I. What is the purpose of man?
a. Knowing the purpose of man will give an insight to the idea of “vocation.”
b. The purpose of man is fourfold (cf. Baltimore Catechism Lesson 1):
i. To know God
ii. To love God
iii. To serve God
iv. To glorify God
c. One must first know God in order to love God for in order to have a personal relationship knowledge of the other is first required. We love Him, and thus others, for He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
d. Once one knows God and comes to love God, one will have an earnest desire to serve God because of God’s absolute Goodness. Man has an inherit will for the Good. (Summa Theologica 2.1.8.1) Since God is absolute Good, then man will naturally seek out and serve this Good.
e. It is in our serving and loving God that we glorify Him for we are His body in this world.
f. Man’s ultimate purpose is to glorify God, but this does not mean that this was done out of necessity, nor does it add anything to God. This was an act of love for God to create man. (CCC 295).
II. What is a vocation?
a. Vocation comes from the Latin word voco,-are meaning “to call.”
b. From what is God calling us?
i. God calls us from the world.
ii. God calls us from the Church by our Baptism (CCC 1533).
iii. God calls us from our past lives.
c. To what does God call us?
i. God calls us to Himself (CCC 1).
d. How does one come closer to God?
i. Through the Son.
ii. Through service in one’s vocation.
e. Thus one’s vocation is one’s personal calling from God to God. The vocation is the individual service that we are called to live out so that we may fulfill God’s will for ourselves. It is the service that God calls us to so that we might have a fuller relationship with Him through the Son (CCC 1877). It is how a person gets from point A (the world) to point B (God).
i. World-----Vocation-----àGod
III. What does a vocation entail?
a. A vocation entails holiness.
i. As one comes to love and serve God, one renounces sin and all its temptation.
ii. One strives to become holy as our Lord God is holy (Mt 5:48)
b. A vocation entails a deep relationship with Christ.
i. It is only through coming to the Son may one come to the Father.
ii. In seeking to serve and glorify the Father we must also strive to know the Son for they are One (Jn 10:30-33).
iii. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 4:16).
c. A vocation entails charity or love.
i. Man’s ultimate vocation is to show forth the glory of God, in whose image we are made. Since God is love (Deus amor est), we are called to live a life of love and charity.
d. A vocation entails self-sacrifice and self-denial.
i. We are called to pick up and carry our cross (Mt 10:38).
ii. We are told the we are to suffer many trials to strengthen our faith (1 Pet 1:6).
iii. In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, I must decrease.”
iv. We must make ourselves small in spirit so that we may be filled with Christ.
IV. How does one find one’s personal vocation?
a. Watch and pray-
i. Christ told His disciples in the garden before His Passion to watch and pray (Mark 14:38).
ii. Only when one quiets one’s own desires and will can one listen to God.
iii. By praying and silencing our own voice we are able to open ourselves to being led by the Spirit.
iv. The Spirit does not enter where it is not welcomed, and so by praying we invite the Spirit to lead us.
b. Seek spiritual counsel-
i. As we see in the call of Samuel (1 Sam 3:1-14), it was only after his mentor, Eli, pointing out that it was God calling was Samuel able to respond.
ii. By learning from those who have more wisdom and experience in discerning God’s will, we may come to a fuller understanding of where God is calling us.
iii. Without proper guidance, we may mistake the call of God for something else as Samuel did.
c. Know thyself (Socrates)-
i. The unexamined life is not worth living. One must strive to know oneself through and through. This means to know one’s faults and strengths, for it is both those faults and strengths that God will call into His service.
ii. God has planted your vocation within you. You must know your likes/dislikes and interests to better serve God.
V. What are the different types of vocations?
a. There are three major “groups” of vocations.
b. Ordained ministry-
i. Deacon- Either may be transitional to the priesthood, or may be to the permanent deaconate.
ii. Priests- Some men are called to become ordained priests. This entails studying in seminary for a number of years and promises of obedience and celibacy made to the bishop. It is a life alone, but not a lonely life.
iii. Bishop- Some who are priests are called to be bishops. This is decided by the pope with the aid of his nuncio in that country. 
c. Religions life-
i. Religious life is not the ordained ministry (although some who live the religious life may be called to ordination), but neither are they laity. It merits its own separate category because of the dynamics of the call.
ii. Monks- males who live in communities and whose main apostolate is prayer or contemplative life (e.g.: Benedictines, Cistercians, Carthusians)
iii. Friars/mendicants- men or women who may live in a community but whose main apostolate is some type of work or service such as teaching or aiding the poor (e.g.: Dominicans, Fransiscans)
d. Laity-
i. Those who are not called to religious life or ordained ministry.
ii. Married state- those who are called to be married and raise a family as a witness to the world.
iii. Single- those who are not called to the married state, but to a single life serving God.
e. A common misconception-
i. All people are called to chastity, which is purity of heart. Not all people are called to celibacy, or sexual abstinence.

I got to agree with Morostheos.  Oh also wanted to add, I am not hundred precent sure it is everywhere, but in most places, I know it true for the diocese I am studing for. In addition to  "promises of obedience and celibacy made to the bishop" there is a  third promise, Prayer - They promise to pray the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours)
God Bless
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