Vocation Discernment
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Vocation Office
Western Dominican Province
5890 Birch Court
Oakland, CA 94618-1626
(510)-596-1821
Our Vocations require a great deal of support, from the first moment they begin their novitiate until the last moments of their retirement. Please do conside visiting our donation page and helping form and sustain the priests and brothers who will serve you in the future, serve you now and have served you in the past.
Saints and Blesseds
The Order of Friars Preachers,
The Dominican Order,
has a beautiful history of learning, service and holiness manifested in its saints and blesseds of every age since its foundation by St. Dominic de Guzman. Do enjoy the periodic postings of such stories as are available from various sources, especially our own archives.
Religious Retirement
Our elderly and infirm friars receive the best care we have available to us, as in any family. We rely heavily on the donations of others for our own existence and thus when one of our own becomes incapable of further ministry due to age or infirmity, those same donations help us support the sometimes necessary special care required by such members of our communities.
We prefer to care for our elderly and infirm in our own houses so that the life of a religious community can be a part of a friars life as long as possible. This is also the most economical in many ways. We strive to use donations wisely. But sometimes a care facility is essential. As we, as a Province, do not benefit from the national collection for retired religious, we ask that you assist us in caring for these friars who have prayed, taught, served and ministered for so many years amomg the people of the Western United States and beyond.
Please, in your kindness, consider assisting us in this work of brotherly love.
Many thanks in advance.
Catholicism
It's just the right thing
Fr. Mark Christopher Padrez, OP
I was born and raised in Nogales, Arizona in October of 1963 – a small border town sixty miles south of Tucson. I attended public school but was very active in my parish as an altar boy. When I graduated from high school, I attended the University of Arizona – I was on the six-year plan when I completed my bachelor’s degree in history.
It was at the University of Arizona Newman Center where I first met the Dominicans and was introduced to their spirituality. I was impressed with their preaching, their availability, prayer life, and community. Their eagerness to preach and to do it well was evident and their passion for truth was infectious. As the chaplains mentored me through my college years I gradually saw what service and ministry meant. It is a giving of self for the benefit of others, and at times there may be hardships or sacrifices to be made, yet the Lord was constantly revealing himself and his love. As I reflected on my own life and my experiences of Christ’s powerful redemptive presence I felt drawn to share that presence with others. After much prayer, reflection, and consultation with friends and Dominicans I entered the Order in August of 1987.
I was ordained in May of 1995 and have been assigned to our parish in Antioch, California, Holy Rosary Church and our Newman Center at the University of California of San Diego. I have served as the Director of Vocations and Socius of the Province, and on January 8, 2011 I was elected Prior Provincial. [updated 1/12/11]
