Table of Contents

Foreword

By George Weigel

Introduction

1. The Story of Stories
2. Listening to Lives
3. The Way of Each Person
4. Unrepeatable Love

Chapter One: Knowing Our Culture

1. Liquid Modernity
2. A Culture of Calculation
   • The Poker Game of Discernment
   • The Gift that Opens
3. A Culture of Disincarnation
   • Grasping Snowflakes
   • Learning from Nature
4. A Culture of Conformity
   • #ConformToMe
   • Forces of Conformity
   • The Anti-Rebel
5. Toward a Culture of Vocation

Chapter Two: Our Unique Motivational Design

1. Awakening to Motivational Design
2. Tell Me Your Story
3. Where Does This Approach Come From?
4. Two Stories
   • Benton Parker
   • Rachel Michaud
5. The Nature of Motivational Design
   1. The Pattern is Irresistible
   2. The Pattern is Insatiable
   3. The Pattern is Enduring
   4. The Pattern is Good
   5. The Pattern is Ordered Toward Love
6. The Primordial Vocation

Chapter Three: Personal Vocation

1. The Circular Movement of Vocation
2. A Brief History of Vocation
   • Creation
   • Confusion
   • Convergence
3. The Common Elements of Every Christian Vocation
4. Call to Authentic Love
   • The Freedom to Love: A Promise
5. The Last Word
   1. ‘Till the End

Chapter Four: Mentoring with Empathy

1. Getting to Know Mentees
2. Empathy
3. Closed, Leading and Open Questions
   • Closed Questions
   • Leading Questions
   • Open-ended Questions
4. The Power of the Achievement Story
5. What If Mentees Say They Don’t Have Any Achievement Stories?
6. The Good Fruit of Drawing Out Achievement Stories
7. Empathic Listening
8. Basic Elements of Empathic Listening

Chapter Five: A Culture of Vocation

1. Education
2. The Five Elements of a Vocational Culture
   • Personal Encounter
   • Language
   • A Culture of Wonder: The Antidote to a Culture of Calculation
   • A Culture of Incarnation: The Antidote to a Culture of Disincarnation
   • A Culture of Creativity: The Antidote to a Culture of Conformity
3. The Practice of Active Love

Chapter Six: Keys for Guiding Effective Discernment

1. Teach Personal Vocation
   • Teaching Through Language
2. Help Mentees Find Their Own Way of Discernment
3. Explore Connection Between Talents and Motivational Design
4. Expose Them to Need, Orient Them to Service
5. Help Them Secure Wise, Attentive Mentors
   • Marks of the Wise, Attentive Mentor
   • Finding Strong Mentors
6. Cultivate Prayerful Silence for Listening
7. Awaken Them to Self-Creative Freedom

Chapter Seven: Mission

1. Vocation and Mission
2. Universal Mission
3. Particular Missions
   • Preparation
   • Focus
   • Action-Oriented
4. Missionary Disciples
   • A Mission Year
5. Mission Territory

Epilogue: A Prayer for Personal Vocation

1. The Fisherman’s Prayer
2. Prayer for Embracing Personal Vocation