As children, we played in our red barn during the day, but at night it took on a scary aura of night sounds, of bats and hauntings. If I had to go into the barn at night, I would take my father by the hand and he would lead me through the darkness. Through this he taught me that if I am with him, I do not have to be afraid of the darkness. In life, the Lord will not have us avoid that which is difficult or scary. He calls us to take Him by the hand and to take other good and holy people by the hand. When we do this, we will find peace and hope in the toughest places and times in life. As we discover the Lord in our red barns, then our life gets more challenging, because then He will ask us to take the hand of those who are suffering and searching and to enter into their red barns of fear and distrust, so that they too will discover His presence and peace
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This is an extension of the story of the Red Barn. Someone watched as Mother Teresa cared for the poorest of the poor in the squalor of Calcutta, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Mother Teresa answered, “Nor would I.”  We don’t choose our deepest call out of fun or excitement, but out of a sense of call and mission and because in doing so, we love Jesus Christ

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Practicing Virtue Leads to Virtue: One way to make this point is to take a guitar and play it the regular way. Then reverse the guitar and try to play the same song. You cannot. Why? Because you haven’t practiced. If you live your life in a selfish manner, don’t be surprised when you finally reach a point in which you want to be stronger and better and a good leader, and you cannot, because you haven’t practiced. If you want to become a basketball player you have to practice. If you want to be a surgeon, you must study medicine. If you want to be a saint, you must practice holiness through a relationship with Jesus Christ and in the Church

For Discernment: If you want to find your Vocation and Call, you need to practice seeking God’s will in the smaller choices of life. As you develop habits of living for the Lord—virtues, you will come to a threshold in which the Lord will ask not just for virtuous choices and habits, but for your entire life. If you can’t give the Lord a part of your life, how will you ever give Him all of it?

Scripture: Ephesians 4.17-24: “…Lay aside your former way of life…and acquire a fresh, spiritual way of thinking…”

Quote: “Sow a thought, reap a desire. Sow a desire, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.”

J.V. vs. Varsity: If you train at the J.V. level, you will only be able to play at the J.V. level. If you want to play at the Varsity level, then you have to train at the Varsity level. I played J.V. basketball, and we lost every game. So I took up other sports and hobbies. Now when I play basketball, I can never get beyond a J.V. level or worse. Life doesn’t give us options. Life will sooner or later come at us with Varsity force. Those who train at the J.V. level in their moral and discerning lives, will only be able to face life when it comes full force with a J.V. level response. Why do so many people get overwhelmed with life? Why do so many fall into addictive habits of drinking, drugs, and sex? Why do so many simply give up? It doesn’t have to be this way
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Many young people go on a retreat and feel an awakening to God’s presence in their life, but then comes a desert and times of long waiting. At this point, many give up the quest. They wonder why God doesn’t answer their prayers or continue to give them consolations.

A priest once told this story of Three Hunters. The first hunter paced the woods impatiently and made too much noise. He never was able to see a deer, because he made too much noise. The second hunter found a comfortable spot in the woods and went to sleep. Every couple of hours he would look up and check, but then would go back to sleep. He didn’t shoot a deer, because he wasn’t paying attention. The third hunter found a spot where he saw some tracks and then spent the day paying total attention to his surroundings. In spite of the cold and rain.
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Often in a classroom situation young people will ask for advice on dating, I will say to them that as a priest that I have one very important principle to keep in mind besides all the other important steps in friendship and love. I answer, “If you cannot pray together as a couple, then don’t ever get into a serious relationship with one another.”

Scripture: Matthew 19.4-6: God is the author of marriage and therefore no one is to separate what God has joined together.

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If you do not know how to pray with one another, then how can you discern together if the Lord is calling you to marry this person or someone else in the Sacrament of Marriage or to be a dedicated single person or to be a priest or to enter consecrated life? Can you imagine someone about to be ordained a priest who doesn’t pray? This would be a contradiction. How can a man prepare for the Sacrament of Holy Orders and not do so in through a life of prayer? Impossible. But doesn’t the same go for the Sacrament of Marriage? How many couples pray together on a regular basis? How do they pray together? The best couples I know today begin with the foundation in prayer. Do you pray alone or together? Why is it important to learn how to pray as a couple and later as a family? See Appendix 8 for more on dating and the importance of prayer for discernment.

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What would you say to the young man who says, “I met this woman and I believe that she is the one that I am to marry. I really think God might be calling her to be my wife. The only problem is that I am not sure. I don’t want to date her until God gives me a sign that this is the one for me.” LOSER! If you think that the Lord is calling you to marriage and you think this might be the person with whom you are to spend the rest of your life, the only real response is, “You have to date her in order to find out if you are meant to marry her.”

There are many young men who think that the Lord might be calling them to be a priest, but they are not sure. They are waiting for a miracle or theophany or something that will reveal to them what they are to do. They look from the outside in and cannot come to a decision. What is the answer?
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If you think that the Lord might be calling you to priesthood, then you can only do so much discerning from the outside. You reach the point in which the next step is to “date the priesthood.” This means entering seminary. Does it mean that you will be a priest? No. It means that you are open to God’s Call and you will begin a serious time of discernment.

There are often seminarians who will say to me, “I don’t know if I am called to the priesthood, but I do know that I am called to seminary.” If you have received signs along the way and a growing desire that the Lord may be calling you to priesthood, take the time to meet seminarians from your diocese, visit a seminary, and consider the possibility of dating the priesthood. “You can’t marry unless you date.” “You can’t swim unless you jump in the pool.” Or as Father Brett Brannen writes, “You can’t drive a parked car.”

If we truly understand how the Sacraments are God’s remedy given to mere human beings in the priesthood as the healing art for a world wrought with spiritual cancer, priesthood then becomes a meaningful life. Often when I begin a conversation with young men about the priesthood, I will ask them if they would be a priest if God called them to it? Some will say yes, and many will say no. Why would anyone say they would actually say “No” to God unless they didn’t understand who God is and what priesthood is? In the example about the “injectable cure for cancer,” young men will inevitably say that they would give up everything to be able to give the cure for physical cancer, because when great human need meets a healing art, there is a meaningful life. There is so much spiritual cancer in the world. An essential remedy for this spiritual cancer is the Catholic priesthood.

See Appendix 10 for more details.

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Ask students the question, “Who will be remembered as a saint 800 years from now?” After some discussion the general response almost always is, “John Paul II and Mother Teresa.” Then I ask, “Who do you think was the person who was most influential in transforming people and the world 800 years ago in the 1200’s?” People will say they don’t have any idea. When I do this I will then say, “I will give you a clue and I bet that every one of you know who this person is.” I will not say the person’s name but only the city where that person lived. “When I say the clue, I want you to raise your hand when you know who it is. Ready? Set? Here is the clue: “He was from Assisi.” They all answer, “St. Francis.” Then I ask, “What is it that all three of these people had in common?”
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Do this, and as you lead the discussion, help the students to see that common points were that they were people of prayer and faith who gave their lives totally to Christ and the Church. They did not simply want to be acceptable, or good, but to be holy, to strive to be the best they could through the grace of God.

The holiest priests and saints do not strive simply to be good. They understand the law of spiritual generation, that if we want to lead people to be saints, then we cannot strive for less. Only a total surrender to God’s grace can make this possible. How far will you go to bring Christ to others?

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