Category: Vocations

Three Keys for Couples
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Three Keys for Couples

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by on Jan 21, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, Marriage, Men, Parenting, Vocations
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Years ago, I shared a memorable conversation with Catholic author Taylor Marshall while we both worked at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. Taylor told me about some advice that, in his words, an “old, crusty Episcopalian priest” had given him shortly before his wedding: “The keys to a good marriage are threefold: to […]

Blessed Mother Knows Best
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Blessed Mother Knows Best

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by on Jan 09, 2015 in Catechesis, Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, Men, Parenting, Vocations
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Passing on the faith at home with Marian piety During his installation at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago last November, Archbishop Blase Cupich challenged those in attendance to pass on the faith to young people through their “authenticity of life, where words match deeds.” The message was not just for Catholic teachers and youth ministers, […]

Saved Through the Flesh
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Saved Through the Flesh

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by on Jan 08, 2015 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, Vocations
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Jesus Christ didn’t save us with an idea, with an intellectual program, no. He saved us with his flesh, with the concreteness of the flesh.” -Pope Francis This quote from Pope Francis slipped across my screen as I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed. I didn’t slow down as I was looking for something […]

TV Review: <em>The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns</em>
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TV Review: The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns

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by on Dec 30, 2014 in Featured, On Media, Vocations
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Reality TV about five young women discerning their vocation at three different convents? How could this be the proper vehicle? Won’t the cameras interfere with or even hamstring this very personal and intimate process? Will it “work”? When I heard that such an animal was coming down the pike, I had great apprehension, even when […]

You're Safe with Daddy
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You’re Safe with Daddy

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by on Dec 22, 2014 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, Men, Parenting, Vocations
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There is a prevalence of inordinate fear and anxiety in Western culture today. Yet, we are called not to live a fear-driven life, but rather a life of deeply rooted faith and trust in our loving, all powerful, caring Father in heaven. Yes, He is your Father. We all innately desire safety and security. But, […]

Ode to Feminine Genius: A Family Woman
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Ode to Feminine Genius: A Family Woman

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by on Dec 16, 2014 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, The Feminine Genius, Vocations, Women
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When I was a child I always said I wanted 9 children. In fact, I said I wanted 9 boys! I would tell people I wanted my own baseball team, not a softball team, a baseball team. Family was important to me and I hoped and prayed that one day I would find someone who […]

Confessions of a Publicly Grumpy Mom
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Confessions of a Publicly Grumpy Mom

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by on Dec 12, 2014 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, Parenting, Vocations, Women
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Milk and toothpaste. That’s all that was left on my shopping list as I maneuvered myself, two shopping carts (one of the race car variety) and my five youngest sons toward the back of our local supermarket. The oldest boy was big enough to push a cart, only occasionally racing down an aisle or bumping […]

Weak Marriage Preparation Fuels the Vocations Crisis
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Weak Marriage Preparation Fuels the Vocations Crisis

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by on Nov 17, 2014 in Featured, Marriage, Vocations
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Articles relating to the sanctity of marriage have been churning out from Catholic media sources recently. The identity of marriage as between a man and a woman has been outlined and explained. Volumes have been written about the sacredness of sex and the scandal of contraception. Catholic couples with even limited exposure to Catholic media […]

Vocations: All About Life
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Vocations: All About Life

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by on Nov 06, 2014 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured, MyChurchParish.com, Vocations
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This week (November 2 – 8) is Vocations Awareness Week. Since I began my full-time work with Priests for Life over 20 years ago, one of the first things I became aware of was that many young people today are finding their vocation precisely because of the Church’s witness to the sanctity of life amidst […]

Profession of Vows: Wildflower in the Pages of an Ancient Book
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Profession of Vows: Wildflower in the Pages of an Ancient Book

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by on Sep 16, 2014 in Featured, Live in Christ, Vocations
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I made my first vows of poverty, chastity and obedience on August 30, 2014. Visibly not much has changed. The biggest change is the veil I am wearing now. It has cleared up a lot of confusion. When I walk down the street, people now look at me and usually know what I am. In […]

The Story of a Seminarian, From a Mom's Point of View
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The Story of a Seminarian, From a Mom’s Point of View

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by on Aug 13, 2014 in Featured, Parenting, Vocations, Women
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When I first became a mom, I was not quite 23 years old. I lived 3 hours away from my parents and my friends, and I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t have the internet or blogs back in those days, I really felt like we were completely on our own. I […]

June 1-2: Triumph with <em>Messenger of The Truth</em> on PBS
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June 1-2: Triumph with Messenger of The Truth on PBS

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by on May 31, 2014 in Featured, History, On Media, On TV and Movies, Vocations
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This Sunday, June 1, and Monday, June 2, a miracle of sorts takes place on mainstream TV as PBS affiliates broadcast a documentary about a heroic Catholic priest. Messenger of The Truth is about Blessed Father Jerzy Popieluszko, chaplain to the Solidarity labor union that nonviolently took down the communist regime in Poland. Some efforts to […]

Stubborn Donna
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Stubborn Donna

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by on May 26, 2014 in Featured, Live in Christ, Vocations
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Donna Russell just sat there on the bench being what she was: a twelve-year-old child and as stubborn as a mule. Helen, her sister, sat beside her. They both refused to look at me. I was furious. It was late in the game and we were down ten points. This was my first year coaching […]

From Merciless Linebacker to Merciful Messenger
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From Merciless Linebacker to Merciful Messenger

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by on Apr 26, 2014 in Evangelization, Featured, Interviews, Live in Christ, Sports, Vocations
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Eric Mahl has always loved a challenge. In his youth, it was the prospect of being the best football player ever. This desire drove him to bench press 450 pounds, earn an NCAA Division I football scholarship and later a place on the Cleveland Browns’ roster. The 30-year-old Ohio native’s challenge now, however, is sharing the […]

Reflections For Sunday, February 9, 2014
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Reflections For Sunday, February 9, 2014

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by on Feb 05, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Sunday Reflections, Vocations
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Meditation and Questions for Reflectoin/Group Discussion (Isaiah 58:7-10; Psalm 112:4-9; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16) What it Means to Demonstrate the Power of God to Others … with a demonstration of spirit and power. (1 Corinthians 2:4) Christians are called to be kind and generous, to serve those in need, and to be honest and […]

United in Heart and Soul to Our Beloved
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United in Heart and Soul to Our Beloved

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by on Jan 22, 2014 in Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Marriage, MyChurchParish.com, Vocations
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Aimed at greater intimacy than the one-flesh union, married love “leads to forming one heart and soul,” states the Catechism. (Section 1643). How do married couples become one in heart and soul, especially when the demands of daily life keep getting in the way? Becoming One Heart Talk to your beloved about what’s in your […]

Why Priests Should Celebrate the Extraordinary Form
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Why Priests Should Celebrate the Extraordinary Form

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by on Jan 21, 2014 in Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, MyChurchParish.com, Vocations
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One of the things I enjoy the most about my job here is interacting with priests.  It’s really humbling to know that some of the guys who instruct the souls from the pulpit every Sunday work with me on publishing their next column, or even read my columns and take some of the advice.  Lay […]

Pope Francis Composes New Prayer for Families, Synod
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Pope Francis Composes New Prayer for Families, Synod

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by on Jan 13, 2014 in Featured, Live in Christ, Vocations
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On the Feast of the Holy Family, December 29, 2013, Pope Francis invited all Catholics to pray for families as the Church prepares for an Extraordinary Synod to examine the troubling disconnect between Church teaching and the reality of modern family life. In his Angelus address given to the crowds in St. Peter’s Square, Pope […]

My Son’s Discernment and His Call for Confession
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My Son’s Discernment and His Call for Confession

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by on Dec 13, 2013 in Featured, MyChurchParish.com, Parenting, Vocations
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The art of daily discernment is a practice and a virtue that many of us tend to forget and at times ignore. By definition the act of discernment from the Latin meaning discernere means one’s ability to distinguish what is happening around them whether positive or negative and to move toward a sound resolution of […]

This is My Calling, This is My Vocation
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This is My Calling, This is My Vocation

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by on Dec 05, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, Marriage, Vocations
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I am a conundrum: a rather outmoded sort of woman, ridiculed by modern career women, vilified by the earth’s prophets of doom and sanctified by the religious right. I was the least likely candidate to have a lot of children. I had never even held a baby before my first born.You would think having nine children would have […]

Book Review: <i>Yes, God!</i>
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Book Review: Yes, God!

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by on Dec 04, 2013 in Featured, On Books, Parenting, Vocations
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Have you ever looked at a priest or religious and wondered how it was that he or she came to be there – what made that person willing and able to say “yes” to God’s call? Susie Lloyd, author of Please Don’t Drink the Holy Water and Bless Me, Father, For I Have Kids, decided […]

When the Vicar of Christ Imitates Christ, Why is it so Alarming?
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When the Vicar of Christ Imitates Christ, Why is it so Alarming?

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by on Nov 06, 2013 in Featured, Live in Christ, Vocations
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It now seems so long ago, but just eight months ago Pope Benedict the Beloved resigned the papacy. Catholics had no modern frame of reference for such an event, and many with agendas of their own in the news media, and even in the Church, used our shock and dismay to sow discord and doubt. […]

A Singular Vocation
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A Singular Vocation

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by on Oct 31, 2013 in Dating & Singles, Featured, Vocations
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When my fiancé and I were still just dating, we approached our priest and spiritual director and asked him how we might discern if we were called to marriage together. He leaned back in his chair and said, “You have to know how to pray, and what to ask when you pray.” Father went on […]

Movie Review: <i>Light of Love</i>
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Movie Review: Light of Love

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by on Oct 18, 2013 in Featured, On TV and Movies, Vocations
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Light of Love is a new 60-minute documentary by Imagine Sisters. What, you ask, is “Imagine Sisters”? And whatever “Imagine Sisters” is, isn’t it bad syntax? “Imagine Sisters” is a movement (begun by Chicago seminarians—out of the goodness of their hearts and under the patronage of St. Therese) to encourage women’s religious vocations. “Imagine Sisters” […]