From a perspective of faith, everyone shares some common fundamental questions: What is the true meaning for my existence? What is God's plan for my life? To what fruitfulness am I called? To discern one's vocation is to find the answers to these fundamental questions of life. It’s...
I’ve always wanted to be a priest and heal souls! That’s why I’m discerning the priesthood. But lately, I’ve lost interest and think maybe God isn’t calling me any more. One of the most difficult parts of discerning your vocation is knowing when to accept a...
You can’t discern totally online — you need to talk to a person! The Internet has made it really easy to find all kinds of information about discerning a vocation, and that’s great! Information about religious orders, seminaries, and discernment in general, is available with just...
We know almost nothing about St. Joseph. Scripture tells us relatively little, and pious tradition should be taken with a grain of salt. But what we do know about his life can be a great help and consolation to one who is in the turmoil of...
When Pope Francis was a young seminarian in his twenties, he had to think about celibacy very carefully. A few years ago, when he was a cardinal, he recalled in an interview: "I was dazzled by a girl I met at an uncle's wedding...
The extreme heroism of a few priests is well known. You've heard stories of priests who were martyred, or sacrificed their own lives for others, or endured great hardships for the sake of the Gospel. Imagine a man who comes home to see his house on...
In a previous E-Newsletter, we talked about what prayer is (and is not). This article focuses more specifically on how to pray. To begin, here are some important points to consider: Rely on God. We can’t develop a relationship with God by ourselves. We must rely on...
Becoming a mountain-climber is not a one-time event. You don’t just “go climb a mountain” without ever having done it before. It takes knowledge, hours of practice, patience and perseverance. It’s hard work! But what compels a man to climb a mountain? If he’s never been...
Can you imagine the Church today without the influence of one of the greatest priest-saints of the 19th century, St. John Vianney? It easily could have happened. The world could have been completely unaware of the existence of the man named Jean Marie Vianney, if he...