Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: vocation

7 Spiritual Themes to Look for in Star Wars VII

The Force Awakens can help us appreciate anew our religious heritage and the stories that guide our choices George Lucas wanted Star Wars to be a new mythology that teaches a new generation about spirituality, good and evil. He deliberately used common themes in biblical stories and various religions in his movies. Here are seven… Read More ›

Share

How does one recognize God’s call?

How does one recognize God’s call? Well, the secret of the vocation lies in the capacity for and joy of distinguishing, listening to, and obeying his voice. But to do this it is necessary to accustom our hearts to recognizing the Lord and to having an awareness of him as a Person who is close… Read More ›

Share

Accepting the treasure of true self

Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice “out there” calling me to be something I am not. It comes from a voice “in here” calling me to be the person I was… Read More ›

Share

St. Benedict speaks to our age

It is not only the bygone ages that had reason to profit from the benefits of this Patriarch; our own age has many important lessons to learn from him. Let those first of all who belong to his numerous family learn – We do not doubt that they do – to follow daily ever more… Read More ›

Share

He is a Saint (part II)

[To return to part I] One John Paul II Priest Recalls the Influence of John Paul the Great Allow me to quickly describe to you my personal experience with the newly beatified pope, whom I was allowed to meet at a general audience when I was 18 years old. As he walked through the middle… Read More ›

Share

He is a Saint (part I)

One John Paul II Priest Recalls the Influence of John Paul the Great Allow me to quickly describe to you my personal experience with the newly beatified pope, whom I was allowed to meet at a general audience when I was 18 years old. As he walked through the middle aisle of the audience hall… Read More ›

Share

St. Therese and the Monk

My relationship with St. Therese skyrocketed when I unexpectedly ran into her during my first trip to St. Patrick Cathedral in New York City, when I was studying sociology at St. Bonaventure University. Immediately upon opening the large, heavy wooden doors of the cathedral, the childlike healing face of St. Therese looked at me. It… Read More ›

Share

When We Follow Our Vocation

We know when we are following our vocation when our soul is set free from preoccupation with itself and is able to seek God and even to find Him, even though it may not appear to find Him. Gratitude and confidence and freedom from ourselves: these are signs that we have found our vocation and… Read More ›

Share