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LAST WEB SITE UPDATE: 01/31/2010
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Founded by Jerry Usher, Vocation Boom is a team of passionate advocates dedicated to supporting the priesthood as a life’s vocation and mission. We seek to develop a global support community where youth and young men interested in the priesthood can find comprehensive resources, encouragement, mentors and friends to aid in the discernment process.
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The Quo Vadis program is a discernment group for men of all ages. Come together with others who feel called to serve our Lord and discern your vocation in a prayerful, informative and relaxed environment. Click for dates and locations.
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God bless you, and thank you for visiting our web site.
Please continue to pray for our seminarians, our priests and religious,
for more vocations in our diocese, and throughout the Church.
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The Church Rejoices:
Two Seminarians Ordained
to the Transitional Diaconate
ROME - On October 8, 2009, seminarians David Carrano and Gregory Ihm were ordained to the transitional diaconate by the Most Rev. Robert J. Carlson, archbishop of St. Louis, Mo. Carrano and Ihm attend the Pontifical North American College in Rome, and began their studies and formation in 2005.
These two men will serve as deacons for approximately nine months. Their ordination to the priesthood is scheduled here in the Diocese of Madison, and will take place on Friday, June 25th at the parish church of St. Maria Goretti in Madison.
As a seminarian journeys to priesthood, one of the most important steps he takes to reach that goal is his ordination to the transitional diaconate. For these men, their time as deacon is transitional because they will not remain deacons. Canon Law requires each candidate to serve as a transitional deacon for a minimum of six months before ordination to the priesthood can take place.
Among those attending the ordination from the Diocese of Madison were Bishop Robert C. Morlino and Rev. Msgr. James R. Bartylla, Director of Vocations. Many family members of the ordinandi made the trans-Atlantic journey to Rome to attend the ordination.
The word deacon comes from the Greek word diakonia, which means service. It is the primary role of the deacon to assist the priest at holy Mass, to proclaim the gospel and to teach in the name of Christ and His Church. Let us pray for these men, our brothers, as they serve the Lord in the ministry of deacon.
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Recently, the Midwest Theological Forum finished production on an excellent video, entitled "The Catholic Priest Today: A Man of Faith, A Man of Tradition, A Man of God. The video is designed to speak to anyone who may have an interest in the priesthood.
The video features one of our own priests, Fr. Eric Nielsen, pictured at left, who is pastor at St. Paul University Catholic Center in Madison. In his remarks, Fr. Nielsen reminds viewers that  when discerning a vocation, there are more things to discern than the vocation itself. Saying yes to the priesthood reveals God's grace in many new ways, but it is also important to discern what sacrifices must be made in order to pursue a priestly vocation. In priesthood, sacrifice becomes blessing, and this theme is beautifully illustrated in this film.
Also included in the film is are commentaries by His Eminance, Francis Cardinal George, Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago, Ill., and Dr. Scott Hahn, a well-noted scripture scholar and author.
There is a web site dedicated to the video, located at http://www.thecatholicpriesttoday.com You may also order a DVD from the web site as well. Click on the link below to view the video.
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 "To preside at the Lord’s Supper is, therefore, an urgent invitation to offer oneself in gift, so that the attitude of the Suffering Servant and Lord may continue and grow in the Church. Dear young men, nurture your attraction to those values and radical choices which will transform your lives into service of others, in the footsteps of Jesus, the Lamb of God. …Do not be afraid to accept this call. You will surely encounter difficulties and sacrifices, but you will be happy to serve, you will be witnesses of that joy that the world cannot give. You will be living flames of an infinite and eternal love. You will know the spiritual riches of the priesthood, divine gift and mystery."
These are the words of our previous Holy Father, John Paull II, and they so eloquently express the joy and gift of serving God's holy people in priesthood. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishop's Vocations and Priestly Formation committee embarked on an effort to try and address the need of discerning a vocation amidst the world we live in today. What resulted was an award-winning video entitled "Fishers of Men".
We have made this video available to you here on our web site. To view the video, click on the appropriate link below. Running time is approximately 20 minutes. Dial-up users may wish to save the video to their computers first by right-clicking on the link and choosing "Save As...". Viewing via streaming video is recommended only for our broadband visitors.
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Ever thought about how you can be a part of the New Evangelization, begun by our previous Holy Father, John Paul II, and continuing with Benedict XVI? Some of our seminarians for the Diocese of Madison reflected on this very question. What did their prayer and reflection yield? A new and exciting program sponsored by the Office of Vocations!
Being a good evangelizer means bringing the true faith of Christ to those who have questions, or who might be wondering about different aspects of the Catholic faith. That's just what some of our seminarians did this past summer! They set out for the streets of downtown Madison to solicit questions from people about the Catholic Church. From seminary studies and prayer to celibacy and the ordination of women, it's all covered!
These questions were brought to the air of Relevant Radio, and are discussed from a variety of perspectives. How will an issue affect the lives of Catholic Christians? What are the pastoral implications? What are some fundamental reasons for why the Church teaches what she does? Feel free to listen to some of the radio broadcasts on topics that were discussed by clicking on the link at the right.
Every time we help someone to grow in their faith, we not only bring them closer to Christ and His Church, but we ourselves grow in faith as we more deeply understand what it means to be an authentic disciple of the Lord Jesus.
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On Charity
On Eucharistic Adoration
On Seminary Studies
On Married Clergy
On Transubstantiation
On Papal Infallibility
On Salvation Outside of
the Roman Catholic Church
On the fundamental differences
between Catholics and Lutherans
On the Ordination of
Females to the Priesthood
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The fruit of silence is prayer.
The fruit of prayer is faith.
The fruit of faith is love.
The fruit of love is service.
Lord, open our eyes,
that we may see you in our brothers and sisters.
Lord, open our ears, that we may hear the cries
of the hungry, the cold, the frightened, the oppressed.
Lord, open our hearts, that we may
love each other as you love us.
Renew in us your Spirit. Lord, free us and make us one.
Prayer of Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
Founder of the Missionaries of Charity
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Prayer for Vocations
Lord, we believe that You are present in the Holy Eucharist. Please watch over your Mystical Body, the Church, and send it shepherds to guide it. Grant our Diocese of Madison an increase in vocations to preisthood, deaconate, religious life, and sacramental married life. Help us to be instruments of your will in guiding young people through our teaching of the Catholic faith and the example of our lives. Instill in parents a desire to offer a child to priesthood or religious life, and sanctify priests, brothers, and sisters to be models of virtue and love. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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