Priest, Doctor, Police Officer; What to Do?

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Pup7 said:
Active Duty officers pull a minimum four year commitment
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Almost sure that’s what the priest in my diocese is doing.
Pup7 said:
You can indeed come in as a newly ordained priest in the military.
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I never said otherwise. I think my diocese wanted him to serve as such before being transferred.

At the end of the day, OP, listen to Pup. She knows more than me haha
 
The civilian diocese, though, has no control once military orders are issued. You still belong to the Federal government, and a chaplain is as subject to the rule of law as anyone else. Your behind, LOL, belongs to the DOD once you sign the dotted line. 😁

You’re typically commissioned into the Reserves while you’re waiting for an OTS slot (and once your class date is affirmed), and the slot opens contingent on them having somewhere for you to go once you complete OTS. You don’t complete OTS and then go home and then come back. You’re inactive, but you qualify for benefits, which is great because you really can’t beat TRICARE - and it’s free.

The only reason I’m familiar with any of this is we asked our chaplains how they came in, because their process is both similar and very different from ours. And when you spend several weeks in close quarters with each other (we had private rooms as we were already commissioned officers when we arrived at OTS, unlike non-direct commissions - hence the term - but we spent most of our time together as a flight), you develop close friendships. (Or you despise each other, LOL.)
 
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You could always be a priest and a doctor or a priest and a chaplain. You just have to spend time researching your vocation options.

Maybe @Cloisters can link you to some communities to research.

Best of luck to you. I think you know what you want to do.
 
Has the OP considered EMT/paramedic? He’d get minority status – and scholarships – if he took nursing. My late son wanted to be a physician, and we had advised him to take nursing. Unfortunately, he considered that below him. He settled on paramedic, but never got to it.

ANY religious order or diocese would want someone with medical training.

As for law enforcement, check to see if the local constabulary has a reserve. Hubby was a reserve deputy for our local sheriff when my eldest was born.

Blessings,
Mrs Cloisters OP
Lay Dominican
http://cloisters.tripod.com/
http://cloisters.tripod.com/charity/
 
“A man of an angel’s wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons.” - Robert Whittington on St. Thomas More
 
It took me a long time and a lot of missed targets before I finally found and fell in love with my vocation. Go easy on him.
 
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blackforest said:
It took me a long time and a lost of missed targets before I finally found and fell in love with my vocation. Go easy on him.
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There’s nothing wrong with goals. It’s ok to have missed targets, but you need a target to do that. One important aspect of growing up, however, is realizing you can’t do it all.

I must admit as an academic advisor it is my job to tell students not to go to college just for the sake of going to college. Have a plan A, B, C—all the way to ZZZ if you need it, but have a plan.

Trying to cram all this into the last few weeks so you can have a summer off is really, really irresponsible and childish. It helps that the OP wants to figure out so he can spend the summer doing it, but what he needs to realize is that he needs to pick something and it’s OK if it dosn’t work out–or if it does.
 
How many can communicate in ASL?

I would like that as a bonus skill set.
 
Axsenex said:
How many can communicate in ASL?

I would like that as a bonus skill set.
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You might want to check information about a Deaf Apostolate. Saying Mass in ASL is beyond beautiful, and I think it is probably the most spiritually enriching Mass there is.

However, you need to be prepared that a hearing person who uses ASL, however proficient, will never be fully accepted into the Deaf community. That’s just the way it is. You would likely end up working among a people who respect and love you, but do not fully embrace you.
 
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
There’s nothing wrong with goals. It’s ok to have missed targets, but you need a target to do that. One important aspect of growing up, however, is realizing you can’t do it all.
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I think he realizes that. It was the reason for starting this thread.
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
I must admit as an academic advisor it is my job to tell students not to go to college just for the sake of going to college. Have a plan A, B, C—all the way to ZZZ if you need it, but have a plan.
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I agree here. College debt in this country accrues so massively that it doesn’t make sense to be in college without a clear plan.
Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
Trying to cram all this into the last few weeks so you can have a summer off is really, really irresponsible and childish. It helps that the OP wants to figure out so he can spend the summer doing it, but what he needs to realize is that he needs to pick something and it’s OK if it dosn’t work out–or if it does.
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The wording is confusing at first. But he doesn’t mean planning the summer off, as in free of any work, but planning the summer off of it, meaning finding a summer job based on which decision he makes.
RunMan said:
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.
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blackforest said:
I think he realizes that. It was the reason for starting this thread.
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Reiteration isn’s bad.
blackforest said:
I agree here. College debt in this country accrues so massively that it doesn’t make sense to be in college without a clear plan.
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Even with zero debt one should not waste education.
blackforest said:
The wording is confusing at first. But he doesn’t mean planning the summer off, as in free of any work, but planning the summer off of it, meaning finding a summer job based on which decision he makes.
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But that’s the thing, you never are really “off” of discerning what you want to do. He needs to pick something do it and realize that discerning is part of every process. It comes off to me as a general paralisis of action.
 
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Xanthippe_Voorhees said:
But that’s the thing, you never are really “off” of discerning what you want to do. He needs to pick something do it and realize that discerning is part of every process. It comes off to me as a general paralisis of action.
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This is quite true.

I dangled the idea of taking a year off with a Catholic order or agency because a vocation shouldn’t be a rushed decision. A summer isn’t always long enough to know if you’re in the right place.
 
blackforest said:
This is quite true.

I dangled the idea of taking a year off with a Catholic order or agency because a vocation shouldn’t be a rushed decision. A summer isn’t always long enough to know if you’re in the right place.
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Correct, if anything, it’s just long enough to know you’re in the wrong place. So seeing that decision as having arrived a a choice is a really dangerous proposition.
 
All very good points. I realize I am just a young man with a lot of options and a lot of life left to live. I just truly want to make the right decision and not a decision I will regret later on one way or another.

Just another thought: one of my life goals has always been to run cross country in college. If I chose to become a police officer or go to school at a larger college locally to become a doctor I would miss out in this opportunity. However, if I went to college seminary next year, I could run on their team which would be awesome, but I ultimately realize I can’t base my decision off of this alone.
 
I would like to point out I know some deaf priests in the US but they can’t do confession without face to face despite awesome VP technology. Apparently God’s forgiveness is limited to the traditional method.
 
Axsenex said:
I would like to point out I know some deaf priests in the US but they can’t do confession without face to face despite awesome VP technology. Apparently God’s forgiveness is limited to the traditional method.
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Yeah—because you kinda need your face to use ASL. Even with face-tracking technology to mask identity, it’s just not the same.
 
No you can’t. I’m glad you realized that. At the end of the day, you aren’t going to know until you try. As other posters have said, it’s ok to change paths once you’ve started down one.
 
I have two suggestions:
  1. Find a spiritual director. Make sure this person is someone who is supportive of young men entering the seminary before finishing a bachelor’s degree. Most of our young priests in our diocese began seminary either right out of high school or after 1-2 years of college.
  2. Make the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The longer the retreat the better. 10 days is better than 3 days, and 30 days is better than 10. But you have to choose the longest you find available and have time to take. Three days is better than none. Some seminaries will require this before entry. These same seminaries also offer the spiritual exercises, so if you have a decent one nearby, they may provide them.
 
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