I steal good ideas...

...like the tag line I saw on a store in Downtown Chicago yesterday. I think I might use a version of it in our ads and webpages.

Dominican Friars, because this is not your practice life!

If you can guess the store this is from, you get +5 cool points.

In the meantime, let me know if you like this one. It makes me think!

On Foreign Vocations...

I know I am not the only vocation director that receives many contacts from overseas. In fact, in a recent meeting of a few of us in this ministry, we easily told each other how many emails we receive asking to join our community. Sometimes I will reply, other times I just delete them. It depends on where they are from and from the content of the email (i.e. Sincerity of questions, not a cut-and-paste email that goes to every US community and Order). 

Here is the reality for those who contact us from other countries: we cannot help you discern with us unless you have citizenship in the US or are already physically in the Unites States. We cannot fly you to the US to go to a Come and See. If you can get here on your own and have a college degree, then we can consider you for admission. Short of that, we are wasting your time. The only exception to this rule is if you are already an ordained priest or a solemnly professed member of a religious order.

I understand that it is often more difficult to enter religious life in other countries, especially in Africa, where the faith is alive and vocations are plentiful, but communication is often more difficult. They usually have a longer screening process and postulancy to filter out authentic vocations from those seeking a different social class. We don't want to say it in polite company, but there are many who seek to enter priesthood and religious life to climb the social ladder. This is antithetical to the authentic vocation that seeks to wash the feet of the poorest of the poor and proclaim the good news to the richest of the rich. We do both of these acts, and everything in between, from a different place: from the heart of the Savior.

It is not easy saying no to foreign vocations, but in a post 9/11 world, it is just the reality with which we have to deal. If you have an authentic vocation, keep seeking and asking. God will not be thwarted in bringing you to life and ministry in the place you belong.

Dominicans on the Rise: New York Times Reports on Growth of Dominican Friars World Wide

Dominicans on the Rise: New York Times Reports on Growth of Dominican Friars World Wide

Are you waiting for a sign?

A fictional dialogue that is all-to-often how it actually happens: 

Vocation Director: "So James, can you see yourself entering into religious life with us?"

James: "Very likely, but I am waiting for a sign from God."

Vocation Director: "What would that sign look like to you James?"

James: "I don't know, I guess, I think, you know, a sign..."

Vocations Director: "Well that doesn't help. How about if I propose some signs for you?"

James: "Ok, sounds good, go ahead."

Vocation Director: "Has anybody ever told you that you would make a great priest or religious?"

James: "All the time! I can't count the number of people that have told me that exact thing."

Vocation Director: "Have you even dreamed about saying Mass, hearing confessions, visiting the sick, praying with the troubled, or teaching and preaching."

James: "Pretty much all the time these days. Those things are always on my mind."

Vocation Director: "When are you most happy, James."

James: "When I am at Mass or praying or sharing my faith and the teachings of the Church with family or friends. Also, I love reading theology and other good books about the faith and the saints. Those things make me most happy."

Vocation Director: "Can you see yourself getting married and having children someday."

James: "Sometimes; I think that is a good path and I love my family, but it doesn't excite me the way living and sharing my faith in Jesus Christ does."

Vocation Director: "What is the most important thing in your life right now James?"

James: "My faith, without a doubt!"

Vocation Director: So you are still waiting for a sign from God?"

James: "Yes, I just need one little sign, and then I can make a decision about my vocation."

Vocation Director: "Okay, lets try this one more time, James!"