My discernment took a sharp turn and I need advice

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jobrien718
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jobrien718

Guest
So I am an 18 year old male who is going to be a sophomore in college. For about a year I felt that I had a calling to the priesthood. However this started to change. About 4 months ago I realized I wasn’t called to diocesan priesthood and started discerning with several religious orders. This weekend I did a “come and see” weekend with the Jesuits. I had a very deep prayer session and felt that I had a conversation with Jesus. I began to realize that even though I love taking part in priestly activities such as the praying the liturgy of the hours, chanting, Eucharistic adoration, evangelizing, and living in community with strong faith, Jesus was not calling me to the priesthood. And now I’m a little confused. I want to be in a Catholic environment being open about my faith and doing the activities I mentioned above but I know now that I’m not called to be a priest or religious life in general. Any advice on where I go from here? Thanks.
 
Keep praying and listening if you heard from Jesus that the priesthood is not you’re calling then trust that he will lead you to what he wants you to do.
 
Do you have a spiritual director? It would be better to discuss this with him, rather than asking advice on the internet.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I mean I’m a laity and I do Lauds, Vespers, and the Office of Readings every day (sometimes more). I also go to adoration almost every other day. With good time management it is very possible and even promoted for laity to take part in.
 
Job,

I agree with @sdward_george1 that it would be wise to talk to a spiritual advisor; I think you can ask for other (name removed by moderator)ut, however. In the end you need to listen to the Holy Spirit!

Have you done any dating? I think it would be a good idea. You may be called to have a family. Where you create a religious environment just like what you desire. Or maybe the Lord will then call you to the priesthood as he wanted you to experience the dating world first.
Keep listening. The Lord speaks to us in many ways. 🙏🙏🙏
 
Every Christian has a vocation to holiness in their daily lives by virtue of their baptism. Granted for some, this calling is lived out through the specific vocations of priesthood or religious life but this is only a small minority of people. Holiness involves developing and sustaining a prayer life, first and foremost, but beyond that assisting in the proclamation of the Gospel - it’s not for nothing that one of the dismissals at the end of mass is “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” Of course there are many ways to do this but merely being a pew-sitter isn’t one of them. Faith is a gift given to us to be given on so you could look at helping in your parish as a catechist or devoting time to service of pothers through organisations like the Knights of Columbus, St Vincent de Paul or other groups. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit will help you to find the right path (or paths); your job is simply to be open to the promptings of the Spirit through prayer, discernment and, most of all, patience.
 
I also third the suggestion of a spiritual director. I don’t recommend walking alone spiritually with big discernment decisions such as these. Whoever you choose as a director make sure they are devout and orthodox in belief but used to operating in the world.

A priest who was involved in running a local Newman center would most likely be a good choice as they are working with and guiding young adults on a daily basis. Do you have a Newman center local to you? They are associated with public universities.

Together with prayer I would encourage you to be involved in service groups of some kind, such as working with the poor and/or vulnerable.
 
I see I cross-posted with inthepew and we are saying very similar things.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top