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Are There Still Any Guys Discerning?


PedroX

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LouisvilleFan

[quote name='Berchmans525' post='1355822' date='Aug 10 2007, 10:35 PM']I am a guy who is discerning my vocation in life. It is hard because I haven't "dated" like most guys my age and you get all these temptations/battles "thrown" at you which can really confuse you a lot.. It's rough but I am still working at it.. When you see people your age who were really CATHOLIC like you fall away from the faith, it hurts you to see such a thing..[/quote]

I was raised Lutheran and nearly all of my friends growing up (except for the token atheist) were Christians, including a few Catholics, and nearly all of them slid away during college. The stats I've seen say that about 20% of the high school kids involved in church are still in involved in their mid-20s. Fortunately, many of those who fall away will slowly have to face the emptiness of living without God as they grow older.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For the gentleman discerning... I wanted to share with you the new and improved website of the Dominican (Central) Province of St. Albert the Great. [b][url="http://www.domcentral.org"]HERE[/url][/b]

I go to school with many/most of their brothers in formation and they are near and dear to my heart!

:clap: Dominicans :clap:

Edited by shortnun
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[quote name='tomasio127' post='1369137' date='Aug 23 2007, 04:39 PM']Yes.[/quote]
Tahts good to know :) I should be entering Christ in the Desert shortly after Easter.

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TheOliverOrder88

After living with a couple of Dominicans, I have come to realize that they have the raddest habit of all. Seriously, I couldn't get over their formal wear.

In other news, I might be getting an Opus Dei priest for a spiritual director... I am pretty excited about that...

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[quote name='USAirwaysIHS' post='1356095' date='Aug 11 2007, 12:14 AM']Well, I haven't ruled the thought out...
But sometimes, I don't know if God wants me to be a priest/deacon, or if [b]I[/b] want me to be a priest/deacon.[/quote]
Man, has [i]that[/i] been a problem for me... :sweat:

What I think I'm being called to changes almost biweekly. I always try to think realistic and see what God has made me capable for and brought before me to spark an interest. But then I think that maybe I'm supposed to change at some point and get into something I never thought I would.

I'm only 16 so I've got a lot of time left to discern. Here's my current list of options:

Religious life:
---Monasticism: Carmelite Monks in Wyoming (I'm really close to the Carmelites who teach at my school, and I just love everything about this order. I'm just not sure if it's a realistic option for me, and sometimes I think it's like the easy way out of life's problems and work. It'd take A LOT of explaining to convince my family.)
---Other: Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (I'm not too sure about this one. I've never dealt with the poor, but this is something I'd think I'm "supposed" to change into. Anways, St. Francis has "followed" me around a lot.)

Diocesan Priesthood (This was what I thought I'd choose before I learned about the other options. I heard that joy should be the compass we use to discern, and although it seems like it'd be something for me, it brings a lot of worry and no joy. But I still keep it an option just incase.)

Marriage (Always open to forming a family of future Saints. :lol: )

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Guest heartofyouth

For those who are radical out there, try the OATH! Their prayer life is awesome. Rising at 3am, fasting three times a week, and a great apostolate to the youth! they really are soldiers for Jesus and Mary.

they've been doing Eucharistic congresses all over the world and thousands come! here, many find conversion others their vocation.

i've been with them and i've felt the challenge. hope you guys can check them out and meet men who are ready to lay down their lives for souls.

and guys, because of their penance, they're exorcists too!

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[quote name='nowak.chris' post='1351030' date='Aug 6 2007, 11:21 AM']That's my problem with the diocesan priesthood, and I think it is a more common problem (both for those discerning a call and young priests) than many realize. I wish that canons regular were more common, as they offer the benefit of living in community with a specific charism of working in the parish.[/quote]
There's also the Companions of the Cross. At their founding they were a bunch of diocesan seminarians who met together with a priest for mutual support and to grow in the faith, etc. Although they are an order, they're pretty much diocesan priests who live in communities of not less than 5. And they are in the US, somewhere in Texas.

[quote name='Slappo' post='1355547' date='Aug 10 2007, 08:32 PM']Isn't the bishop usually THANKFUL for them running a parish? Takes a load of work off the shoulders of his preists! I know my bishop would probably love to have a religious order take one of our parishes.[/quote]
It's nice having an order run a parish, [size=4]but.[/size].. when vocations decrease (to dioceses and older orders, anyway), guess what? The orders can't maintain the parishes and dump them on the diocese, who have to spread out their priests even more thinly. That's why my archbishop, even though he is inviting orders in, isn't inviting them to take care of parishes. Shrines and sanctuaries are a different matter.

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[quote name='TheOliverOrder88' post='1374604' date='Aug 30 2007, 10:29 PM']After living with a couple of Dominicans, I have come to realize that they have the raddest habit of all. Seriously, I couldn't get over their formal wear.

In other news, I might be getting an Opus Dei priest for a spiritual director... I am pretty excited about that...[/quote]
Of course I'll disagree,look at the Mercedarians.Plus the Blood Vow is cool.(To me at least.)

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[quote name='TheOliverOrder88' post='1374604' date='Aug 31 2007, 06:29 AM']After living with a couple of Dominicans, I have come to realize that they have the raddest habit of all. Seriously, I couldn't get over their formal wear.

In other news, I might be getting an Opus Dei priest for a spiritual director... I am pretty excited about that...[/quote]

I am exmember(Exnumerary) of the Opus Dei, my experience was not good, there are good priests inside and they are faithful to the Church, but they send too much to them from above, in the end they say you that only you have vocation to the Opus Dei, or the priestly society of saint cross (Diocesan priest united to Opus Dei).

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Hi Guys, count one more in.

I'm currently getting back on board with discernment after a year absence. I've begun going to confession bi-weekly and should make that weekly starting this Saturday. I don't have a spiritual advisor so I'm trying to think of the best way of asking my Confessor if he'll do it. The problem being I go to the indult Mass an hour away stuck in the ghetto so I don't really know any priests locally which I need. I'd like to visit the Canons Regular of St John Cantius and Community of St John if things progress.

Thanks for having this forum. It's nice to know what others are going through and support. ~prayers~

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TheOliverOrder88

[quote name='ruso' post='1384737' date='Sep 13 2007, 01:57 AM']I am exmember(Exnumerary) of the Opus Dei, my experience was not good, there are good priests inside and they are faithful to the Church, but they send too much to them from above, in the end they say you that only you have vocation to the Opus Dei, or the priestly society of saint cross (Diocesan priest united to Opus Dei).[/quote]

My experiences with my SD have thus far been very good. I know they have "questionable" recruitment policies...and I will take whatever he has to say with a discerning heart. Nothing that he has said thus far has had any to the effect of pushing me into the Opus Dei or anything of the sort. For instance, his advice on keeping chaste seemed to me very different from what I had heard before. To say the least, this priest is very refreshing... for my vocation.

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