Religious Life out of High School?

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Hello everyone,

My name is Tim and I’m 18 years old. I am preparing to enter college seminary next year as a college freshman and am currently discerning a call to the priesthood. My question is this: Is it common for men to go into some type of seminary right after high school? Also, is this something that is particularly good or bad? Am I jumping the gun here? Personally, I feel very confident with my decision and am very comfortable with the idea of being a college seminarian. However, a lot of people are telling me to “see the world” before I decide to start my preparation for the priesthood. Any thoughts? :hmmm:
 
Tim,
Conventional wisdom has a couple of things to say, then I will tell you my view.
  1. Conventional wisdom is that it is good to go out and “see the world” rather than to go to Seminary immediately after high school. This is supported by those priests who did not do so themselves, and who later in life came to wish they had not joined the priesthood at all. They are filled with "If only I had . . . . "
  2. Conventional wisdom is that you should NOT “see the world” because a large number of those who do this are seduced by the secular world, give up their vocation, and go on to have “a normal life” wherein “all this God stuff” is placed in its “proper perspective.” Although, some of these men go on to have good, happy, fulfilling lives because they did not turn away from God in the bargain, and they even raised fine young sons who themselves became priests. But others go on to lead an empty existence of no apparent significance or meaning, filled with the regret of the loss of their vocation their whole lives.
  3. My thoughts are these: It is entirely possible that these people advising you to “see the world” are oblivious to the greater questions involved and are unaware that they have caused you emotional turmoil by tempting you with something so potentially dangerous. Let us pray for them, ourselves, and all those who place temptation in the path of others through thoughtless and idle words.
    This has been my experience: I am a 48 year old man who is “worldly” and who once spent a year in a college seminary. But I am also a man who has struggled for 15 years on how to be in the world, but not OF it. In my experience, you cannot “unsee” what you have seen; you cannot “undo” what you have done (although you can obtain forgiveness). Young people tend to believe that to “see the world” gives a person experience and wisdom. They forget that a person is formed by their decisions and experiences. To go out and “see the world” doesn’t give you more experience and wisdom – it CHANGES you. You won’t be yourself anymore, only with more wisdom and experience – you will be a DIFFERENT person.
    But more to the point, here is my view: I can only say that I would like nothing more than to regain my innocence and purity. I wish I could purge myself of the toxins the secular world has poisoned me with. Isaiah 33:15-16 lauds the person who “practices virtue and speaks honestly” (a rare thing these days) and who stops “his ears lest he hear of bloodshed” and closes “his eyes lest he look on evil.” This sounds like a pretty solid recommendation to not “see the world” to me. I am reminded of what Cardinal Bernardin said when he was falsely accused of sexual impropriety (his accuser later recanted): he denied the accusations and said that he had been chaste all his life. Well, from my own experience I can tell you that celibacy is easy, chastity is hard. What makes chastity so hard is all the things we see and hear in our exposure to the things of this world; the less the exposure, the easier it is to be a faithful child of God. If you wish to remain firmly in God’s hands (and where else would you want to be?) then I would shun all opportunities to “broaden your horizons.” No matter how “worldly” you become (which is not a good thing), as a priest you would still encounter people who will say to you, “What do you know of love, marriage, fatherhood?” I would advise you to not succumb to the temptation to become more “worldly” for the sake of your future priesthood in the mistaken belief that it would make you a better, more effective priest. What the world needs is not more worldly priests, but more saints.
    For myself, I have never regretted the prayers I have said, the love I have offered, the forgiveness I have extended; nor have I regretted the parties I didn’t attend – I only regret the prayers I didn’t say, the love I wouldn’t risk, the forgiveness I didn’t offer, but most of all I regret the parties I did attend, and all the foolish things I have said or done. I pray that God forgives me all the sins of my past life.
    May God bless you in this time of decision, and once made, may you never regret your decision.
 
Hmmm, I may have gone off into some tangents in my post, above. But my main point was that to go “see the world” really means to become corrupted by that world; that our youthful innocence is something that once lost can never be regained, and is something so precious that it should not be surrendered so easily.
 
“Join the Navy - See the World!” (Don’t forget that 75% of the world is water).

Actually, it used to be normative that boys entered seminary at the high school level and simply continued right on through to eventual ordination. Anyone who came about it from a different route was the special case.

Nowadays, so many men seem to be what we once considered “late vocations” that this has become the new norm. So the trends are reversed, whereby anybody who begins serious discernment through seminary formation and studies “early” is the standout.

The reality is that the Lord calls at all ages. When you are ready to begin seriously discerning is when you should enter seminary. Trust that God will lead you from there, wherever you ought to go. Afterall, entering seminary, itself, is no guarantee that you are truly called to the priesthood and will make it through to ordination. Even if you do, the challenges and struggles will surely come in the time and years ahead. It’s all part of determining and testing for your call, whatever it might be.
 
Great post The Penitent!
You have also in many pioints adressed my problem being discussed at other similar thread…
I am still praying over the right decision in the right time… I feel God wants to do it in short time, although I would also like to “see the real world” and get the job.
church_child-the best thing should be going to spiritual exercises as early as it is possible to discern it.
Each of us has his/her specail mission for life and God calls at the right time…
Four years ago I wondered why He hadn´t showed me the vocation hints earlier so as not to waste the time. Now I see it and am thankful to Him.
Just don´t be afraid!
 
Thanks for the answers, everyone. I guess what I needed to hear was “Do not be afraid”. That’s really what it comes down to, especially seeing as my friends are starting to turn on me a little bit for my decision to enter college seminary. I guess as long as the torch is still lit, there’s still a path to find. 👍
 
church_child said:
Thanks for the answers, everyone. I guess what I needed to hear was “Do not be afraid”. That’s really what it comes down to, especially seeing as my friends are starting to turn on me a little bit for my decision to enter college seminary. I guess as long as the torch is still lit, there’s still a path to find. 👍
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Hey, let me be the first to congratulate you on your decision to enter the seminary and to answer God’s call!

I’m 22, and I am going to be finishing college and entering the United States Navy shortly thereafter. I once thought that I had a call to the priesthood, but I never really took it seriously because of a lot of fears that I had, and now I wish I would have done it differently. Who knows where I’ll end up though? 🙂

I’m currently dating a girl I plan on marrying, so the Latin Rite priesthood is out for me.

Your friends will turn on you but God will not. Keep your head up and after your first year of Seminary, you’ll know who your true friends are.

God bless! Check out the Capuchin Franciscan Friars.

We need young orthodox priests to fill the gap and the spiritual need the Church has.
 
Tim,

God bless you, man!

I am a seminarian who entered the seminary at age 18 and am now in my early 20s, less than 3 1/2 years (please God :gopray2: ) from ordination to the priesthood. If I had to do it over again 100 times, I would enter the seminary all 100 times. God has blessed me abundantly with the grace of a vocation and much accompanying joy and zeal. I wish that all people could have such joy and zeal for their own vocation.

So, if you feel called to the priesthood, you won’t ever know whether or not you really are called unless you enter the seminary. God will watch over you if you are faithful. Worst case scenario: You realize that you are not called, leave the seminary, transfer to another college, work on another academic program, and leave having grown in love for God and with the knowledge that you allowed God to show you the way. That’s not a bad worst case scenario!

I’ll be praying for you.
 
I know two awesome priests. One went to seminary right out of high school. The other had a short career first before entering seminary as an older (but not too old!) student.

So, the lesson learned is that there is no right way to do this. There is only the way that’s right for you. Sounds cliche but it’s really true.
 
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