Yep. At age 21. I spent 1 1/2 years in discernment, staying at two different seminaries three times. I’ve thought about that many times through the years. I am convinced that was God’s plan for me, if I would’ve accepted. I was pretty materialistic in my youth though, and couldn’t let go of the worldly things. It wasn’t about women. I was popular, well-dressed, handsome, etc, and it was just too much for me to give up.
I’ve had many trials in my marriage, and my mind has turned to that old saying, “The cross God would give you is lighter than the cross you will choose for yourself”. But I am also convinced that God has a back-up plan as well. I am called to be a certain kind of lay person, utilizing the gifts and desires He’s given me.
There’s a fire inside me that I haven’t figured out how to use in my life as a husband and father…still working on it.
My recommendation is that if anyone is truely troubled about the decision, as I sure was, give the religious life a try with prayerful consideration. You can always go on to have a family if discernment eventually finds you do not have that calling. And most of all, look at your reasons for hesitating…are those reasons of God? My reasons were not. Whereas my father, who studied to be a priest for 3 years, truely felt God called him to be a father.
Don’t misunderstand me though. I love my children more than I could have possibly imagined and truely respect my vocation as a husband and father.
