Here is some advice for guys who may be at the level of calling and visiting religious orders or diocesan discernment programs:
(The Importance of Daily Prayer)
1) Holy Mass every Sunday - and if possible, try to attend Mass during the week. What better way is there to hear the Lord speaking to you than during the Mass? 2) Daily personal prayer - Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Holy Rosary, and the Liturgy of the Hours (If you are busy, try praying at least morning and evening prayer). It is also highly recommended that you try to take 15-20 minutes a day a prayerfully read the Scriptures (Lectio Divina) which is a staple of the Monastic Benedictine Life.
3) Spiritual Direction - (Spiritual direction is a "gathering together" of two in the name of Jesus, the spiritual director and the directee, to help a person to develop a closer relationship with God and to better discern how the Holy Spirit is leading in their life.) For someone discerning the call seriously it is important to meet with your director (either a trusted priest or religious) once a month.
4) The Sacrament of Reconciliation - Again, I recommend monthly taking advantage of the Sacrament.
(Get Involved)
If you are not so already, get involved in your local parish (I'm sure the local priest would love your help). Also, take advantage of groups like the Knights of Columbus who are a wonderful group of Catholic men who practice all sorts of great community
outreach programs (Most parishes have a group of knights who could give you more information about the lay order - click here for their website). As the priest, the monk, and the religious is called to be a servant to the servants like Jesus, it is important to start serving people faithfully now in order to understand the importance of selflessness and charity when discerning the call to the religious way of life.(No Dating)
Another important factor in discerning whether or not the Lord is calling you to the religious state of life is keeping your mind, heart, and soul, completely focused and attentive to the Lord. This is impossible to do when you are dating a young lady. As many spiritual directors will tell you, dating (being involved in a relationship with another person), seriously clouds the discerning heart for it is not fully able to listen to the voice of the Lord - As St. Benedict instructs us in the Holy Rule, "Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart." (RB Prologue 1) "You need interior freedom to discern between the state of marriage and the religious state. We all have a normal and natural desire for women and marriage. A religious calling is an invitation to give up that great good for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven." (Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher, CFR)Finally, the importance of being free from addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, and PORNOGRAPHY!!! As you may already know, any addiction, especially pornography will make it extremely hard for you offer the Lord a free and complete "YES" to the divine call. This is not to say that religious orders and diocese are only looking for saints, that's not the case at all. All people, are bound to have the occasional slip-up and sin, yet we rely on the Mercy of God and the Sacrament of Reconciliation which allows us to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and continue on the straight and narrow path which leads to Heaven!!!
