Austin Vocations Blog

Stop Being "Open" to God's Will. It's Time to ASPIRE to It. If you’ve ever talked with a vocation director, you’ve probably heard this familiar question: “Would you be open to God’s will for your life?” After six years serving as a vocation director, I realized...

The Catechism teaches that there are four parts of a good Confession: (1) a careful examination of conscience, (2) contrition, (3) confession of one’s sins, and (4) satisfaction, or the carrying out of certain acts of penance which the confessor gives the penitent....

BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE St. Peter's Square Wednesday, 13 April 2011 Holiness Dear Brothers and Sisters, At the General Audiences in the past two years we have been accompanied by the figures of so many saints: we have learned to know them more closely and to...

Methods of Prayer At the beginning of prayer, it is common to be focused on whether I am “doing it right.” Like learning to ride a bike, though, the actual steps of prayer fade to the background with time. An experienced bike rider learned to ride by initially...

Prayer The kind of prayer that we will be discussing in this post is what the spiritual tradition of our faith has called, “mental prayer.” You could also call it other names, too: relational prayer, meditation, contemplation, or silent prayer - just to name a few. It...

30 Day Scripture Challenge This Scripture Challenge begins with a firm commitment to give God time, space, and attention. Here is a sample commitment: I will give God 15 minutes of mental prayer every day beginning at 6:30 am. I will prioritize this time for Him and...

At the beginning of a friendship, someone may feel fear in sharing their heart with the other person. “What if the affection that I have for my friend is not mutual?” But at the beginning of a friendship with God, we have nothing to fear. God’s love is first, and it...