Fr. Carter Griffin and Alvaro de Vicente on Vocational Discernment in an Age of Infinite Options

"Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 16:25).

This week we're joined by Fr. Carter Griffin, rector of the St. John Paul II Seminary in the Archdiocese of Washington, and Alvaro de Vicente, headmaster of The Heights School, to examine "discernment." It's become a Catholic buzzword, applied (or sometimes, perhaps, misapplied) to a number of life situations. Here, Fr. Carter and Alvaro discuss the methods and limits of vocational discernment—and the moral courage of commitment.

Chapters:

3:45 Christian discernment

6:09 Misuses of the word "discernment"

9:39 Whether we can wrongly discern vocation

14:46 Choice paralysis

20:25 Submit to the process

25:48 Dating and marriage

29:55 Mentors and spiritual directors

33:21 Principles for discerning well

39:38 "Throw your life away"?!

46:17 The need for prayer

52:36 Crisis of vocations or crisis of faith?

59:59 Church choice and church-hopping

Links:

"The Catholic Church Has a Manpower Problem", 22 September 2025, WSJ

2026 Men's Discernment Retreat for the Archdiocese of Washington

2026 Men's Discernment Retreat for the Diocese of Arlington

Forming Families, Forming Saints by Fr. Carter Griffin

Forming Fathers: Seminary Wisdom for Every Priest by Fr. Carter Griffin

Cross-Examined: Catholic Responses to the World's Questions by Fr. Carter Griffin

Why Celibacy? Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest by Fr. Carter Griffin

Also on the Forum:

You're the Man for the Job: The Vocation of Fatherhood featuring Alvaro de Vicente

Fostering Vocations in a Digital Age featuring Fr. Carter Griffin

Featured Opportunities:

The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (May 6-8, 2026)