What is the Paulist community? What to its members do? How do you become a Paulist? What is it like to be a Paulist student? What drew a particular Paulist to the community?

Exploring the answers to these questions, and more, is a video series titled Paulists InFormation. (All 15 episodes are available on YouTube.) The videos feature a Paulist student interviewing Paulist priests or another Paulist student about their path to the Paulists, their experiences and their current ministry. Guests on Season 1 included Paulist President Father Eric Andrews; Father Dave Dwyer, CSP, director of Busted Halo and host of The Busted Halo show on Sirius-XM radio; and special guest Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CSsR, of Indianapolis.

“The series is an informal look at the Paulist community and life in formation,” said series co-founder Michael Hennessy, CSP, a third-year Paulist student from Manchester, N.H.

The twin goals of the series are to be a tool of discernment and ministry for the Paulist students themselves and “be a resource for those who are considering religious life and want to know the life stories of those in the Paulists,” said Evan Cummings, CSP, second-year Paulist student and series co-founder. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity for us to work both behind and in front of a camera to produce some helpful content for discernment.”

But Mr. Hennessy said the message of the series extends beyond the discernment of religious life.

“There was a vocational goal, to help get information about the Paulist community out to men who are discerning,” he said, “but I think that when we speak about vocations in the series it is also in a more general sense – how can a person discern God’s will in their life today, not just to priesthood or consecrated life, but to other things too: marriage, relationships, work, friendships.”

Paolo Puccini, CSP (right), interviews fellow Paulist student Matt Berrios, CSP, on the Paulist InFormation YouTube video series.

Mr. Hennessy said he was surprised at how little it took to produce the series thus far – a large storage closet was emptied and spruced up with some leftover paint to create a studio. Lighting, sound and editing equipment were already in-house at St. Paul’s College in Washington, D.C., the Paulist house of formation where the students live while also attending academic classes at the nearby Catholic University of America.

Now that Season 1 is complete, and all of the students are serving their summer assignments, both Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Cummings hope for Season 2 to begin in the fall.

“I’m also hoping that we can start to share some Gospel reflections on the show more regularly to help us practice our preaching,” said Mr. Cummings, who hails from Clearfield, Utah. “I am very pleased with how all of the students have helped and how well everything came together.”