Discernment Do's and Dont's - by George Elliott (Paperback)

About the Book

A practical guide to discerning any vocation, married or celebrate!

Do you feel like God is calling you to...something, but you don't know what? Don't know where to start? Do you find it hard to clear away the noise of life, and apps, and phones and really listen to God?

You're not alone! But, happily, now there is a book to help you cut through the clutter so as to prayerfully discern God's will for your life...that life to which he calls you and for which He created you.

Book Synopsis

A practical guide to discerning any vocation, married or celebrate!

Do you feel like God is calling you to...something, but you don't know what? Don't know where to start? Do you find it hard to clear away the noise of life, and apps, and phones and really listen to God?

You're not alone! But, happily, now there is a book to help you cut through the clutter so as to prayerfully discern God's will for your life...that life to which he calls you and for which He created you.

Discernment Do's and Don'ts, a practical guide to vocational discernment for Catholic teens and young adults, combines the teachings of Scriptures, Church documents, the Church Fathers, and the saints -and a healthy dose of good old common sense - into one handy "How to" guide on finding God's will for you.

College chaplain, tech apostle, and parish priest Fr. George Elliott shows young people how to navigate seven different states of the discernment process and provides one best practice (the Do's) to employ and one pitfall to avoid (the Don'ts) at each stage.

Discernment Do's and Don'ts is an invaluable guide offering a wealth of practical advice and resources including:

• Tips to help you hear God calling you by name
• Aids to identify obstacles in the discernment process and overcome them
• Stories of real teens and young adults finding (or not finding...yet) their vocations
• Scripture passages, teaching from the Church Fathers, and examples from the lives of the Saints

It's easy to "get stuck" when discerning your vocation. Fr. Elliott has gone through the process himself and helped countless young people find God's plan for their lives...and now he'll help you!

Discernment Do's and Don'ts lays out a clear path and helps young people identify anything that may be interfering with the discernment process and suggests ways to overcome those obstacles. Though written for teens and young adults, every Catholic not yet settled in a definitive vocation and anyone who cares about such "seekers" (That's you, parents!) should read this book.

Review Quotes

As I personally discerned priesthood and, for over a decade, accompanied many university students through their personal journey of vocational discernment, I wish I would have had as much practical advice at my fingertips as this book provides. Fr. Elliott has done a fantastic job of compiling the most important principles to keep in mind while one is trying to figure out God's will for their vocation. The personal insights are fantastic and certainly resonate with my journey which eventually led me to the vocation of marriage.

-Jeff Runyan, Sr. Director of International Relations - Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS)


In a world in which the very idea of "vocation" is a counter-cultural concept, many parents and educators need support in encouraging young people to open their hearts and hear God's voice. In this easy-to-read book, Fr. George Elliott accomplishes the seemingly impossible: He clarifies the call to holiness and holds his readers to a high standard for answering it. Fr. Elliott teaches young people to cultivate a habit of prayerful listening so as to discern with clarity the specific ways in which God is calling them to holiness. The result is a useful and inspiring resource for personal discernment - a real gift to families and to the Church!

-Danielle Bean, Author and Manager of www.catholicmom.com

About the Author

Fr. George Elliott, STL is a priest of the Diocese of Tyler, TX and Co-Founder and Director of Catholic CAST Media. Discerning to enter the seminary while at the US Air Force Academy, he was sent to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he served as a vocations envoy for one year, speaking about vocations at the high schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. From there, he was sent to the North American College in Rome and studied Theology at the University of the Holy Cross and Patristics at the Augustinianum. While in Rome, Fr. George Elliott co-founder Catholic Bytes Podcast, which eventually became Catholic CAST Media. During his last years in Rome he served as the chaplain to the St. Lawrence international Youth Center and as chaplain to Christendom College's Rome Study Abroad program. He has worked in a parish as Parochial Vicar, Administrator, and Pastor. Now, he serves as a member of the diocesan vocations board, as the Chaplain to the Catholic Campus Ministry at Stephen. F. Austin State University, and as Pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church.