Novena for Vaughn's Vocation

O God, Who wills not the death of a sinner but rather that he be converted and live, grant we beseech you, through the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Saint Joseph her spouse, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and all the saints, an increase of laborers for Your Church, fellow laborers with Christ to spend and consume themselves for souls, and that you might confirm during this Christmas Octave your desire to have our brother, Vaughn Andrew Treco, be among these vineyard workers through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God Forever and ever. Amen


Good morning Friends,

In a few days - in the midst of the Christmas Octave - many of you will be receiving our latest Treco Family Update. As you can imagine, there will be much news to share with you at that time (updates regarding the my priestly formation, Norma, and each of the kids). As we prepare to send that update, we want to invite you to add your voices to ours in a special "Christmas Vocation Gift" novena!

During the next nine days, we will be praying a very special novena for Vaughn's vocation. Specifically, we are praying that our Lord will provide Vaughn with a clear word regarding his priestly vocation.

Over the past few years, many of you have been a source of tremendous spiritual support. Your gifts of prayers, words of encouragement, and your financial support are the instruments of God's power to us. We are here, humanly speaking, because of your faithful friendship. We are sending this email in the hope that you will take the time to ask the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to confirm - during this Christmas Octave (December 25th, 2008 - January 1st, 2009) - his desire to have Vaughn complete his journey to the altar.

If you are new to novenas: A novena is a nine-day cycle of prayers, offered to God for the purpose of securing a specific spiritual or temporal need. Once each day, for nine days in succession, a special prayer (or collection of prayers) is offered for a specific intention (or prayer request).

So, please storm the gates of heaven with us! And, may the Father of the heavenly lights, grant Vaughn - and our family - this incredible and special Christmas gift!

May the blessings of Advent and the Savior's arrival remain with you always!

With Christ's affection,
Vaughn & Norma Treco

MUSINGS - Do we really want to be holy?

Ask any group of young people what it means to be holy and a good many will be at a loss for an answer. Ask them if they want to be holy and you’ll probably get what amounts to a “not really”!

This should alarm every Catholic parent! But, I must confess that I have only rarely witnessed a Christian parent get alarmed by their children’s lack of understanding of holiness or the absence of any real desire to be holy.

Summing up the call of the Gospel, Jesus once said, “Be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Later, the writer to the Hebrews put it similarly, “Strive for... that holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14).

If being holy is at the heart of the Gospel, and the key that opens the gates of heaven, then why are we — and our children — so passionless about it? Part of the reason is that the ideas about holiness that infect our minds and hearts are just plain wrong.

Tell the truth now, “Would you want to be holy if it meant that you would be unhappy, bored and devoid of the delights of marital intimacy?” The answer is, “NO!” And...Our children do not want to be holy because they agree with us!

We are convinced that holiness is boring, and that holiness will make us unhappy. And, we are certain that great sex and holiness just don’t mix. It’s no wonder that neither we nor our children are big fans of holiness.

In fact, it might not be too far from the truth to suggest that the only reason many of us ever think about being holy is because we don’t want to go to hell! But while the fear of hell might get us to straighten up our lives, to watch our moral p’s and q’s, it very rarely leads to the truly happy holiness that God wants for us!

Holiness is being perfect like God the Father. It is imitating God the Son. Thinking, speaking, desiring, loving and doing the things that Jesus thinks, speaks, desires, loves and does! Holiness is living life in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Joy!

Let me put it another way. We are made in the image and likeness of God. Holiness, then, is the thing that enables each of us to become our truest, bestest, happiest selves! Holiness is the invitation to give up all that we are to God, so that He can give us our fullest selves in return! “Whoever loses his life my sake, will find it!” (Matthew 16:25)

Priesthood, religious life, marriage and virginity are each witnesses to the happy holiness that God wants for each of us. They are witnesses because they each in kind challenge us to freely and joyfully offer our entire selves to God! And, this is true holiness, a life-lived completely for the Other!

Jesus us commands us to “be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect” because he knows that it is in the pursuit and the attainment of holiness that we will find our God and ourselves!

Lord, give us eyes that see and ears that hear!

TRANSFORMATION IN CHRIST: Something Beautiful For God

It's easy enough to reduce transformation in Christ to "following the rules". But, transformation in Christ is so much more! In this talk, Vaughn Treco - convert priest and Catholic seminarian - explores an often understated goal of the passion and death of our Lord: Jesus Christ laid down His life in order to make each of us "something beautiful for God" (See Ephesians 5:25b-27)

This short talk was given on Saturday, March 8th, 2008, as a part of the final session of the "Life In The Spirit Seminar" hosted by the Mother of Joy Charismatic Prayer Group at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Woodbridge, Virginia.

IMPORTANT NOTE: A couple of years ago my son, Michael, asked me to start recording the talks that I was giving in various settings in our parish and in our diocese. With a good bit of his assistance, and with him cheering me on I began doing just that. So, over the past year or so I have used a 5th Generation Apple iPod, a XtremeMac MicroMemo and MicroMemo lapel microphone to record my attempts to share the wonder of the Gospel.

By a singular grace I have been given the privilege to share the love of Jesus Christ in settings large and small. And it is my hope that by offering these talks on the Internet many more men and women will be captured by the beauty of the Lord.

I wish that I could offer these talks free of charge, but I cannot.

If you would like an audio CD of this talk, please make a donation of $10.00 using the PayPal donation link on his web page (it's in the left column). Be sure to include full name and your current shipping address. Assuming that I receive your donation before 3:00 pm, I will send your CD on the business day following the one on which I receive your donation.