By Fr. Hau Vu, Vocations Director
When I look into the packed refectory at Serra House on a Thursday night, I just stand there for a moment. Young people are everywhere. Men and women. Smiling. Talking. Praying. There is so much life in the room.
And I ask myself, why do their eyes shine like that? Why do I see so much hope in them, but not always in adults?
Then I think back to when I was young. I remember walking into a beautiful church. I remember walking outside in nature. I remember feeling something deep inside. It was wonder. Not just because the place was beautiful, but because I felt like I belonged. I felt seen. I felt heard.
That is what Discernment Thursday is about. It is not just about me and God. Yes, we need that. But it is also about us together. Faith is not only vertical. It is also horizontal. God made us for relationship.
Young people today are hungry for that. They are asking big questions. Who am I? What am I made for? Does my life matter?
You do not find those answers alone. You need a community. You need people who believe. You need people who live the truth, not just talk about it. Not every place gives that. Some places dull the truth. Some places mix it with lies that sound good but lead nowhere.
As adults, we have to regain our sense of wonder. We live in a culture that tells us to be cautious, efficient, self reliant. We have learned not to trust easily. We have been hurt. We have seen lies. We have learned that nothing is free.
So when we hear that God loves us without conditions, we struggle. We think there must be a catch. We think we have done too much wrong. We think we have to earn His love.
But that is not how God works. He loves us first. He does not want anything in return except our hearts. He wants us to receive His love and then love Him back.
Trust does not begin in the mind. It begins in the heart. As adults, we need healing. We need to let go of doubt and skepticism. We need to enter the Church like a child, ready to receive everything as a gift.
That is the wonder we must show our young people. We cannot just teach it. We must live it.
At Serra House of Formation, we see something beautiful. Young people want to gather. They want to belong. They want to be seen.
Serra House is not just a place for seminarians. The word seminary comes from the Latin word seminarium, which means seedbed. It is a place where seeds grow. It is a place where sons and daughters of God begin to discover who they are.
People come here and they notice something. They see joyful seminarians. They see priests and religious who are alive. And they start asking, what do they have?
That question is the beginning of identity. Before structure. Before discipline. Before formation. It begins with belonging.
When someone feels they belong, the real search begins. The world cannot answer the deepest questions of the heart. But in a place of faith and community, those questions finally have room to breathe.
If you know someone who is searching, or if you are searching yourself, come. Come on a Thursday. Come on Missionary Saturday. Just come.
You will be welcomed. Not with pressure. Not with conditions. But with love.
Something is happening here in our Diocese. I can see it. Vocations are growing. Hearts are opening. And maybe that something is waiting for you too.
To learn more about our programs and events, visit www.dsbvocations.org or www.serrahouse.org.
