SEEK 2019 – ask the BIG questions of life!

Do you have all the answers to life’s BIG questions?

Not many do. That’s why there is SEEK.

Today, Thursday, January 3rd is the kick-off of five days of fantastic Catholic speakers taking place in Indianapolis. In order for those of us who cannot manage to get to Indiana for five days, it will be available live stream to your media device.

Find below the schedule of each day, with a video link for the live stream.

WHO IS SEEK FOR? These talks are geared toward young adults, but can be great for older high school teens and their parents, as well as any other who is asking the BIG questions of life. Check out the introductory video below, and scroll further down for the great topics of this event! A great way to kick off your year! #LifesBigQuestions #Vocations

How to watch? Scroll below and see what you want to see. Tune in to that day’s video link, and enjoy! Times posted are for Mountain Standard Time!

DAY 1:  Thursday, January 3rd

Opening Mass — 5:00 p.m. MST (all below times are Mountain Time)

Keynote:
Curtis Martin — 6:44 p.m.
Leah Darrow — 7:08 p.m.

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DAY 2:  Friday, January 4th

Mass — 6:30 a.m.

Lisa Cotter – 8:40 a.m.
Identity Rooted and Revealed in Jesus Christ (Women’s Session) 

Damon Owens – 9:25 a.m.
Identity Rooted and Revealed in Jesus Christ (Men’s Session) 

Jennifer Fulwiler – 11:45 a.m.
How I Found Truth as an Atheist 

Dr. Timothy Gray – 12:30 p.m.
Can You Trust God?

Damon Owens – 1:15
The Theology of the Body

Fr. Mike Schmitz – 2:00 p.m.
Pray the Mass Like Never Before

Fr. Agustino Torres: – 2:45 p.m.
Mi Cultura, Mi Fe | My Culture, My Faith

Deacon Larry Oney – 3:30 p.m.
Your Call is Irrevocable 

Keynotes: 
Scott Hahn — 5:38 p.m.
Sr. Miriam James Heidland — 6:03 p.m.

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DAY 3: Saturday, January 5th

Mass — 6:30 a.m.

Sarah Swafford – 8:44 a.m.
Encounter Who Jesus Calls You to Be in Your Relationships (Women’s Session) 

Jason Evert – 9:25 a.m.
Encounter Who Jesus Calls You to Be in Your Relationships (Men’s Session) 

Stephanie Gray – 11:45 a.m.
Love Unleashes Life – Abortion and the Art of Communicating Truth 

Paul J. Kim – 12:30 p.m.
A Catholic Millennial’s Guide to Adulting

Dr. Scott Hahn – 1:45 p.m.
The Fourth Cup – Unveiling the Mystery of the Last Supper and the Cross  

Emily Wilson – 2:30 p.m.
Go Bravely – The Life of St. Joan of Arc

Crystalina Evert – 3:15 p.m.
Conquering Your Demons With Love and Abandonment 

Keynotes: 
Sr. Bethany Madonna , S.V. — 5:39 p.m.
Jason Evert — 6:01 p.m.

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DAY 4: Sunday, January 6th

Mass — 6:30 a.m.

Lila Rose – 8:39 a.m.
Impact the World as a Disciple (Women’s Session) 

Dr. Jonathan Reyes – 9:20 a.m.
Impact the World as a Disciple (Men’s Session)

Lisa Brenninkmeyer – 11:45 a.m.’
Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts 

Fr. Mathias Thelen, S.T.L. – 12:30 p.m.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit 

George Weigel – 1:15 p.m.
St. John Paul II and the New Evangelization

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers – 2:00 p.m.
Vocation and Mission in the Lives of Catholic Men

Brian Greenfield – 2:45 p.m.
Call to Conversion – the Reckless Pursuit of More

Fr. Rafael Capó – 3:30 p.m.
Jóvenes Latinos: Hispanic Young People in the U.S. and the Call to Missionary Discipleship

Keynotes:
Dr. Edward Sri — 5:40 p.m.
Chris Stefanick — 6:05 p.m.

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DAY 5: Monday, January 7th

Keynotes:

Jennifer Fulwiler — 7:06 a.m.

Fr. Mike Schmitz — 7:31 a.m.

Closing Mass — 8:30 a.m.

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Lenten Prayer – with Mary

When I was discerning religious life, I had no intention of entering with the Canossian Sisters.

I know, I hear my friends saying, “Er…but Sr Lisa Marie, isn’t that the religious order you are with?”

Yes. I am a Canossian Sister, and have found my home in this beautiful Canossian religious family. How is it that I am here was settled by one prayer that our Sisters around the world pray each morning, asking for the intercession of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows:

Father, you willed that Mary
be at the Foot of the Cross
sharing in the sacrifice of your Son.
Grant, that
through her intercession,
we may bear within ourselves
the image of Christ
Crucified and Risen,
and spend ourselves
with untiring charity
for the good
of our brothers and sisters,
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

I remember the first time I heard the Sisters pray these words, I knew.

It was as though, like the Baptist to his disciples, ‘Look, the Lamb of God.’ And when they heard this, they followed Jesus (John 1:36-37).

When I heard the words “image of Christ Crucified” and “spend ourselves with untiring charity”, I intuitively knew I found my spiritual home.

During this Lenten season, it is a time to follow the Lord towards Jerusalem. We can imagine his knowing each footstep carried him closer to future he didn’t want, yet, he walked on the same out of love for the Father and for us, for the ‘good of his brothers and sisters’.

This is my Lenten journey. This is the Canossian way of life. This is my Christian way of life. May I walk it in love for the Father each day ‘with untiring charity for the good of our brothers and sisters’. May others be inspired desire to follow this way of service to the Father, through the contemplation of the Greatest Love on the Cross, with Mary at their side. Amen.

The Path of Love

Today, in commemoration of my ten year anniversary of profession, I break retreat for a brief instant to share my gratitude that God would take me to be His own.

No words express my sentiment better than those of our Foundress; she writes in her memoirs:

“I have to tread the path of love ( I must do this!), so I took courage and began as usual to give in to some expression. Gradually, my old desire for the glory of God swept over me. As I repeatedly offered myself to the Lord, it crossed through my mind that this might be the right moment to pronounce the vow of perpetual chastity. Then, with all the affection I could muster, I pronounced my vow. The thought of belonging wholly to Jesus Christ overwhelmed me to the extent that I could think of nothing else. I simply told our Lord, that henceforth, He would be my very own, and I begged Him to take care of everything.”
Saint Magdalene of Canossa
Foundress, Canossian Sisters

So, rejoice with me today, that God loves us in such a way that He, the Maker of the stars of heaven, would stoop down  and espouse Himself to a mere creature such as myself.

—
Note: back to retreat now. I’ll re- emerge Sunday. Holding the intentions of my readers in my prayers. God’s abundant blessings upon each of you! Sr. Lisa Marie

About Spiritual Motherhood

Simcha Fisher at National Catholic Register wrote a post exploring her own understanding of what spiritual motherhood is about:

“This notion (spiritual motherhood) gave me hives for many years, since I was already fully surrounded by my offspring before I started to feel really comfortable or confident in my role as mother. Maybe my problem was that I was expecting to feel motherly right away…once I started to feel it more for my own children, I took my responsibility toward the motherless people of the world much more seriously.”

She goes on to ask, “…if you, like me, had to learn to adapt to this role, what helped you get there? Do you still struggle? If you don’t have physical children, do you feel that you’re fulfilling this vocation?”

In reading Simcha’s post, I could relate with her on many points, even though I have never given birth to children of my own, I have had to grow into my own ‘motherhood’.

Ever since I was a small girl, I had an aversion to barbies and dolls, preferring to care for animals instead. Maybe it was because the dogs, cats, rats, rabbits and hamsters were really living, breathing things, rather than plastic and immobile objects. Yet, I also remember the first time I held a real baby, my little brother Michael. I was afraid I would drop him, and so instead of holding him with love, I held him in fear.  On the other hand, I had from a young age an affinity for Mother Teresa of Calcutta. I remember my first introduction to her when I was seven. I was sitting in my Nana’s playroom, and of all the toys she had in the closet for us, I would always go to some books in the corner of the room, a series of them had a section on countries and cultures. One day, the book I picked up was featuring India and the story of Mother Teresa. What struck me was, in fact, her caring for the broken human beings she encountered with great tenderness and compassion. The story made me ponder how was it that she could care so deeply about these whom she didn’t know. What was it that made her pick up that first dying man on the street? Was she afraid she would ‘drop him’? That he might die in her arms rather than get well?

Sr Lisa in Indonesia

My ‘awakening’ to my calling to be a mother to others first came the summer after my first vows, in 2002. I was helping with the summer program for Catholic youth in Vimercate, Italy. I was playing futbol (soccer) with the children, and managed to score a goal. The boys started cheering, “Madre, Madre, Madre!” I was looking around to see who they were talking about – who is this ‘Mother’ they were shouting for – sheepishly remembering that is the title the Italians use for religious women – Madre. Mother. It was a moment of reconciling for me, both my call as a celibate who, under a vow of chastity, chose to follow Christ in this way, offering my own motherhood to God and in doing so became a mother to God’s children, all humanity.  It is an overwhelming thought.

After ten years of professed life, I am still discovering what it means to love those who are not my own, and in the process understanding more deeply my own vocational call to religious consecrated life. As Simcha mentions in recalling her own experience, it was – and continues to be for me – a growing into motherhood. The key to its success is not our inbred feminine disposition for nurturing (although I imagine having it, makes the motherly role come more naturally), but more important is one’s steadfastness in their living out their vocation. This makes sense reading Simcha’s words, “I was already fully surrounded by my offspring before I started to feel really comfortable or confident in my role as mother.”  These words ring true in my own experience, the importance of living faithfully our calling goes way beyond one’s feelings: it is commitment.

This idea of commitment plays out so true, recalling my own childhood, being one of seven children. We were a handful for my mother, that much I remember, often teasing each other to tears.  I often wondered what superpowers my mother was endowed with by God, by the very fact she did not lose her sanity in the process of raising us. When she said her ‘yes’ in marrying my father, that yes meant accepting the fruit of their marriage – children. The late nights caring for us when we were sick; and later picking us up from detention after school. The sacrifices to the things she would have liked to have had so that her children would have opportunities. Now that I am grown, I often reflect on her motherhood as an example for my own. I am sure there were times she was fed up with us and our craziness and wanted to get away, yet she stayed the course, loving us even when we showed little or no signs of appreciation. This is the motherhood that I strive for.

Here are some ways I celebrate my spiritual motherhood.

On one hand, I think of the desert Fathers and the many who would come out to the desert to pray with them and find sound counsel. In this way, I see myself a spiritual mother when I take someone under my wing to help them in their spiritual journey, by sharing from my own experiences the workings of God. I also feel I am a mother in this sense as I carry in my heart all who ask for my prayers; my heart is burdened for their concerns, their sufferings, and my heart rejoices with them in their successes. This plays out big time in the classroom, teaching catechesis, working with youth; the need to be attentive to the heart of those in my care.

Sr Lisa in Tanzania

I am also a mother by my call to availability, to be willing to interrupt my day when I encounter someone in need. It happens from time to time that I am stopped along my way by others because of my habit – the exterior sign of my consecration – and asked to talk with them, or pray with them. These are pinnacle mother-moments. Where through being present to these strangers, I present them to the Heavenly Father, and Jesus, His Son. Some of these moments hold me in dread, not knowing how to respond, much how I felt when I was five years old, holding my little brother in my lap.  Thus, the Holy Spirit becomes my companion, that God’s word may reach the soul in front of me, that I might be given words to say to him. These encounters have strengthened my desire to take each person who I encounter and love them, realizing that their Heavenly Father would want it so.

You Will Have the Poor with You Always

Federica Maifredi, serving as a lay missionary in Togo is my guest writer today. I remember Fede from her budding missionary days when she was in Rome preparing for her first mission in Sudan, where she served for two years. Here, she shares what a day visiting the sick is like in her current mission in Togo.

 

The title of her story, ‘You will have the poor with you always,’ echoes the words of Jesus’ when the disciples rejected the woman’s use of ‘costly perfumed oil’, seeing it as a waste (Matthew 26:6-11). When I first read this story, I felt overwhelmed at how much suffering she encounters on a daily basis, and how little at times she could do to alleviate that suffering…her time seeming wasted.  And yet, there is joy that emanates from the words.  Enjoy!

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Today, the ninth of March 2011, just like every Wednesday, I visited the so-called ‘Cabanò’: a section of prisoners in the city hospital of Tokoin. The conditions of the sick prisoners are worse than other prisoners, inhuman for anyone. Not only, but those who do not receive visits do not have sufficient food to stave off hunger … (in prison one gets maize porridge; here one gets a handful of rice morning and evening, according to whether the guards outside are more or less hungry!) Two rooms without windows are the living space for about thirty people, who can only console themselves thinking that at least the lodging is free!

Naturally, there are those who have a family, those who are well off and can afford to smoke and there are the poorest of the poor. Those with family are all together in the bigger room; their beds are covered with pieces of faded cloth (pagne), reasonably clean. They have packets of powdered milk, tins of sardines; some have bread, others a bowl of soup with fish and rice. There are people who take care of them. The poorest of the poor are reduced to skin and bone, piled up on filthy mattresses, without a pillow. And yes, I almost forgot: no visits!

During last weekend, people said that Monsieur Koffi “had left”. Here they use this term. No one uses the word ‘death’, it causes fear! It seemed that he did not even have a rag in which to be wrappped. His companions told me this today when I brought them some of our old sheets to cover their mattresses. I thought I would not find Monsieur Koffi, but instead … instead, this morning, he was lying on his mattress with two pieces of cardboard under his pelvis, in a coma, before “leaving” … He was reduced to this state for having tried to steal a sheep where he lived. Someone reported him and later he finished up here. Today, as I was going out to get a cool fruit drink (the wish of a boy affected by AIDS who gets thinner every day) …, finally he decided to leave too. Now this boy, on a stretcher, will probably end up in the mass grave with his friend Koffi if no one claims them.

I continued on my way and accompanied a young mother of seventeen who had brought her tiny baby, only fifteen days old, for a neurological examination. I thought “I am the one accompanying others, but it seems to me that it is the Lord who is accompanying me on this first day of Lent.”

Lazare was born with a malformation of the brain, hydrocephalus. He never cries, not even if he is hungry; he eats little and does not move. And yet he is so beautiful. The doctor who examined him said he must return next Friday and, perhaps, it would be possible to operate the following Monday, that is, if there was enough money to buy all the operating material and pay the doctors! The result was not guaranteed.

Then I had to show the same neurosurgeon the clinical situation of a young man of twenty-three who had fallen from the first floor while working as a builder and who was now completely paralyzed. His sister, Abla, had been with me from 7.30 this morning. Now it was two in the afternoon, but the hope of hearing someone say something positive was so high that she had resisted until then, without showing any signs of hunger or tiredness. Dr. Beketi looked through the medical notes and remembered the case quite well. The boy had been in hospital for about a month and the family had been told quite clearly that this had been a very serious accident. Koami would never be able to walk again. Abla explained, with tear-filled eyes, that now her brother was not able to remain lying down. Certainly, the family had been warned that this could happen. We returned home, Abla and I, in the car.

She still had not exhausted the source of her hope and she begged me, with a disarming smile, to come in. I could not have imagined a scene more “charming” than what appeared before my eyes: in the courtyard of red earth, under an arbor of dired branches, surrounded by squawking chickens and two cats that were licking each other, I found this boy with such a beautiful face, lying on a bed made of two planks of wood and a layer of thick sponge. I felt I was in a parable. Yes, the parable of the paralytic. And where was Jesus? “Jesus, where are you?! Please come, we need a miracle!” What must I do now! I did not have the courage to tell him the truth and what the doctor had said. Koami, who spoke French much better than his elder sister, told me that he felt great pain in his head, that he had finished the Paracetamol tablets, and even the gauzes for medication were finished. He asked what could be done for his swollen feet and so I pulled him up without thinking twice; Abla helped me while the mother watched at a distance, curiously. His smile of approval, the sensation of feeling better and that the pain was relieved a little, shone from his eyes and they seemed to shout to me “this is a miracle!” I regained my hope and trust; we live near him so I can bring him medicines and visit him, without difficulty, more than once a week.

He can read, so I can bring him some books we have at home; thus he can fly away from this courtyard, at least for a moment, and dream of beautiful things. We will find him a wheelchair and, when he feels better, perhaps we can get him into the car and take him to see the ocean.

But how many miracles can I work???

At this point, I remembered the other people I had met during the day (which never seemed to end) and I thanked the Lord for having let me hear His voice. “GO AND, YOU TOO, DO THE SAME” (Luke 10:37).

In reading this, may you be inspired in your reflection and prayer, to also take action so that, when you meet suffering, you may take it on yourself by sharing the burden of the others, minimizing the pain, thanks to the small miracles which each one of you is able to work. And if some of you do not feel prepared, the Master is ready to give us a hand.

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Federica (Fede) Maifredi, Italian, is a Catholic lay missionary serving in Togo. She discerned her missionary vocation with the Canossian Sisters and their missionary voluntary service, VOICA. After two years as a volunteer missionary in Sudan with the Canossian Sisters and Voica, she made a life-long decision to be a lay missionary.

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Related lay missionary stories:

Katie writes of The Beauty of Aru

Karen writes of her mission in Congo

Lydia continues to write at Life is Beautiful, Admire It about Congo since finishing her mission.

A retired Catholic couple write about their experience in East Timor.

Passing on the Faith

What does it mean when we are called to Religious Life? We become evermore disposed, by God’s grace, to do what is needed. Here is one of, I hope, many stories of my ‘Sisters in Action’. Enjoy!

— Introducing: Sister Elisa:

As she walks across the parking lot at St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln on a steamy afternoon in mid-September, Sister Elisa Grignoli steps with quiet conviction. About 45 third graders will be arriving for the first 90-minute religious education class of the year. The students are preparing to receive first Eucharist in the spring of 2011. She wants them to take their faith seriously at a young age.

Youngsters and parents file in and “70-something” Sister Elisa is there with a smile and a hug for each child. “Welcome back,” she says. “We’ve missed you.”

What most of the kids know about Sister Elisa is she’s quite a “no-nonsense” nun. She doesn’t like excuses for not coming to class every week, inquiries about early dismissal for sports practice, or seeing disrespect for fellow students. What they likely don’t know is that Sister Elisa, who speaks English, Italian, Cantonese and some Spanish, traveled a circuitous route to arrive at her current ministry as director of religious education. From serving as a missionary and nurse in Hong Kong for 20 years to ministering as a hospital chaplain in Vancouver, British Columbia, she’s responded to whatever mission she’s been called to in religious life.

Passing on the faith isn’t always easy, Sister Elisa says, but it’s a neverending and heartfelt task. “I always remember and try to live the words my mother said long ago in Italy: ‘You do what you can, as much as you can. Everybody is necessary, but nobody is indispensable.’ We do what we can with the best intentions, with the love of God and everything in our ability.”

— You’ll want to read the whole story.

The Bittersweet of a Vocation

Last night, fellow blogger Punk to Monk tweeted the following message to me:

Message via Homboy McCoy

His blog post (no longer available since he “unplugged” to follow his dream!) relays the good news that he has been accepted to begin his postulancy – the beginning of formal instruction towards vows – in August. Apparently, the good news turned bittersweet when his family had a date in front of them. As if to say, “Wow, he’s really going to do this!” Which, of course, brings to the forefront the first of many ‘letting go’s’ in the life of a religious.

I recommend reading the post which tells the straight-forward truth that one’s religious vocation is also part of the family’s vocation. There is a need, on the part of the family, to ‘get used to the idea’, which later they will find it to be a blessing for the whole family. Such is the reality of God’s providential love… which is so very wonderful to see unfold when one gives himself to follow God through an act of self-giving.

For those who are thinking of taking the plunge into religious life (and if you haven’t considered it, let me invite you to at least pray about it), here are some helpful scripture passages:

Purpose of Call
Exodus 3:14; Judges 6:12-23; Psalms 20-38; Luke. 1:13-17;
1 Peter 2:9

Seeking God
Hosea 6:1-3; Psalms 27 (26); 24:3-6; 105:1-4; 42:2-5,12; 84:2-4; Isaiah 55:6-13

To Individuals
Gen. 12; Ex. 3; 19: 3ff; 24:16; 1 Sam. 3; 2 Sam.7; Isaiah 6:13;
3 Ruth; Jeremiah 1:4-10;
Matt. 4:18-22; Matt 28:16-20, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-26;
John 1:35-51; Acts 9, 1 Peter 2:9-17

Discernment
Psalms 25(24); Romans 11:33-36; Ephesians 1:3-14;
1 Corinthians 2:7-12; 1 Peter 1:1-10

Communication of the Spirit
1 Sam. 10:6; 16:13; Isaiah 2:2; 42:1; John 15:16, 26; 20:22; 14:16; Mark. 3:13

Given Freely
Jeremiah l:4ff; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians15:9-10; Galatians 1:15

Demands Faith and Obedience
Genesis 12; Matthew 4:18-22; 16:24-26; 8:18-22

Creates Newness in Person Called
Genesis 17:4-8; Luke 1:13, 31-32, 59-63; John 1:42

God’s Divine Providence
Exodus 19:3; Judges 6:13-14; Ezekiel 3:7-9; Jeremiah 1:7-9;
Matt. 10:1-8; Mark 3:15; Luke 9:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:4-6; 4:7; Ephesians 4:11

Communal Aspect
Rom. 9:7; 1 Corinthians 12:lff; Colossians. 3:15; Ephesians 4:1-12
Rewards: Matt. 19:27-29; John. 15:15; 2 Cor. 2:15-17

Prayer for Perseverance
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Mission
Is. 41:8-16; 42:5-9; 43:8-12; Matt. 28:16-20; Luke. 9:2; 10:1-9; 24:46-48;
Acts 1:8; 10:42; 5:20, 42; 6:6; 13:2; 7:1, 52-53; 8:12; 4:3;18:10; 2 Cor. 2:14-16; 1:18-19

Servant
Isaiah 42:1-8; 49:1-7; 50:4-10; 52:13-53

Poverty
Proverbs 22:1-2, 16, 22-23; Psalms 73 (72); 40:5; 18; 107; 72; Isaiah 66:1-2; 11:1-5; 61:1-4; Matt. 5:1-12; 6:19-34; 8:10-20; 11:2-6; 19:16-22;
Lk. 1:46-55; 4:18-21; 6:20-26; 12:13-21; 14:12-14; 16:1-13,19-31; 20:45-21:4;
Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35:1 Cor. 7:29-31; 2 Cor. 6:2-10; 8:1-15; James 2:1-9

Chastity
Wisdom 3:16-28; 4:1-2; Matt. 19:12; 5:38; 1 Cor. 7:1, 7-8, 32-35, 36-40; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7; 1 Timothy 4:10-12

Obedience
Deut. 4:32-40; 6:4-6, 13-19; Is. 29:13-24; 53; Ps. 50 (49);
Matt. 7:21-27;
John 6:35-40; 14:21-24; 8:38-42; Acts 4:19; 5:27-32;
Eph. 6:1-10; Philippians 2:5-11;
Romans 16:25-27; 13:1-7; 1Peter 1:1-2; 2:13-19

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Be assured, Homeboy McCoy, and all others discerning religious life, you are truly held in my prayers.

God bless!

NOTE: About Homeboy McCoy, he is no longer available on the net, having unplugged his digital life to follow Christ as a postulant. Please keep praying for him. :)

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Related Posts:
That “V” Word – Vocation

From Punk to Monk

Look into Your Heart

A Moment in Crisis

Reel Love Video Challenge

What makes lifelong love possible?

Why is it worth the effort?

These are the questions Reel Love Video Challenge is asking in their first annual video contest, sponsored by The Ruth Institute, a project of the National Organization for Marriage Education Fund.

The contest rules are simple:

– young adults, aged 18-30, married or single, male or female, in college, out of college, or never been anywhere near a college

– submit 30 second to 3 minute videos on the Reel Love Challenge website answering either or both of these questions: What makes lifelong love possible? Why is it worth the effort?

– videos must be received by February 1, 2011.

The rules page leave it pretty open to the creativity of the participants: “You can interview your parents or grandparents, or give your own ideas. The videos can be professional looking, or just done with a cell phone camera. We are more interested in content, thoughts, and ideas, than Hollywood production quality.”

This contest emphasizes, the young people of today are the ones that will shape the landscape of marriage in the future:

“Marriage will be what your generation makes it. Divorce, adultery, even incest are all over the news. I urge all emerging adults to take matters into their own hands and begin to create a culture of fidelity and love.”

So now is your chance, you young twenty-somethings! The shaping of tomorrow’s culture on marriage is up to you. Have your say! For full contest details, go here.

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Video contest asks young people to speak about lifelong love (EWTN)

Love is…

Laboring in the Vineyard

One of the advantages of studying at a Pontifical University in Rome, was the opportunity to come in touch with so many seminarians preparing for the Priesthood. I have met so many awesome then-seminarians (now, awesome priests!) who made my theological training all the deeper because of their own daily profession of their calling to become shepherds of souls through the administration of the Sacraments. One such then-seminarian, now-diocesan priest, Fr. Jason Vidrine shared the following video promotion for the Norbertines of Orange (Norbertine Canons Regular in Orange County, California). We were both privileged to have among our classmates some of the young men in the video. Their charism and intensity of community life is portrayed beautifully here.

I recommend to any young man called to the priesthood and religious life to consider a Norbertine vocation.

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Prayer to Discern a Vocation

Lord, there are so many things in my life that I do not understand,
so many questions about the future that I need to ask.
What is Your plan for me?
What is the work You want me to do?

All I really know is that You love me.
Show me the road You want me to walk –
to fulfillment, to happiness, to holiness.

And if You are calling me to
priesthood or to the religious life,

give me the strength to say “yes”
and the grace to begin even now
to prepare myself for the challenge
of a life spent in Your service and
in the care of Your people.

I ask You this in Jesus’ Name.

Amen.

Theodore Cardinal McCarrick
Archbishop Emeritus of Washington

From Punk to Monk

A new reader of my blog, Punk to Monk, has started his own, “reflections on the transition from raucous musician to religious monastic.” Like many young adults, he tells of his wondering away from the faith of his youth, and how God somehow weaseled himself back into his ‘punk’s’ heart. He explains:

“From punk to monk–that is my story.  I was baptized and brought up Catholic but wasn’t really all about practicing it.  My mother, raising me and my brother on her own, made us go to Church and receive our Sacraments.  Because of my lukewarmness toward my faith, I of course fell away when I left for college on the other side of the country.

That’s where I discovered sex, drugs, and rock and roll.  Got me a girlfriend.  Got me into alcohol and other illegal substances.  And, found I could play a pretty mean guitar.”

His story is an uplifting one of youthful angst meeting sober reality of coming of age, and the longing for something more than he was finding. You can read it in full here.

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Let us remember to keep this young man, and others, in our prayers as they discern a life of self-giving through the consecrated life:

Lord God, grant to Your people health of soul and body. Through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, may we grow in Your likeness and increase in the humility that marked her life.

Convinced of Your greatness and our lowliness, we ask for many vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. May You be praised in the raising up of these new servants for Your Kingdom.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

That “V” Word – Vocation

A young friend of mine tweeted: “ahh that “V” word! Scary! Lol”. Yes, the V-word. I had just tweeted to her that St Magdalene of Canossa tells us, “God has given you a great gift by giving you a vocation…such a big grace!” Scary, to be sure.

I dedicate this post to her, and to all young women like her who are seeking to do what God wants, but with so much information and opportunity it really does get confusing along the way to hear closely what it is exactly God has in mind. I promised her I would write on the subject, and so, I wish to share my reflection of my own vocation that I shared with my Volunteers back in 2006 following my perpetual vows.

Reflecting on my vows three words come to mind that encapsulate the whole of my religious vocation: ‘here I am’. This is the response I gave at the celebration of my final vows on the 3rd of December 2006 when then General Superior, M. Marie Remedios called out my name before the Bishop Domenico Sigalini and the assembly at the Church of St Magdalene Canossa in Ottavia – Rome. It was my response to a call by God to participate with Him in His plan of salvation. God called my name and I responded.

All of us are called by God but in various ways. Our Christian life is a life of learning to respond according to the state of life we live: some of us are single; others of us are married with children; others of us are religious and priests. But all of us have the same duty of learning to respond whole heartedly to God.

When we open the Bible, we find stories of many who have been invited to follow God, and how they responded. Abraham responded to God with these very words – here I am – in Genesis 22,1 when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac to demonstrate his faith, and in his faithful obedience he became the Father of Nations (Rom 4, 1- 17). Moses too received an invitation by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and when called, responded the same way: ‘here I am’ (Ex 3,4). And so also with the Prophet Isaiah when the Lord asked ‘whom shall I send?’ (Is 6,8) Isaiah’s response was ‘here I am, send me’. What is it then to be ‘called’ by God?

The word ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin word ‘vocare’ which means ‘to call, to summon, to invite’. Our vocation then – to the religious, singular or married state – is an invitation to live according to the will of God. And how do we know the will of God? This is the journey of each person to discover what God wants for him or her, but it is always tied to the mission of Christ who said, “my food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish His work” (John 4,34). The ‘work’ of the Father is redemptive, bringing about liberation for all humanity bound by sin from the time of Adam and Eve. Christ came to fulfill this plan of salvation through His life, death and resurrection. All Christians are called to collaborate in this redemptive work by bringing others to know and love God the Father through Jesus Christ. We too are called to hunger for all to know God through fully living out his will through our love.

We learn to share our faith through our experience of God; an experience that is manifested in our life of prayer. Prayer, then, is the key to knowing the will of God. A comedian in the United States was keen of saying ‘you can’t have a relationship with someone you don’t talk to.’ In other words, you can’t have a relationship with God without making time to talk to Him and listen in the silence for His Word. I like to look to Mary as an example: the young girl from Nazareth who listened to God, and her listening prepared her heart to respond when God called her to be the Mother of our Lord, Jesus (Luke 1:28-38). In her example we see the fruit of prayer – a receptive heart ready to do whatever God asked.

When I entered as a postulant with the Canossian Sisters in 1998, I began to respond to God in my prayer where I found a desire in me to dedicate my life to service of God. Although the desire existed in me to want God’s will, I struggled constantly with my own desire and wants; I struggled with fears of letting go and failure. These are the struggles of humanity that each of us grapple with. St. Paul spoke of this struggle when he said in his letter to the Romans: “for the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want” (7,19). One of the most important things I have learned in all my years of preparation for my final vows was that despite my sin – doing the things I don’t want – God continues to love me. Our humanity is so used to judging people based on what they do, or in religious circles, how good one is. My experience of God has taught me that despite my weakness, my failure, my small capacity to love as Jesus loves, Christ still loves me and desires me to belong fully to Him. I have found that I will never be perfect or worthy to belong to Christ Himself; but I have also found that God wants me anyway. He takes me as I am and I find that it is His love that perfects me. And slowly, with His grace which flows always through the Sacraments, I am being transformed to be more like Him and more able to love like He loves. This new awareness has prepared me to choose a life of belonging to the One who is Love, with a desire to live my life so to make Him known.

During my preparation for my vows, I discovered in myself this readiness that dares to give everything to fulfil God’s will. In my Bible the words ‘here I am’ are translated as “ready” (NAB). I had to ask myself, ‘am I ready to do this – to give everything I have, and everything I am – to give myself to God forever?’ I found within my prayer the answer: an unhesitating ‘yes’. It is a response that has taken time to mature through the years as I have discovered for myself the vastness of God’s love. I was happily surprised in the days before my final vows that I was ready, and could hardly wait to stand before the world to say, “Yes, Lord, I am yours forever.”

My word to my friend, and to all who are in the hunt for God’s will: take up the example of Mary, who ‘pondered these things in her heart’ (Luke 2:19 and 2:51). Eventually, all these ‘ponderings’ (our praying over daily events) will come together and help you know what is the path for you. And you will find that the Lord has lead you all the way.

Prayer for a Generous Heart

Father in Heaven, you have blessed us with many gifts.
You chose us before the world began,
To be your adopted sons and daughters,
And to live through love in your presence.
Give us wisdom and insight to know your purpose;
Give us courage to follow where your Spirit leads us,
Give us generosity to serve you in our brothers and sisters.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.

DVC – Based on Ephesians 1:3 ff.

—Other Helps—

You may find these links on vocations helpful:

vocation.com

Canossian website

Stay close to God in His Word and in His Sacraments. These are great tools which prepare the heart to be ready for what God has in store. Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament helps too.

Find a good listener to let you ponder out loud, so that you can hear the movements in your heart reflected back to you through conversation. This could be either a spiritual companion or a spiritual director.

Read the Bible daily. Let God’s word speak to you, and be attentive to the people in the scriptures that appeal to you.

You are not alone on your journey. Praying for young people in discernment is one of my favorite prayers!

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Thanks, Sophia, for the cross-post at Always Catholic. Grazie mille a te!