T
Through_Anyone
Guest
I thought this might be inspirational-
God bless you all–especially those discerning a call to priesthood and/or religious life!If I shouldn’t be in seminary just yet…then I wonder at what point one is ready, you know? Currently I embrace a lifestyle of chaste celibacy, I pray the entire breviary each day, I spend a lot of time in Eucharistic adoration, I mentor several people in the Faith, I specifically feel called to priesthood, and I WANT to pursue it, I’ve accepted not having a wife and children, I want to grow in my spirituality and get even closer to Our Lord, etc. Also, so many guys focus on what they’re going to lose out on in the process. I don’t think like that–I see so much to gain that the sacrifices don’t seem as big. I think it’s not as scary once you realize you can be happy or even happier without things society says you’re entitled to or must have to be happy/successful/well-rounded/etc. I also think it helps when you KNOW yourself well enough to realize where you’re most likely to be more fulfilled. Then you pray on it, and let the Lord confirm it with little hints every day, and then you start letting Him lead you, and that’s where I’m at now. This isn’t totally new either; I’ve pondered vocations and religious life for almost my whole life, even when I was away and had no faith–as a result of meeting Fr. [name] and wondering how someone could live like that. Now I’ve just scraped off the ‘rust’ of disordered desires, passions, and inclinations and really laid my soul bare before the Lord and so I now see that not only can a man live like that and be happy, but that’s it’s a great life and he’ll really be lacking in nothing and blessed immeasurably. When I was younger, I didn’t really know Jesus though I was quite devoted to Him at least through high school. By college I didn’t even know myself. Now at [age], I know myself well and I know Jesus Christ, and I’m not ashamed to tell the whole world about Him or about me–in fact I want to go tell everyone. Look at the mercy I experienced–if He did it for me, He’d certainly do the same for anyone else. People need to hear about it; they need to see good people living good holy lives according to the Gospel and witnessing to the Divine Mercy. Why not me? It’d be selfish to keep this awesome gift to myself. To me that sounds like a person ready to begin seminary, but who knows? If I’m not ready, then at least I’m becoming more prepared with each passing day.