Cardinal William Goh told Catholics that vocation refers to a permanent state of life and that ordinary singlehood is not a vocation because a person’s state in life can still change.
The archbishop of Singapore made the remarks during a “Heart-to-Heart” dialogue at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd earlier this month, where he answered questions from about 100 participants on vocation, discernment, and responding to God’s call.
The session, themed “Who’s Calling?”, was held days after the Archdiocese of Singapore ordained four new priests and expanded the discussion beyond priesthood to include marriage, work, and everyday responsibilities.
“You are called either to marriage or to priestly or religious life – ordinary singlehood is not a permanent vocation because a person’s state in life can still change,” Cardinal Goh said.
The prelate said married Catholics should give priority to their spouse and family, while priests and religious are to live out their consecration faithfully. Those who are single, he added, should live lives of love, service and holiness.
“Holiness is not just for priests or religious,” he said. “It is everyone’s vocation.”
Participants also asked how Catholics should discern God’s call when practical responsibilities and financial security appear to conflict with a desire to serve.
Cardinal Goh said an interior stirring may be the first sign of a vocation, but it must be tested through prayer, reflection, spiritual direction, and an honest assessment of one’s qualities, charisms, and responsibilities.
“Vocation begins with the heart,” he said. “The head will come later on.”
Drawing on the recent priestly ordinations, Cardinal Goh said he tells seminarians that the priesthood is not an easy life.
“Be ready to bear the crosses, because there is no ministry or service without sacrifice,” he said, adding that the crosses are “life-giving.”
“A vocation is a calling to serve God and serve your fellow men,” he said. “If you are serving yourself, that is not a vocation.”
Cardinal Goh also shared his own vocation story, recalling that his mother introduced him to the Catholic faith and that his commitment deepened through serving at the altar, attending Novena sessions, and a Rosary club he started as a teenager.
He said he enjoyed working at a bank and had considered marriage before entering the seminary after repeatedly feeling drawn to follow the Lord through homilies and Gospel readings.
Over the years, he accepted assignments he had not anticipated, including serving as seminary rector, spiritual director of the charismatic renewal, archbishop, and eventually cardinal.
Looking back on that journey, Cardinal Goh said obedience had guided each stage of his ministry. “Every minute is responding to the call of God,” he said.
