COR pilgrimage to the Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal. Photo provided by Fr. Andrew Fritz: COR pilgrimage to the Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal
Do you feel like you’re stuck in discernment turmoil? Have you been spending hours reading, long nights praying, and most of your days talking to people, trying to figure out your purpose in life and what you were made for, about where God is calling you? Do you find yourself hoping that you’re not being deaf to God’s voice and missing out on some important message?
If you resonate with the above, here’s a short quiz. I’ll give you two questions to answer, and there’s no wrong answer, just your own answers. The caveat is, your answer cannot be “I don’t know” or “nothing”.
Open your journal, or get a piece of paper, and grab a pen. Ready? Go!
- Why are you alive?
- For what would you willingly die today?
Take 5 minutes for yourself and re-read those questions. Don’t rush it. Think about it! Why are you alive? And what would you willingly die for today? Someone in your life? An idea? Your country? Your faith? Would you die for Jesus Christ, the Gospel, the Holy Catholic Church? But don’t just answer because it sounds like the right thing, or you think it’s a good thing to die for, or because you were told in Sunday school that “God made me to know, love, and serve Him in this life and to be happy with Him in the next.” If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then praise God! Your adventure is just beginning. You now know what to look for, and what to find or uncover. You may even find what you weren’t looking for!
Would you believe Blessed Father Moreau walked in your shoes? Faced with hard questions and interior suffering, he too learned to model his life on Christ, and abandon himself into the hands of Divine Providence. Every October, Holy Cross religious are reminded of his “dark night.” In 1855, for two months, Fr. Moreau experienced spiritual abandonment and isolation from God. He was overcome by worry about the state of affairs in the world, and what he thought was the impending doom of the entire Congregation of Holy Cross. At night, after his brothers went to bed, Fr. Moreau paced in the chapel, staring at the crucifix, going from station to station, looking for light, for an inspiration, and found absolutely nothing. He went to the sanctuary, knocked on the door of the tabernacle and waited without finding any consolation.
One day, however, his light came in the form of a letter from a friend: “I see you in the same state as Peter, when he was sinking in the water. Why do you doubt? Renew your courage and peace in abandonment to God. This work is from God and not from you.” In the light of this truth he found his confidence renewed, he found why he was alive, and for what he would willingly die.
Fr. Andrew Fritz, C.S.C.
Provided by the Vocations Office October 8, 2025
