C
CollegeKid
Guest
I think I may have a vocation to the priesthood. At the same time, I don’t want to rush into any type of judgement if I don’t have the right motives or if I’m not considering this lifestyle from all angles, including ones that might give me pause. I was baptized episcopalian, grew up Lutheran and mainline protestant, was evangelical for a while, and was received into the Catholic Church this past Easter. About 2 months ago I was at my friend’s house (he’s an evangelical). He wanted to talk to me because he was going through some rough times in his walk with Christ, I guess he just wanted someone to listen and maybe offer advice. At one moment, while I was listening to him, I was struck with a brief yet deep conviction: to paraphase, something along these thought lines ran through my mind: “this is what I want you to do with your life. I want you to be a priest in my church.” At the time I dismissed this occurrence. I thought that maybe it was the re-surfacing of some thought I had forced into my subconscious, and now I was just talking to myself inside my own mind. You see, before this moment the thought of the priesthood never appealed to me in the least. I couldn’t bear the thought of the celibate life. I thought being a priest is only for those who can commit most of their time to deep thinking and studying. I never saw myself as this type of person, I’m not very intellectual and I don’t like school. I didn’t know if I could stand to live in a rectory and only recieve a small stipend each month. I saw many aspects of being a priest as giving up small personal freedoms I enjoyed dearly. Ironically, since 8th grade I’ve wanted to serve in the Army or Marines. Ever since that one moment though, this desire to become a priest has grown in my heart significantly. The desire to serve in the military has faded, though I may still do it but not make a career of it. I’m not saying I’m always 100% enthusiastic when the thought comes to my mind, and I do have reservations about spending 6-8 years studying in a seminary, but I’ve grown strangely comfortable with the idea of celibacy and the desire is still there to be a priest. I guess I’m basically just wondering if you think I’m just an over-eager convert who was talking to himself and isn’t actually fit for the priesthood or if you think its possible I have a vocation.