E-Newsletter
Duc in Altum
Our monthly discernment e-newsletter, called Duc in Altum, is a new offering from the Office of Vocations. It is designed, as its Latin name suggests, to help young men discerning priesthood and religious life "to put out into the deep" of their discernment. The name comes from Luke 5:4, in which Jesus invites Peter "to put out into the deep" for a catch. It was a favorite passage of Blessed John Paul II, who chose those words as the theme for his message for the 42nd World Day of Prayer for Vocations in 1995.
In that message, the Holy Father wrote, "Dear young people, it is to you in a particular way that I renew the invitation of Christ to 'put out into the deep.' You find yourselves having to make important decisions for your future. ... Trust Christ; listen attentively to his teachings, fix your eyes on his face, persevere in listening to his Word. Allow Him to focus your search and your aspirations, all your ideals and the desires of your heart."
Duc in Altum comes out every month with past issues archived. Each issue includes an original reflection on themes like call, prayer, and discernment, as well as info on upcoming events and other vocation resources. It thus helps you do what the Holy Father asked: to put out into the deep and let Christ focus your search and your aspirations, all your ideals and the desires of your hearts.
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Duc in Altum Archives
- An Invitation to Enter His Joy — May 2012, Vol. 1, Issue 7. Recently Msgr. Stephen Rossetti did a study on the happiness of priests. He found that priests had a higher rate of happiness than the general U.S. population. A large number of these same priests felt that they had an overwhelming amount of work to do. Yet even with the great amount of work on their plate, they were satisfied with their life. This might seem counterintuitive to a popular culture that leads us to believe that we will be happiest when we have a life of luxury and ease. Yet the reality is that our greatest joys will come through our participation in the mystery of the Kingdom of God.
- The Joy and Love of Sacrifice — April 2012, Vol. 1, Issue 6. In recent years, vocation promotion in the Church has tended to emphasize the joy that comes through finding and living our calling from God. And yet, we cannot forget that true self-fulfillment only comes through self-emptying … through self-sacrifice. That is why immediately after telling them that he came so that their joy could be complete, Jesus says to the disciples, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (15:13). The reason that I can truthfully testify that I have never enjoyed so much love in my life as I have since I took final vows and was ordained a priest is precisely because I have never had to sacrifice more for others and for God.
- Building a Personal Relationship with Christ — March 2012, Vol. 1, Issue 5. The best piece of advice that we can give to anyone who is wondering how they are being called is to seek out ways to draw closer to the Lord. If it is the Lord's call that you seek, draw close to Him. The wonderful news is that this is not as complicated as it may seem. The opportunities to draw close to the Lord are manifold.
- Through Uncertainty to Insight and Peace — February 2012, Vol. 1, Issue 4. When we are honestly seeking God’s will, uncertainty and doubt are only the next step to greater insight and peace. At times God blesses us with the gift – yes, the gift – of uncertainty and even doubt because only by revealing to us what we still do not know – whether about ourselves, about the vocations we are discerning, or about God Himself – can God help us discover the questions we need to be asking.
- Led by Trust in the Lord — January 2012, Vol. 1, Issue 3. I took the leap of faith and entered the seminary not positive that my call was to the priesthood but because I was finally ready to invest a few years of my life into figuring out if it was. As I engaged the process and offered the questions and fears to the Lord, the answer would come back: “My grace is enough” (2 Cor 12:9). Only a few will hear the Lord’s call so clearly and boldly that there is no mistaking it. For the rest of us, we must continually open our lives to the possibilities that the Lord has in store for us ... trusting that He is at work in our lives and that He does know what He is doing.
- Exchanging Lower Values for Higher Joys — December 2011, Vol. 1, Issue 2. Both marriage and religious life involve sacrifice, this is true. But the sacrifice of both vocations is not a giving up, but rather, in the words of Archbishop Sheen, “an exchange of lower values for higher joys.” Again, we often more easily see this when it comes to the vocation of marriage, but the same is even more true of the vocation of religious life. It is only when we understand the exchange we make in professing the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience that we can truly discern religious life.
- Out into the Deep with the Saints — November 2011, Vol. 1, Issue 1. Initially, there may not have been much on which Simon Peter could base his trust in Jesus’ fishing advice. Yet we do have a good bit on which to base our own trust. On today’s Feast of All Saints, we recognize that we have the witness of the lives of countless saints to show us that the Lord does amazing things with those who put their trust in Him.