"Take heart! God is with you the whole way even if we stumble or take a misstep."
BR. FRANCISCO CARREÓN, OP
TAKE A MOMENT TO
MEET BR. FRANCISCO!
What’s your favorite prayer?
The Divine Mercy chaplet, hands down. It helped me create a consistent habit of prayer, and it continues to help me trust in the Lord's love and care.
If you could be taught by any deceased Dominican, who would you pick? What question(s) would you ask him or her? (Friar, Sister, Lay Fraternity, etc.)
I'd love to hear Meister Eckhart teach and preach. I'd probably ask him to explain his more "out there" ideas and images, and I'd pick his brain on how he sees his theology in light of how our tradition developed with St. Thomas.
What's the most interesting or pointless fact you know?
Bananas and avocados are technically berries, while strawberries aren't.
What did you want to be growing up and why?
I always bounced around a lot of different ideas as a kid, but the one that stuck around the longest was being a software engineer. I enjoyed my programming classes in high school and thought I'd enjoy that full time.
TIPS FROM BR. FRANCISCO:
What's a tip you have for young men discerning priesthood/religious life?
It's important that you spend time in prayer everyday, making sure to give the Lord the space to speak to your heart. Along with that, try to schedule some chats with priests or religious who you know and/or you admire. Those conversations can offer a lot of insight into the vocation that you may not get through regular research, and it can often reveal things about yourself you may not have known. Then take all that into prayer again.
What's something you wish you knew earlier about discernment?
God does not ask us to be someone else or to fundamentally change who we are; He calls us to be ourselves in our vocation. This made discernment much less stressful and a lot more enjoyable once I understood it. There's freedom in knowing God calls you to holiness as you.
Any words of encouragement?
Often the path that the Lord takes us on is not as straightforward as we would like it to be, and we can get tired of walking it with Him. Take heart! God is with you the whole way even if we stumble or take a misstep. You can trust that He will take care of you in His providence and lead you to where you need to be.