Priests/Seminarians - What was your sign?

[canadianlife]

I’m discerning my vocation and was wondering, for those priests/brothers/nuns/seminarians etc. who are on this board, what was the deciding factor for you to enter the religious life. Was there a clear sign, what made you sure it was the right thing to do? Thanks.

 

[BlueMit11]

There was no loud clear voice for me to come to the seminary. I am somewhat unique, in that I have felt God calling me for a long time (since I was about 9 years old), but that call has grown and matured over time. I don’t think any guy here could p(name removed by moderator)oint exactly what made him decide to come–though some can say the exact moment when they decided definitively, it came after a while of thinking it over and praying about it, and the final moment was when they let go of their apprehensions and just dove in, because they realized that God had been telling them for awhile that he wanted them here. Hope that helps a bit.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Granted, I am not yet a seminarian, but I have been accepted into the pre-novitiate, so I am entering formation to the religious life that will lead, God willing, to ordination.

For me, there has always been a feeling that I am called to be something different. I have always been interested in the priesthood and religious life even though I was not raised Catholic as a child.

Add to that, when I did fully enter the Church, when I shared this with some close friends they encouraged me. Then the older ladies in the Church that I met who mistook me for a seminarian and when I corrected them they told me that if I wasn’t one then I should be one.

And last, but not least, my spiritual director thinks this is the right thing and he is a very holy man.

 

[cheese_sdc]

Well, I have two experiences to share, first in entering the seminary, and then in leaving the seminary.

The key point in me deciding to enter (I was 18 and right out of high school) was that I really wanted to serve God in some capacity. However, I wasn’t sure if God wanted me to be a priest. In speaking with another seminarian, he said, “If you’re curious, go [to the seminary]. You’ll know if you’re supposed to be there.”

So I entered. And at the end of each year, I would pray, “Well, God, do you want me to come back?” And until my junior year the answer seemed pretty clear: Yes.

My senior year, though, the answer was: “No.” I had a sense that God had called me into the seminary, and now he was calling me out. I left, deciding that I would take a year out of the seminary, and then decide if I wanted to go back.

Well, I’m now married, with a kid on the way. It doesn’t look like I’m going back anytime soon.

In my experience, there haven’t been strong signs. Just the gentle nudging of the Spirit.