"Pray consistently and regularly. It doesn't have to be huge, but pray every day. Praying ten minutes each day is far better than praying seventy minutes, once per week."
BR. JOSEPH CULLEN HILLIKER, OP
TAKE A MOMENT TO
MEET BR. JOSEPH!
What's your favorite prayer?
"Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen"
If you could share a meal with any 4 individuals, living or dead, who would they be?
1. The Virgin Mary
2. John the Beloved
3. Mary Magdalene
4. Andrew the Apostle.
What's your favorite memory from your experience in formation?
I spent a summer teaching mathematics and physics to high school students in Kibera Slum of Nairobi, Kenya. I have a vivid memory--much like a scene from a movie--of playing soccer barefoot on a dirt field with my students. I will never forget the joy of this summer, and especially the fellowship of that evening.
If you could join any past or current music group which would you pick?
Mumford & Sons. Mostly because I want to rock out on a banjo. Also because I know pretty much every song of theirs.
TIPS FROM BR. JOSEPH:
What's a tip you have for young men discerning priesthood/religious life?
Pray consistently and regularly. It doesn't have to be huge, but pray every day. Praying ten minutes each day is far better than praying seventy minutes, once per week. We encounter God as a person through prayer, and this is how we discern his voice in our lives. Besides, daily prayer is a precursor to the marvelous gift of Dominican life in which we commune with God for hours each day!
What's something you wish you knew earlier about discernment?
I wish I knew, or at least trusted, this promise sooner:
"And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first" (Matthew 29-30).