Unsure or rejecting vocation?

[polishdude]

Well i’m in a bit of a predicament here:

Im 17 now and for about a year I wanted to become an engineer ( interesting field, can help build things to help people, good pay, can support family) . Now I am getting an idea that it wouldnt be so bad to be a priest…

Do i need a special calling? Or a sign?

I’m not getting truly driven to being a priest but im unsure. I pray for god to give me some sign and I am still stuck.

I am wondering if I go on to be an engineer and have a family and not become a priest even though i might be getting a slight calling or interest in priesthood is it a sin?

I mean is it a sin to not become a priest when I have a feeling or interest in becoming a priest? I dont know if I can take the responsibilities, I have past sins that might interfere or make priesthood difficult. so yeah is it fine if I dont become a priest if i am called to it?

 

[Apollos]

Well i’m in a bit of a predicament here:

Im 17 now and for about a year I wanted to become an engineer ( interesting field, can help build things to help people, good pay, can support family) . Now I am getting an idea that it wouldnt be so bad to be a priest…

Do i need a special calling? Or a sign?

I’m not getting truly driven to being a priest but im unsure. I pray for god to give me some sign and I am still stuck.

I am wondering if I go on to be an engineer and have a family and not become a priest even though i might be getting a slight calling or interest in priesthood is it a sin?

I mean is it a sin to not become a priest when I have a feeling or interest in becoming a priest? I dont know if I can take the responsibilities, I have past sins that might interfere or make priesthood difficult. so yeah is it fine if I dont become a priest if i am called to it?

Lighten up. You cannot outrun a vocation to the priesthood. In extreme cases we have widowed fathers of eighteen-year-olds who finally receive orders. So live your life according to what seems happiest for you, and let God deal with the details. If he needs you to be a priest, he will pull strings so that it works out without you having to go through all that agony and doubt.

So go do the engineering thing, talk to girls 'n stuff, and at one point if you are to be a priest it will hit you and the answer will be obvious.

Don’t become one of those reluctant priests or one of those “what else am I gonna do” priests or worst of all one of those “I want to help people” priests - we got plenty of them, we don’t need any more.

p.s. your past “sins” are irrelevant unless they are canonical impediments so get over yourself

 

[miniquedoes]

Hello, I believe for some people, a vocation to priesthood or religious life starts as a “what if” question (such as “what if I became a priest instead of becoming an engineer”) It may start there but if you truly are being called, you will realize while discerning, that to be anything other than a priest would not suffice. Pray and ask God what he wants from you (you can also read from the Bible and see how God is speaking to you). Talk to a priest, go to adoration, go to daily Mass if possible, but do continue to go through with your plans for now. Not everybody gets some big visible sign from God. Most of the time it is a desire and urge that grows deeper and stronger and you yearn to get closer to God and give your life to Him. Before you worry about not being able to do all a priest entails, you need to see first if you have a vocation. You know the saying, “God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called,” so do not let past sins keep you from discerning. This is also something you can bring up when talking to a priest you feel comfortable with. Hope this helps a little.

 

[jpjd]

A calling is something that takes time to discern. I’ve been told by a priest that if you have a calling, it is difficult to make the idea of being a priest go away. It keeps floating around in your head.

I second all that the previous poster said – it is excellent advice.

 

[DexUK]

You’re 17. You don’t have to take the decision right now. I’m nearly 40 and I’ve not managed to actually start training yet (despite having been accepted a few years ago).

Time is very definitely on your side.

By all means examine the possibility. Talk to your priest and the vocations team in your diocese. Attend vocation days and retreats. Nobody will expect you to have decided what your path is before you attend them. They’re there for you to learn more about priesthood.

Many many many people do a degree (in whatever subject) first, before committing themselves to seminary training.

And remember, seminary training is still a period of discernment. You make the final decision after five or so years when you formally apply for ordination to the diaconate. Until that point it’s all a process of discovery, for you and for the Church - you’re discovering priesthood, they’re discovering you. When you’re both happy with each other is when the decision can be made.

So definitely explore the possibility. Talk to the right people. Make an educated and conscientious choice about how to proceed. And don’t forget you’ve still got plenty of time, whichever route you take, to change your mind.

 

[dan_z]

I am in the same boat as you are. I have been discerning a call to a religious order for a couple of years now and I am feeling pretty lost about the whole thing. I have been thinking about the Capuchins, the CFR’s, a Benedictine monastery, or an order that does work over seas. How are you supposed to differentiate between the still small voice of God and your own desires in your head?

Also, I am new to this Catholic.com thing and I am pretty lost about the whole thing. How do I post a thread. And what is a thread?

 

[DexUK]

Dan z - when you see a list of threads under a category (i.e Moral Theology) you’ll see a ‘New Thread’ button at the bottom of the list. Click that, and you can create a new thread in that category.

A thread, by the way, is simply an individual ‘conversation’ about a given topic (the thread title) within a particular category. This here ‘conversation’ that you’re reading now is one such thread.

As to your vocation, I’d recommend talking with as many people as possible about it: your priest, the vocations director of your diocese, vocations teams within particular orders, to get a proper feel for things. The more you have a chance to discuss things, the more your particular vocation will crystallise in your mind.