Reading for Prayer & Discernment

Scripture

Old Testament

  • 1 Sam 3:1-10 | The Call of Samuel: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening”
  • Isa 6:1-13 | The Call of Isaiah: “’Whom shall I send?’…‘Here I am…send me!’”
  • Isa 43:1: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; have called you by name, you are mine”
  • d. Isa 45:4: “I have called you by your name… though you knew me not.”
  • Jer 1:1-10: The call of Jeremiah: “’Lord God, I know not how to speak. I am too young…’ ‘Say not I am too young… to whomever I send you, you shall go.’”
  • Jer 20: 7-9 | Jeremiah’s crisis: “You duped me O Lord and I let myself be duped. You were too strong for me and you triumphed… It seemed like a fire burning in my heart.”
  • Jon 1-3 | The Call of Jonah: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah; set out for the great city of Ninevah and preach against it…”

New Testament

  • Mt 4:18-22 or Mk 1:16-20 | Jesus Calls his first disciples: “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.”
  • Mt 16:24-28: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.”
  • Mt 19: 16-30 or Mk 10: 17-27 | The Rich Young Man: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.”
  • Mt 20:20-28 or Mk 10:35-45 | The request of James and John: “Anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant… just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for the many.”
  • Mt 28 | The Great Commission: “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”
  • Jn 15:9-17: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.”
  • Mk 3:13 | The Mission of the Twelve: “He summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him”
  • Mk 10:28-30 | The Reward of Discipleship: “We have given up everything and followed you…you will be repaid a hundred times more now in this present age… and eternal life in the age to come.”
  • Lk 14:25-33 | Jesus on Discipleship: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
  • 1 Cor 1:26-31 | God calls who He chooses: “Consider your own calling… Not many of you were wise… Rather God chose the foolish to shame the wise.”

Scripture about Priesthood

  • Heb 5:1-10: “Every high priest is taken from among men”
  • Heb 10:10-17: “Every priest stands daily at his ministry”
  • Heb 7:17: “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
  • Heb 8:3: “Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices.”

Scripture about Celibacy

  • Lk 18:29-30: “Anyone who has given up house or wife or brothers… for the sake of the Kingdom of God will receive back an overabundant return in this present age and eternal life in the age to come.”
  • Hos 2:21-22: “I will espouse you to me forever; I will espouse you in fidelity and you shall know the Lord…”

Books

Books on Discernment

  • To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood | by: Fr. Brett Brannen
  • Is Jesus Calling You To Be A Catholic Priest? A Helpful Guide | by: Fr. Thomas Richter
  • Radical Surrender; Letters to Seminarians | by: Fr. Michael Najim
  • Paths of Love: The Discernment of Vocation According to the Teaching of Aquinas, Ignatius, and Pope John Paul II | by: Joseph Bolin

Books on Celibacy

  • The Courage to be Chaste | by: Fr. Benedict Groeschel
  • Sacerdotalis Caelibatus (Priestly Celibacy) | by: Pope Paul VI, 1967
  • Virginity | by: Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa
  • “…And You are Christ’s” The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life | by: Thomas Dubay, S.M.

Books on the Priesthood

  • The Challenge of Fatherhood | by: Massimo Camisasca
  • Priestly Fatherhood: Treasures in Earthen Vessels | by: Jacques Philippe
  • A Priest Forever | by: Fr. Benedict Groeschel
  • From Slave to Priest: A Biography of the Reverend Augustine Tolton (1854 – 1897): First Black American Priest of the United States | by: Caroline Hemesath
  • Treasure in Clay | by: Archbishop Fulton Sheen
  • Priests for the Third Millennium | by: Archbishop Timothy Dolan
  • The Priest is Not His Own | by: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
  • Short Catechism on the Priesthood | by: St. John Vianney
  • The Grace of Ars | by: Fr. Frederick Miller