Would you suggest this person becoming a priest?

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0129141

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This person being me. I often wonder if I should become a priest. I enjoy the thought of doing something for God and Church, esp. preaching. I have the intelligence to pursue the priesthood as well. However…

I am by no means a people person. I try to avoid people generally, and like being alone. Quite often I get down right anoyed with people. And I kind of like to follow my own path, i.e., I am very independent, and am not fond of having dependents. But I know priests who are introverts, and they seem OK.

Then… I have some neurosis. I experience extreme anxiety at college, which takes a mental and physical toll. I cannot handle stress very well, and had OCD to the point of being borderline suicidal. The OCD is now under control, except when stress provokes it again.
This was another thread I started: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=592049
This should give you a little more enlightenment.

The big problem is, I keep telling myself that the priesthood is not for me, but then I feel all guilty, feel I am letting down God and the Church which is in dire need of priests. I do enjoy writing. So I could always help the Church with my pen.

SO, would you think it reasonable to pursue the priesthood. I am trying to come to a logical decision here.
 
I would suggest that you do not seek counsel here for something like this. It looks like you need help and guidance from a priest that you know. Seriously, speak to a priest. If you want to, perhaps send a private message to Father Vincent Serpa here on CAF with your problems and I am sure he’d be able to help you or send you in the right direction.

God bless friend, don’t let this get you down and certainly do not feel guilty. There is no need to feel guilty. The Lord loves you, He knows you only want to please Him.
 
NewsTheMan said:
I would suggest that you do not seek counsel here for something like this. It looks like you need help and guidance from a priest that you know. Seriously, speak to a priest. If you want to, perhaps send a private message to Father Vincent Serpa here on CAF with your problems and I am sure he’d be able to help you or send you in the right direction.

God bless friend, don’t let this get you down and certainly do not feel guilty. There is no need to feel guilty. The Lord loves you, He knows you only want to please Him.
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I agree here. A priest is the best person to talk to. I am sure that one would love to take you on as a mentor.

No one here knows you well enough to make a call like this. I really think you should find a priest and work with him to determine if you are being called to this. Only yourself, God, and the church leadership can know if you are called or not.

Best of luck in your discernment!
 
OK, thanks for the advice. I’ll do just that, talk to a priest. I am going to send a message to the moderator asking this be deleted.
 
0129141 said:
This person being me. I often wonder if I should become a priest. I enjoy the thought of doing something for God and Church, esp. preaching. I have the intelligence to pursue the priesthood as well. However…

I am by no means a people person. I try to avoid people generally, and like being alone. Quite often I get down right anoyed with people. And I kind of like to follow my own path, i.e., I am very independent, and am not fond of having dependents. But I know priests who are introverts, and they seem OK.

Then… I have some neurosis. I experience extreme anxiety at college, which takes a mental and physical toll. I cannot handle stress very well, and had OCD to the point of being borderline suicidal. The OCD is now under control, except when stress provokes it again.
This was another thread I started: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=592049
This should give you a little more enlightenment.

The big problem is, I keep telling myself that the priesthood is not for me, but then I feel all guilty, feel I am letting down God and the Church which is in dire need of priests. I do enjoy writing. So I could always help the Church with my pen.

SO, would you think it reasonable to pursue the priesthood. I am trying to come to a logical decision here.
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Priests need to interact with their parishioners on several levels–hearing confessions, planning parish events, communicating progress of church projects, diocesan activities, and so on. A priest does not need to be extroverted or a people person, but does need to reach out to his parishioners and be be accessible when personal situations arise.

Certain monastic orders (e.g. Carthusians) are semi-hermetic and would lend themselves to an introvert who wants to write while avoiding direct human interaction. However, even here there is a communal atmosphere and one needs to interact with the brothers.

The psychological issues you raise likely would appear in any entrance interview you have in applying to seminary. I’d talk with a vocations director to get feedback on how this might affect any intention you have to attending seminary.
 
I’d ask that you please not have this thread deleated. The blue print spoke to me as my story is similar. Had I not just happened to check the vocations thread, I would not have read this message.
NewsTheMan said:
I would suggest that you do not seek counsel here for something like this. It looks like you need help and guidance from a priest that you know. Seriously, speak to a priest. If you want to, perhaps send a private message to Father Vincent Serpa here on CAF with your problems and I am sure he’d be able to help you or send you in the right direction.

God bless friend, don’t let this get you down and certainly do not feel guilty. There is no need to feel guilty. The Lord loves you, He knows you only want to please Him.
Click to expand...
 
That would be a contradiction really. A calling to the priesthood is a different calling to religious life. Within that, a calling to the active life is a different calling to that of the contemplative life.

A calling is never meant to be “well… if I couldn’t do X because of my problems, I’ll just see if I can do Y”. Sadly, that’s not discerning a vocation, that’s just attempting to re-route God’s plans and the cross you’ve been given.
 
NewsTheMan said:
That would be a contradiction really. A calling to the priesthood is a different calling to religious life. Within that, a calling to the active life is a different calling to that of the contemplative life.

A calling is never meant to be “well… if I couldn’t do X because of my problems, I’ll just see if I can do Y”. Sadly, that’s not discerning a vocation, that’s just attempting to re-route God’s plans and the cross you’ve been given.
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This area is really something one would need to see one on one rather than at on a public form. There are a number who started out with me in religious life and are now almost diocesan priests since they realized they weren´t called or couldn´t handle religious life.

All that what you can´t do does is blocks off possible paths. If what attracts you is on a path that is not blocked, that might be your vocation.

I agree that we shouldn´t re-route God´s `plans but that reason could pouint someone in the right direction. It si something you need to see with a confessor or spiritual director.

God Bless.

Br Matthew, LC
 
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