The Virus and Vocations

The Virus and Vocations

How Vocation Offices can stay effective & relevant during the coronavirus slowdownBy Sam Alzheimer As normal life grinds to a halt, how can your Vocation Office still help young men? Guys have more time on their hands and may be experiencing isolation. The...
Don’t Be a Jumper or a Fence-Sitter

Don’t Be a Jumper or a Fence-Sitter

An excerpt from Chapter 14 of Fr. Brett Brannen's To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide to Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood When should I go to seminary? Virtus in medio stat (virtue is always in the middle). When it comes to timing, don’t be either a jumper...
Preaching about Vocations on Mother’s Day

Preaching about Vocations on Mother’s Day

by Sam Alzheimer This coming Sunday, Catholic parishes will no doubt honor mothers in the congregation. But because May 12 is also World Day of Prayer for Vocations, some priests will wonder how they can also work in a vocations message at Mass. Why not do both? Below...
The saint who started World Day of Prayer for Vocations

The saint who started World Day of Prayer for Vocations

by Sam Alzheimer A couple of months ago I ran across my great-grandmother’s prayer book, a small leather-bound tome which had obviously seen a lot of use. As I fanned through the pages, a prayer card fluttered out. It was a prayer for vocations written in 1964...
Priests Offer Advice after Community’s Surge in Vocations

Priests Offer Advice after Community’s Surge in Vocations

New book A Living Sacrifice offers guidance for men discerning religious life When Fr. Benedict Croell was vocation director for the Eastern Dominican Province of St. Joseph, over one hundred men entered his province in just eight years.  By any measure, that is a...
A “Discernment Detour” Leads Priest to Write New Book

A “Discernment Detour” Leads Priest to Write New Book

By Matt Yogus Back when Fr. George Elliot was in seminary, he ran into a dilemma. He knew he was being called to the priesthood, but after about a year of study, he met some wonderful religious priests from several different orders, and began to wonder, “What if I’m...