[Note: I'll be away this week, and so won't be blogging--I tried to use the scheduled posts feature, but it seems to be still not working.] The Benedictine monks of Norcia, Italy (where my brother is a monk), have just received from the Ecclesia Dei commission of the Holy See the apostolate of celebrating the [...]
Archive for the ‘vocation’ Category
Only excerpts or summaries of the posts are shown on this page. Click on the title of a post to see the whole post.Benedictines in Norcia to Celebrate in Both Forms
Monday, July 6th, 2009Priestly vocation, holiness and service
Friday, May 15th, 2009Can the desire "to become perfect," to grow in holiness, be one's motivation for being ordained a priest? On first consideration, this might seem totally inappropriate, as the priesthood is not given in the first place for a man's personal perfection, but in order for him to serve Christ, as his representative. Thus, St. Alphonsus [...]
Vocation Sunday
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009This Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday (so called by reason of the Gospel read at Mass today). Pope Paul VI designated Good Shepherd Sunday as a World Day of Prayer for Vocations, and it still remains this. It is a fitting day for vocations on account of the Gospel for the Mass: [...]
Is Marriage for the Weak
Sunday, February 8th, 2009The Vocation of Marriage Is marriage only for the weak? Are only those called to marriage who don't have a strong enough will to give themselves totally to Christ and his Church in virginity or celibacy? It could certainly seem so from St. Paul: "If his passions are strong, and it has to be, let [...]
Universal Call to Holiness
Sunday, January 25th, 2009"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call" (Eph. 4:4). St. Francis de Sales, whose feast we celebrate today, is known for his teaching that all Christians are called to holiness. The teaching of the universal call to holiness did not originate [...]
Discerning Your Personal Vocation
Sunday, January 18th, 2009I came across an interesting article by Fr. Peter Ryan, How to Discern Elements of Your Personal Vocation. [No longer accessible at the original address]. The article is a bit disorganized, jumping back and forth between points, but it is thought provoking, and raises some interesting questions, which I'll address in upcoming blogposts. He gives [...]
Questions for those discerning a religious vocation
Monday, January 5th, 2009Fr. Philip Powell gives some good practical points, and questions that those discerning a religious vocation should ask themselves. These questions to ask when discerning a vocation may be found, together with comments on the Anti-Christ, and the difference between magic and prayer, at his blog Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!
Predestination and hope in St. Paul
Friday, December 5th, 2008I've recently had the occasion, in working with a student on predestination, to consider once again the role of predestination in St. Paul's letter to the Romans. It seems to some that the doctrine of predestination is at best useless, and at worst a dangerous doctrine, which tends to produce either presumption or despair. There [...]
Consequences of failing to follow a vocation
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008Is not following a vocation a sin? If someone does not follow his vocation, is it more or less impossible for him to live a holy life? Sometime ago I received such questions by e-mail, and now post them here (in edited form), with responses, with the hope that they will be helpful to others. [...]
My Vocation is Love!
Thursday, September 11th, 2008“O Jesus, my Love, finally I have found my vocation: my vocation is Love!… Yes, I have found my place in the Church, and it is you, O my God, who have given me this place… in the heart of the Church, my Mother, I will be Love!…. Thus I shall be all things: thus [...]
I am a Catholic seminarian and deacon in Vienna, and a teacher at the