Priest, Doctor, Police Officer; What to Do?

  • Thread starter Thread starter RunMan
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
R

RunMan

Guest
Hello all. I am an 19 year old male with one semester of college (out of state) done. I have been discerning a vocation to the priesthood for a while now and almost went to College Seminary out of high school but decided to give “normal” college a try. I ran on the cross country team, was part of some clubs, Knights of Columbus, went on a few mission trips, and volunteered. Overall, it was a good experience.

Now that I am home for the summer, I am wondering what to do next year. The University I go to recently increased fees and it may be financially unfeasible for me and my family for me to continue to go to school there. I still feel very drawn to the priesthood at this time, and the call is stronger than it has ever been. I always thought that I would be a medical professional one way or another, but now I’m not so sure. Also, for some reason, I have recently also felt called to pursue a career in law enforcement in my own town as there has been a huge spike in crime and too few officers to handle this. However, there also has been a huge spike in liberalism and a falling away from the Faith in my diocese and too few priests to handle it, if you know what I mean.

I feel torn between what to do. My options right now seem to be: go back to the University I went to this year, contact my diocese’s vocation director and look into next steps for the priesthood, or look into becoming a police officer in my town (which you can do at the age of 18). I have spent many, many hours in prayer and Eucharistic Adoration considering this decision and still am torn in all directions.

I want to be able to make a decision soon so that I can plan the rest of my summer off of it; ie if I was going to do something in the medical field would need to do clinical work, volunteer, research, etc. or if I was going to do law enforcement, study for the tests and look for classes. I want to at least try dating someone this summer if I am not going to be going into the priesthood.

Either way, I know that my community, the Church, our nation, and the world as a whole need good, Catholic priests, doctors, police officers, fathers, and any other professions or vocations. I have a spiritual advisor by the way who I consult often. I always have had an issue with decision making in my life and I just want to make a decision and need all the (name removed by moderator)ut, advice, and suggestions I can get. Thank you for your time!
 
Well, for starters, I would contact the vocations office and see what the procedure is, ditto for the police force. Can’t hurt to find out more!
 
Spend some time with the professionals in each field. That will be very enlightening. Have you considered getting ordained a priest and then becoming a military chaplain? I’ve know some chaplains who were also M.D.'s. The military can provide multidisciplinary training touching on many of the aspects of the careers you’re already considering.
 
Thanks for the replies. So are you saying if I became a diocesean priest, they might allow military chaplinacy?
 
I would do everything I could to stay in school. Apply for financial help, if your family is low income you may well get the Pell grant and other opportunities.
All of the careers you list require a degree.
Do everything you can to get one, grow in maturity, and really go into something with eyes wide open.
God bless.
 
Last edited:
Also are there any benefits to going to seminary right now versus waiting and getting a degree in whatever?
 
RunMan said:
So are you saying if I became a diocesean priest, they might allow military chaplinacy?
Click to expand...
Yes. (I’m an active duty Air Force officer at the moment, and am a direct commission like chaplains).

Also keep in mind that all Military Chaplains get zero training beyond the basics as they are noncombatants by law (and are direct commissions just like medical and JAG as a result). Direct commissions are brought into the military because they possess a skill the DOD wants or needs. We are not recruited in the same way.

Noncombatants use tactics for self-defense or as in my case for the defense of patients.

If you are interested in the chaplaincy, you will need to talk to a military officer recruiter (these are not the guys in the shopping malls - they are enlisted recruiters and do not recruit officers).

In the military you CAN be an enlisted chaplain assistant, and I have seen several of them go on to be ordained in their faith and continue a military career as an officer and a chaplain. You can also go enlisted to officer, though it’s not always easy. I actually just saw a story about a Navy corpsman (a high level combat medic, for lack of a shorter explanation) who converted to Catholicism and was ordained a priest recently. (I think the ordination was actually done here in the PNW up at the Navy Base here, but do not quote me on that.) The paper was in the church as recently as yesterday; I can check for another copy and pass on the information to you.

Priests apparently are needed. At my chapel the senior priest, a very wonderful man, was actually recalled post retirement by the military because of a shortage.

I would encourage you to stay in school, but there are many pathways to the priesthood if that’s what you decide to do. I ended up enlisted 20 years ago because I too was broke. I separated, used my GI Bill to go to nursing school, and commissioned back in ten years ago after working in the civilian sector for a few years as an RN.
 
Last edited:
I’ll put out a completely different option. Have you considered taking a year off for some serious prayer and life experience? Search Volunteer Programs | Catholic Volunteer Network

(I personally prefer their paper or e-catalog to their online search tool).

You could assist with a medical mission to discern the health care option. You could go work with youth in a high-crime area to discern the law enforcement possibility. Either way, you could do so with a religious order to see if the the religious life may be your calling.

School will be waiting when you’re ready and know which way you want to go.
 
Last edited:
Honestly you sound like you need to spend some time doing some soul-searching and discerning before you commit to any one thing.

You sound like the little boy I once met. His older sister was a chatty one who was telling me all about her writing and acting ambitions. He was about 5 and piped up, “Wanna know what I’m goning to be when I grow up???”

“Sure!”

With the conviction only a young boy can muster, he proudly announced, “I’m going to be a Ninja, Construction worker Priest…” and with a slight pause…“maybe a fireworks man and racecar driver if I have the chance”

I think you sound a lot like that little boy.
 
Just as a side note, a young man at our church today,
was handing out mass invitations -
he will be ordained, next month, in Boston.
Everyone - is happy for him.
He’s about 26 years old. Read the gospel today.

Pastor gave the homily -
it was about how the sheep follow the shepherd.
Pastor started out the homily by saying,
“ There aren’t many sheep in Brooklyn N.Y “ ( everyone laughed )
Classic ice breaker.
( he’s an ex-Navy Seal )

“ Whose voice do we listen to ? Whose the loudest in your life ?”

A great noon time mass - on a sunny day in the low 70’s 😇
 
Who are you Cajunjoy 😛
You sound like a great, blessed, person.
Always with good things to offer !
 
You may want to look at some religious orders. Many have medical service as part of their charism. Some may pay for your education.
 
That’s complicated. Straddling two bishops and ministries can be difficult.

Talk to your Diocesan Vocations director and mention this.
 
No, it’s not because the military priests belong to the archdiocese of the military. (Yeah, we have one of those, and yes it seemed funny to hear to me too. LOL.)

Military chaplains are military officers, and are service members. No chaplain, no representation for that religion, no on base services for that religion. Deacons are different and are often retired military members (they’d have to be to have access to the base after their service is done) or are civil service employees. Both of our deacons are retired Army guys.
 
Last edited:
RunMan said:
if I became a diocesean priest, they might allow military chaplinacy?
Click to expand...
I know about the AMS.

What will most likely happen (A priest I know in my diocese is about to ship out as a Navy chaplain for the USMC) is that you’ll go through formation in your diocesan seminary, serve a year in your home diocese, and then be canonically transferred to the AMS for your term of service, after which you’ll be transferred back.
 
Then he’s a potential Reservist, and might not be Active Duty.

Active Duty officers pull a minimum four year commitment, like everyone else who commissions. There were three in my OTS class, and it’s the same across the services. Some pull a longer commitment - like the rest of us - if they get a bonus, and sometimes chaplains do get them.

Also, if you are ordained prior to being selected the requirements differ - but the Catholic military archdiocese doesn’t take unordained priests. I know the Baptists do, because we had one at OTS, and he even came in at a lower rank because of that. He was promoted once ordained. He also couldn’t wear a chaplain badge until he was ordained, either.

You can indeed come in as a newly ordained priest in the military. You don’t have to serve as a priest prior to coming in. We have two of them here, and one more on the way in July who was just ordained last month. The numbers of priests are limited, and it could be that the priest you know is having to wait for a vacancy. The only reason I know about the limits on the number of priests is our Lieutenant Colonel who’s the head of the Catholic community here mentioned that when he was talking about the new inbound priest.
 
Last edited:
If going to university for one more year may not be financially feasible, then would medical school even be a possibility, from a financial perspective? (I’m not sure where you are located, but I know that in the U.S., medical school is very expensive.) Or maybe you are thinking of becoming another kind of medical professional, besides a medical doctor (e.g., a nurse, a physical therapist, a chiropractor, etc.). Even in those cases, I would think that tuition costs might be a challenge. I’m not trying to discourage you, but it seems to me that you would need a plan to pay for school if this is the option you want to pursue.

As far as the priesthood, you could enroll in seminary, and continue your discernment there. Just because you go to seminary for a year or two doesn’t mean that you are obligated to be ordained as a priest.

Or perhaps you work as a police officer, keep your expenses as low as possible, and save as much money as possible for a few years so that you have more options.

I don’t think that any of those choices are necessarily wrong. Without knowing you personally, I can’t really tell you which way to go.
 
The strongest calling is hard to say, but the one bag has always been there and been the most consistent is definitely the calling to the priesthood.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top