Priests are full members of the community but also serve to facilitate the sacramental life of the Church within the community by celebrating the Eucharist, Reconciliation, and Anointing of the Sick, in addition to the work they normally do as members of the community. Thus they also take on various roles as professors, administrators, counselors, missionaries and so forth. Apostolic congregations live out their calling by taking an active role in ministering to the world. The members of these communities live and often pray in common, and as their apostolate, or ministry, they operate hospitals, nursing homes, homeless shelters, high schools, etc. They have direct contact with the noisy, busy, everyday world and are highly visible in their ministry.
Monastic congregations follow a more secluded and quiet way of life.
Like their apostolic counterparts, their life is also a combination of work and prayer, but they are more separated from the outside world. They pray in common many times throughout the day. Some members may take part in ministries which take them outside the community such as giving spiritual retreats, teaching, or spiritual direction, but for many, prayer and contemplation is their life's work. Monastic and cloistered communities are a great asset because through their commitment of intense spiritual life, they help support a world which is in so great a need of prayer. The essence of a vocation to the religious life, whether priest, brother, or sister, is to give oneself completely to the calling of Christ, and to join with others who share that call to live the Christian life in a radically intense way.