Pilgrim progress- a disciple on a journey!

It is important to seek God’s will and to open to his plans. But there is a danger of becoming so anxious about vocation or call, so caught up in a future that does not yet exist that you miss the life that God has given you now.  So yes, it is important to put time and effort into considering your vocation-be open, be generous, be brave. It is a wonderful adventure but at the same time be grateful for the person you are now, and for the work God has given you to do today. Blessed Charles de Foucauld: “God calls all the souls he has created to love him with their whole being, here and thereafter, which means that he calls all of them to holiness, to perfection, to a close following of him and obedience to his will. But he does not ask all people to show their love by the same works, to climb to heaven by the same ladder, to achieve goodness in the same way. What sort of work, then, must I do? Which is my road to heaven? In what kind of life am I to sanctify myself?” T...

Trudging over to Latin class! With Spring literally a day away here in Ottawa, it seems that winter is reluctant to release its grip! Over the past week, the piles of snow had started to melt, the temperatures rose as far as 7 and 8 degrees Celsius. It seemed that the herald of Spring was preparing to blow its trumpet. But nature had another idea! Actually I am not complaining. There is something quite beautiful about all this snow. And it is not even too cold after all. We had our lectures rescheduled to accommodate people who have to travel a distance to get here. We have another exam on Friday so that gave me plenty of time today to sit at my desk and try and study whilst looking at the snow coming down. I could just spend hours sitting and looking at it, there is a peacefulness that accompanies the flakes as they fall to the ground. It hasn’t eased up snowing since after 11pm yesterday evening and as I write one of the brothers is out with the snowplough (he was also out at 5....

Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI This piece was written by Ron Rolheiser over ten years ago but it still has so much to say to us today, especially to those who work in vocation ministry and with young people. The italics and bold in the text are my addition.  The Right to Call Another to a Vocation June 23, 2002 "Recently I participated in an International Conference on vocations. It gathered a wide assortment of persons to reflect upon why less people in the Western world are entering the priesthood and consecrated religious life.It was a wonderful event, filled with prayer, hope, and energy. It was too a time of reflection on strategy: What might we be doing, practically, in terms of attracting more people into priesthood and religious life? What became clearer as the conference went on is that, in terms of drawing people into a deep religious commitment of any kind, strategy is not what is ultimately at issue. What is? Depth of commitment and sanctity within our own live...