| VISION Vocation Network for Catholic Vocations

The Art of Discernment

How the Samaritan found his vocation Read »
- WHO WAS the Good Samaritan? We don’t know for sure, but it is clear that he was a layperson, not a religious professional. In fact, it is probable that he was some sort of businessperson...
Make no little plans Read »
- Preeminent 20th-century architect Daniel Burnham advised his associates: “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized...”
No place like home Read »

Prayer and Discernment

Four steps to hearing your call Read »
- Throughout the ages, people have struggled to understand God’s call to them. Four basic steps of discernment—becoming aware, gathering information, making a decision, and looking for confirmation of your choice—can help.
Let God’s Word open the door to your heart Read »
- Praying with scripture can help you hear the voice of the Spirit stirring inside your heart and inviting you to break open the Bible and come to know God more personally.
Point and click to pray Read »
- A guide to websites that bring prayer and spiritual development right to your computer.
Why consider a church vocation in times like these? Read »
- In the midst of great difficulties, the church more than ever needs a new generation of priests, sisters, and brothers.
How to know where God is leading you Read »
- In exploring a call to religious life, certain attitudes are crucial for success: openness, trust, expectation, and inner freedom.
It all begins with a call Read »
- From Abraham to Peter, Andrew, James, and John to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and extending to you, scripture reveals that nothing is so life-changing as the call we hear that originates in God.
Nine ways to open up God's will for you Read »
- During my 35 years as a vocation counselor, I've discovered nine steps to help people find what they want--and what God wants for them.
What does it mean to say that God is calling me? Read »
- Jesuit Ignatian tradition sees God as actively and personally involved in each of our lives....God is engaged in a lifelong dialog with us. Our role in the dialog is to pay attention, listen, and try to respond.
Prayer sustains my vocation Read »
- Each day as I grow in my awareness of the community in which I live, I see health problems, relationship problems, and addictions. These problems, by the grace of God, I bring to the eucharistic table.
My four months at a house of discernment Read »
- For four months during 2001 I lived at Emmaus House--a Toledo, Ohio "house of discernment" run by the Sisters of Notre Dame.
The three keys to successful vocation decisions Read »
- To discern your vocation means to sort through the movements of your heart and unfold the truth of who you most deeply are.
Five steps to better prayer Read »
- Prayer helps us to know and love God more. Through prayer we become more and more the kind of person we really want to be: a person of love, integrity, compassion, forgiveness, and joy.
En français: Comment connaître la volonté de Dieu? Read »
- Recherchez-vous la volonté de Dieu dans votre propre vie ? Bien, vous n’avez qu’à consulter les écritures saintes, l’Église, et l’expérience de votre vie personnelle.
Pray all ways—three ways to begin Read »
- Prayer traditions observed in a small “monastery town” can lead to new prayer horizons and practices as well as a newly energized prayer attitude.
How to survive a "quarterlife crisis" Read »
- People don’t necessarily settle into their lives in their 20s anymore. Sometimes it seems that life itself is filled with experimentation, change, and uncertainty.
Sixteen questions about church vocations Read »
- . . . And honest answers to your questions about priests, sisters, brothers, vows, sexuality, community life, and more

Religious Life

Five reasons we need religious communities Read »
- Knowing and working with a number of men and women in religious communities, I have found that they enrich our world with five qualities that clearly demonstrate why we need them.
Follow your passion Read »
- At the time I wrote this poem, I had been a social worker in Newark, New Jersey for many years, working with families whose stories could keep you up at night. Then in the 1980s, in addition to poverty and addiction, these same families confronted a new struggle: HIV and AIDS.
Celibate chastity: One way to be a sexual person Read »
- Why did I choose a life and continue to choose a life that includes celibate chastity? Because of the deep sense of happiness I’ve found in this way of living.
Chastity is for everyone Read »
- Chastity is more than a list of don'ts. It's a way of harnessing our sexual energy for good, whatever our state of life: single, married, ordained, or vowed.
Why I encourage my kids to consider priesthood and religious life Read »
- I've met and worked with hundreds of generous, Spirit-filled priests, brothers, and sisters. Many of them have a happiness that comes from the inside, from dedicating their lives to something with lasting meaning.
Community: We're on your side and at your side Read »
- Saying your solemn "Yes!" in monastic vows means being welcomed into a community of believers who commit themselves to rooting for you and encouraging you all along your way."
Enter the real world of community life Read »
- Three skills are absolutely essential to community life: Look to the future. Persevere in the present. Tell the truth.
Uncovering the mystery of celibate love Read »
- I don't know why but I'm fulfilled in this life, and that alone is Mystery to me.
Eight myths about religious life Read »
- Contrary to popular misconceptions, religious orders aren't filled with crooning priests, flying nuns, and crotchety church ladies ready to rap your knuckles.
Family matters Read »
- It’s good to get the support of your family when you choose a church vocation, but it doesn’t always happen—at least not at first.
Sixteen questions about church vocations Read »
- . . . And honest answers to your questions about priests, sisters, brothers, vows, sexuality, community life, and more

Sisters

For Sister Jamie Phelps, life’s joys outweigh struggles Read »
- Whatever Sister Jamie Phelps, O.P. “gave up" to become a religious sister, has “come back a hundredfold," says the educator, psychiatric social worker, community organizer, liturgist, choir director, spiritual director, and theologian.
Stopping long enough, I heard God’s call Read »
- I had succeeded in athletics and my career, and I had never lacked materially. But all of that paled to insignificance after being at the Queen of Angels Monastery.
A wild ride with the Holy Spirit Read »
- When you're on a life adventure, you never know what's awaiting you around the next bend. "My life has gotten larger, yet more intimate."
A new sister looks at the vows Read »
- As my life shifts and takes new turns, I continue to grow in my experience and understanding of the vows that will anchor my life: poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Taking my vows to heart Read »
- When I was a novice I was intensely learning our values of communal and private prayer, work, study, leisure, and hospitality. Today, I'm trying to take what I have learned and actually apply it to real life.
A free spirit finds her niche Read »
- The past 30 years have been a wild ride—one I would not have missed for the world.
How a 16th-century nun guides me in religious life Read »
- As a child Sister Julie Vieira chose Saint Teresa of Avila as a confirmation name and pretty much forgot about her. But over the years Teresa remained with this I.H.M. sister, waiting for Sister Julie to come by her convent cell and chat awhile.

Brothers

How God tricked Duc Pham into becoming a brother Read »
- Franciscan Brother Duc Pham says he found his call through false advertising. He answered an ad looking for a teacher but the Franciscans had other plans for him. He’s glad he followed their lead.
Brother Mark Elder makes an art of spirituality Read »
- Vincentian Brother Mark Elder, creator of some of the most striking murals in the United States and elsewhere, uses art in his quest to help the poor and disenfranchised.
Why did I become a brother? Read »
- Why did I choose to join the brothers? The answer is simple but profound: community. The brothers were my first experience of Christian community, an experience that triggered my search for religious life.
Big Brother is watching you Read »
- Holy Cross Brother Roy Smith has earned a reputation as someone who is always there for kids, or as his students at Holy Trinity High School in Chicago would say, he's got their backs.
Why I hate Tuesdays and Thursdays Read »
- An evening class takes this brother from a highlight of his day. Here’s why waiting for dinner can mean so much.
Man with a mission Read »
- Brother John Skrodinsky has always been passionate about serving those in need. When he found a religious community that cared as much as he does, he found his home.

Priests

What does it take to be a good priest? Read »
- Being a priest is an awesome honor and responsibility. To be of service to others is to be a channel of God’s grace, and that is the heart of this special vocation.
Just call me Bishop Gustavo Read »
- I say to young people, “God is calling you to something. Let’s find out what it is."
Full circle for Father Manuel Williams, C.R. Read »
- For Father Manuel Williams, C.R., there was no one blazing moment of insight that called him to the priesthood. Instead, he walked for years among priests and sisters who were always quietly planting seeds, making the world a better place. In time, he dared to follow them--all the way back home.
Change today? One man's journey into priesthood Read »
- A homeless person’s call for change hit me not as a request for money, but as a command for altering my life. I had to change, or my destructive and selfish ways would surely consume me.
My mountaintop journey toward priesthood Read »
- I believe God moves gently in most people's hearts, but with me he needed a hammer and one faithful dying man.
A breath of Spirit Read »
- Over the years I've learned that when a seminarian is good, he is very good and when he is not . . . it's best to do things yourself. I wasn't sure about the new guy yet.
Ed's story: Lose a dream, find a life Read »
- I'd thought about being a priest, but I thought about it like most Catholic kids--idly, poking at the thought here and there, never really facing what it might mean, the joys of it, the hard parts, the reality.
Vocations in the works Read »
- Why do some people explore the possibility of religious life? As the person in charge of ushering new members into his community, Father Marvin Kitten, S.J. wanted to know. So he put the question to the men he knew who were considering life as a priest or brother.
From break dancing to breaking bread: A lesson in sharing God's gifts Read »
- As a priest Father Leo Patalinghug often celebrates the sacraments and gives presentations on faith issues. But he’s equally at home on the dance floor, cooking a big meal, or practicing martial arts.
The joy in being a priest Read »
- The church should be a community in which people discover God’s delight in them. This is the ministry of priests. This is my life.

Missionaries

Lessons in love from central Brazil Read »
- IN 1963, THE SISTERS of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate—the Joliet Franciscans—answered a call to work in Brazil. Today, both U.S. and Brazilian sisters make up the community in Brazil. They work in parishes, run a school, and train health workers.
Missionary sister falls in love Read »
- With intentions of being a do-gooder, I arrived in Mexico; instead I have been enriched and humbled by the goodness I’ve discovered.
African dream: my 17 years in Kenya Read »
- What I experienced those first months in Kenya is still my experience after all these years. The Kenyans are welcoming, hospitable, and extremely generous people.
Jesus at the door Read »
- Whenever people in need come to Father Vic Subb at an “inconvenient” time, he remembers the words of one of his brother priests: “That was Jesus on the phone.”
Sister Dorothy Stang: Her dying shows us how to live Read »
- Sister Dorothy Stang, an advocate for the peasant farmers in the rainforests of Brazil, made powerful enemies who eventually gunned her down as she read from scripture.

Being Catholic

Following Jesus: Be ready for some surprises Read »
- How do we imitate Jesus? By looking like him or duplicating his actions? How about praying to make us feel the way he did?
Ten great things about being Catholic Read »
- Some may settle for a baptism, wedding, and funeral in the church and feel they’ve gotten the best. But if you choose to live all the moments in between from the perspective of the Catholic worldview, you can enhance your life beyond your wildest imaginings.
Enter into the divine Read »
- At Mass, people frequently start with themselves. What would happen if they started with God?
Faith and everyday life Read »
- Being a Christian means to adopt a certain way of life, and spirituality is living the Christian life in the concrete situation where we find ourselves.
Does chastity matter? Read »
- Our values assist us in making responsible choices, including how to use and not misuse the sexual energy that makes us the vital people we are.

Media Review

Lives that lead to God: Biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs Read »
- Find out what's new and interesting in the vocation-related books.
Help is at hand: Guidebooks on the way to religious life Read »
- VISION ASKED VOCATION MINISTERS in the U.S. and Canada to recommend some of the best books on life as a priest, religious sister, or religious brother. What follows is a list of some of the good reading they recommend.
Give us this day our daily blog Read »
- The blogosphere is not lacking when it comes to Catholic religious life and discernment.
Workers in the virtual vineyard Read »
- Communications and technology are advancing at an incredible rate. Members of Catholic religious orders—as the following stories show—are keeping pace.

General Information

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