I am currently a seminarian…some advice:
Reflect, meditate, and pray on the following verses from scripture:
Great crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and addressed them, “If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple…In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 25-26, 33)
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10: 37-39)
Then Peter said, “We have given up our possessions and followed you.” He said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not receive [back] an overabundant return in this present age and eternal life in the age to come.” (Luke 18: 28-30)
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “[Lord,] let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” [To him] Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9: 57-62)
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. (John 12: 25-26)
More Advice:
Talk to your parish priest and/or local vocations director, and see if he/one of the two can provide you with spiritual direction. If you feel called to the priesthood, and want to seriously begin discerning this calling, spiritual direction will be an invaluable and necessary tool. It will also help you to answer the universal vocation that we are all called to: “Holiness and Sainthood.”
Also, begin praying a holy hour in front of a tabernacle in church (before the Blessed Sacrament) every day (or as often as possible). Ultimately, Jesus is most present in the Eucharist, so praying for an hour near the Eucharist every day will bring you to a closer union and relationship with Him. This closer union and relationship with Jesus will happen in this daily prayer time, because He will begin to talk to your heart and move your inner most being. Through this daily conversation, you will gain more clarity about what His actual will for your life truly is. In order to discern Christ’s will, you need to get to know Him first. Fostering a strong devotion to the Eucharist is the best way to accomplish this. Reading His Holy Word in the Scriptures every day is also an equally good way, as well.
Finally, as regards the Eucharist, you should receive Communion (and go to Mass) daily or as often as possible. Ideally, more than once a week outside of Sundays. Also, I want to add that if you do have the opportunity to go to Mass daily (or more than just on Sundays), you will also need to regularly participate in the sacrament of penance/confession. This will be necessary, because in order to receive the Eucharist, you must always be in a state of grace (having no mortal sin on your conscience). Ultimately, being in a state of grace is necessary to grow in relationship with Jesus Christ, anyways, and is necessary to grow in holiness and become a saint. Becoming a holy saint should be your primary goal, and should come well before your desire to become a priest. This means that your desire for heaven should be stronger than your desire for priesthood.
Ultimately, there are other things you can do, such as a daily rosary, reading a book called “To Save A Thousand Souls” by Fr. Bret A. Brannen, and becoming more involved in your parish so that you can begin to see what ministerial life is like and therefore have a more informed discernment, but I urge you to begin slowly and to not overwhelm yourself by going too quickly. My personal process before entering the seminary was as long as four years (throughout my entire time at the University of Florida). So, in the end, if you get a good spiritual director, he/she will guide you based on the Lord’s inspirations, and as such, you will never go too slowly, or go in a wrong direction.
I end by asking you to please pray for me in my vocational discernment, and promise that I will pray for you and yours.
Best regards, good luck, and many blessings and graces…
By the way, if you have any other questions, feel free to email me at
tmyers@ufl.edu.
Sincerely,
Thomas
“Triumph lie in faith, hope, and love.”
