents to three adult children, all married. Also, I volunteer as the resident historian of a Gilded Age mansion that was once a private home, then a La Salette Seminary, and now is a resort hotel close to my home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.