God Calling: Vocation Vibes

As the Church celebrates within the week-long Jubilee of Young Adults the “Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers”, Fr. Matt Gworek articulates the amazing opportunity that each of us has for growth in our faith through the digital gifts God has given us. He explains how these giftscan be a valuable tool in our personal quest for holiness and also in the discernment of our specif...

Did you ever wonder about the religious habit that you’ve seen worn by consecrated religious? Sr. Bernadette Rose and Sr. Carolyn from the Little Sisters from the Poor unlock the mystery behind the “threads of devotion” in which they are clothed—and they even reveal three “secrets” (well, not really! 😊) concerning their religious dress that few people are aware of…  Questions or suggestions regar...

SO WHAT MIGHT POPE LEO XIV SAY TO YOU AS A YOUNG PERSON IN DISCERNMENT? Fr. Tom McCarthy, vocation director for the Midwest Province of the Augustinians (where Pope Leo--the former Robert Prevost--hails from), speaks from personal knowledge of Pope Leo as a member of his own religious community and as a former Provincial and PriorGeneral. In discussion with Sr. Carolyn of the Little Sisters of the...

Transformation of our minds and hearts so that we may live the sentiments of Jesus Christ and be His witnesses in the world: Is this not the ultimate makeover?   All the way from the Little Sisters of the Poor motherhouse in France, Sr. Maria Lourdes--blest with a rich experience in accompanying young women who are in formation for religious life--joins us to discuss the joys and challenges of for...

WHY IN THE WORLD would a happy, successful physician who even owned her own practice and building dare to “risk it all” to become a consecrated religious Sister? And how is it that so many of today’s young adults who have already launched their careers sense in their hearts that there’s still more and make that leap of faith, “risking it all” to respond to their deepest call?   Find the answers as...

“I chickened out and left,” says newly professed Sr. Amanda, describing the moment she was about to meet for the first time the religious community recommended to her by her priest.   Now a young professed Little Sister of the Poor with four months of vows, Sr. Amanda and her spiritual mother, Mother Loraine, tell of the joys and trepidations of Sister’s discernment journey, and how it came about...

BEING "ENTHRALLED BY CHRIST": THAT'S WHERE IT STARTS!  Not sure of your vocation in life? Your mission? Four young adults from the Young Catholic Professionals Conferencein Dallas join the Little Sisters of the Poor in sharing their reflections on the legacy of Pope Francis, his vision of vocation, and how the Lord might be inviting you to discover and embrace your own vocation and l...

What does it mean to live the Savior’s humility in theconsecrated religious life? Denying one’s positive qualities? Being a doormat? Is it all about self-deprecation? Find the answers in this episode, where Sr. Kathleen from the Little Sisters of the Poor responds to these questions and manymore, illustrating how assertiveness, after the example of Jesus Himself, can be essential in the living out...

Taking place onsite at the University of Connecticut, this discussion features students candidly sharing about their vocational discernment journeys. Whether feeling drawn to the priesthood or religious life, to the single life, or to living in a marriage where the couple is an icon, a “window to heaven”—in the discernment of all these vocations, arelationship with Jesus Christ is experienced by t...

UNSOLVED PUZZLES? WE REALLY DON’T LIKE THEM. Especially in vocational discernment. As we struggle to figure out our calling, discouragement can set in. That can eventually turn to despair, and despair is painful. The pain can be so heavy that discerners may actually temper their desire for the good that their hearts so greatly long for. In this Jubilee Year when we are called to be pilgrims of hop...

A YOUNG BUSINESSWOMAN FROM THE PHILIPPINES WORKING HER WAY UP THE CORPORATE LADDER IN HONG KONG DISCOVERS HER VOCATION TO LIVE IN GREAT SIMPLICITY AND TRUE FREEDOM AS A LITTLE SISTER OF THE POOR . Sr. Marie Cecilia finds joy in being “the begging Sister” in service of the elderly who are in need andrelates some of the many spiritual and material blessings that flow from this particular aspect of t...

JESUS IS NOT A MATADOR: “My will is over here…no, it’s over here.” He does not trick us! In the peace and quiet of time spent with him, he reveals to us how much he loves us, and through the deepening relationship that we share with him he reveals his awesome plan for our lives.  Emily Savage of Fiat Ministries speaks of the graces that shesees at work during the quiet stillness of the retreats th...

One is in the first year of her college faith journey and the other is approaching the culmination of hers as she prepares to graduate later this semester. Blood sisters Anna and Emily share with religious Sisters Maria Catherine and Carolyn—and with all of our viewers and listeners--some of the powerful graces experienced in their own lives and in those of 20,000 other college students attending...

“AND WHY WAS I NOT CHOSEN TALK ABOUT A MORE MYSTICAL OR PENTITENTIAL TOPIC?" quips Mother Margaret Charles, who never fails to put a smile on our faces. Listen as she and Sr. Maria Lourdes, her companion in the Lord’s joy, answer the question, “What do Sisters do for fun?” and reveal the simple secrets about why religious women (and men!) are so incredibly joyful. Please consider liking/shari...

Sister Constance--having heard Pope John Paul II quote the Gospel passage “I came that they might have life and have it to the full” during World Youth Day celebrations in Denver many years ago--relates how “the crowds of hundreds of thousands of people disappeared, and he was speaking to me .” She tells the story of her vocation and encourages discerners to pause and consider whether these words...

It’s a common concern of today’s discerners—and certainly a valid one: If I enter religious formation, what happens to my relationships with my family? Sr. Patrice answers that question from the lived experience of having left formation for the sake of treasured family relationships, only to find that those same God-given relationships would find their fullest flourishing when she actually followe...

VOCATION DISCERNERS: GOD WANTS YOU TO FLOURISH AND TO FIND YOUR GREATEST HAPPINESS …and there’s no better time than the Jubilee Year to discern your path to that reality. The year 2025 will be replete with special graces and opportunities for spiritual deepening and active discernment. In this episode Sr. Debbie, SS.C.M. and Sr. Carolyn, l.s.p. discuss practical tips and considerations for taking...

RELIGIOUS SISTERHOOD, BY ITS VERY NATURE, is spiritual motherhood. So, too—in various ways in each of the many charisms and apostolates of today’s religious Sisters--does it encompass the sacred privilege of mothering God’s people to eternal life.   Sr. Loretto, an Irish Little Sister of the Poor who has served for many years in the United States, speaks of the holy task of assisting the elderly p...

Sr. Thu T. Do, LHC, Ph. D., a research associate at CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate), highlights the many hopeful and encouraging findings that emerge from the study “Women and Men Entering Religious Life: The Entrance Class of 2023,” of which she is a coauthor. She also shares implications for vocation directors, campus ministers, and all who serve young women and men, as well...

CAN YOU IMAGINE 182 PRIESTLY AND RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS COMING FROM A SINGLE COLLEGE CAMPUS??? To what might we attribute this amazing work of the Holy pirit? Check it out as Dani, Jenny, and David from the Catholic campus ministry and FOCUS team at Texas A&M University weigh in with their thoughts on this miracle of grace. Be sure not to miss these truly encouraging insights for young men and wo...

GRATITUDE FOR HAVING BEEN CHOSEN AND SENT: That is the common sentiment in these reflections by missionary Little Sisters of the Poor Sr. Joseph Marie, Sr. Stephen, and Sr. Marie Cecilia. Each describes the beauty of missionary life, in which—even as one shares the Gospel with other peoples--one can go beyond oneself and be so greatly enriched by the cultural treasures that God has poured out on a...

DURING THIS “SEASON OF CREATION” celebrated by the Church each year, Mother Provincial Julie from the Little Sisters of the Poor shows us how the “evangelical counsels”, given by Christ and lived by vowed religious men and women and by many of the lay faithful, lend themselves ideally to care and respect for our common home and for all creation. And while these “counsels” of chastity, poverty, and...

VOCATIONAL DISCERNMENT is truly a burning topic today among young women and men who sense the possibility of a special call from God, but who do not know how to proceed in discerning the plan he might have for their lives—that plan which will ultimately lead to their greatest happiness and fulfillment. Sr. Maria Catherine from the Little Sisters of the Poor shares her story and gives a number of p...

How is it that a young woman who majored in education because she loves children found her greatest happiness in serving Jesus in the elderly poor? How is it that a vivacious and talented young lady who loved fun and friends was inspired to give her life totally to God, finding abundant joy and friendship as a consecrated hospitaller religious and using her gifts and talents in the service of His...

WHERE AM I CALLED? In discerning the consecrated religious life, people often assume that their vocation will be to a certain work or ministry, but—as awesome and as greatly needed as the “works of our hands” might be—the call is ultimately to an even broader, deeper, and more all-encompassing reality! In drawing an individual to a religious community, God personally invites the person to enter in...