Archdiocese of Portland Vocations Blog

  “If you don’t change direction, you’ll end up where you’re heading.” – Chinese proverb Failure to Launch was the title of a popular movie a few years ago about a shiftless young man with no direction in life. The term “launch” in the movie’s title is used by...

What can the words of the Mass teach us about the priesthood? Plenty, says Msgr. James Maroney, a liturgical scholar who has traveled the country preparing priests to understand and celebrate Mass better. “The liturgy itself tells us who the priest is,” explains Msgr....

  If you wanted to be a journalist, it would make sense to talk to someone who works at a newspaper. If you wanted to be a chef, it would make sense to talk to someone who works at a restaurant. Just so, if you feel an attraction to the priesthood, sooner or...

  Many people, even many Catholics, have a vision of seminary as a very strict monastery. They imagine men walking around in hooded robes with folded hands, observing strict silence, and never smiling or laughing. But that is not even true of a monastery, much...

    “The unexamined life is not worth living,” Socrates famously said. He really meant it, too, as he also said that a man must “interrogate his own nature” and “work precisely” or else he will “miss what is good and become involved in what is bad.” Every...

    God calls some men to seminary whom He does not call to become priests. Yep, you read that right. God leads us one step at a time, and it’s impossible to see around corners. And sometimes He wants us to know for sure where He's not calling us. You may...

    Spirituality is the individual approach to one's relationship with God. It involves making use of the tools of prayer and devotion which help you to live as a Christian the best way possible. Spirituality is, therefore, personal and many details of your...

  "It does makes sense to become a priest: the world needs priests, pastors, today, tomorrow and always, until the end of time." In an open letter on October 18, 2010, Pope Emeritus Benedict spoke from his heart to seminarians throughout the Church. Addressing...

    What does it take to be a priest? This is the remarkable true story of an American priest martyred for his ministry. Fr. Stanley Rother Fr. Stanley Rother, a priest for the diocese of Oklahoma City, graduated from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary back in the...

I’m my own man! I’m self-made, and I alone should determine my destiny! I will let nothing stand in the way of what I want. There is no other road to happiness! At least that’s what contemporary society would have us believe. But the Christian viewpoint is much...