Five Simple Steps to Become a Mercedarian Friar
By Fr. Daniel Bowen, O. de M.
What does it mean that God loves us?
A professional videographer recently asked that question of three priests. I was one of them.
The first priest answered, "God wills the good of the other," quoting St. Thomas Aquinas. The second priest suggested, “He shares his inner Trinitarian life with us.”
I answered by saying that you first must define what love is. “God says, ‘I want to love you. Please love me back.’ He sent his Son to show us what love looks like.”
I further explained that you can discover love in your family. I then said,
“This is why the devil wants to destroy the family unit. To distort it .... If people don't understand who they are, or whose they are, they won't understand who God is and what love is.”
Of course, all of these answers have merit. God is so infinite in his love that each of us on earth could give our own accounting of it, and this would still not exhaust all of who God is, and how He wants to share his life with us.
You can find this video, called “What does it mean that God loves us?” on the YouTube channel of Mercedarian Friars USA.
Another video in which I was interviewed is, “What Is Evil?”
Both videos were produced by the new YouTube channel, Book 7.
I was honored to be asked to appear in both of these videos, and am encouraged that the videos have attracted hundreds of views in only their first few weeks.
It seems that the quest for God, and meaning in life has no limits. That is why these questions are so relevant.
What is your answer to the question, “What does it mean that God loves us?”
Men, you can be a conduit of grace for those seeking God’s love.
Have you thought that God may be calling you to become a Mercedarian friar?
The Mercedarians, also known as the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, was founded in 1218 in Spain. We have friars who are priests and brothers.
In the United States, Mercedarian friars serve in parishes, prisons, hospitals, schools and other institutions in Ohio, Pennsylvania New York, and Florida. As part of our charism of redemptive love, we have a sincere devotion to Mary and to the Eucharist.
Single Catholic men age 18 – 40 who think they may have a Mercedarian vocation are invited to visit the website of the Mercedarian Friars USA. Contact me, Fr. Daniel Bowen, vocation director, at vocations@orderofmercy.org.
Test your call to the Mercedarian Friars and get your score.
Learn more about the Friars at these sites as well:
Facebook: MercedarianFriarsUSA
Twitter: 4thvow
Instagram: mercedarianfriarsusa
YouTube: Mercedarian Friars USA