Planted, Rooted, Flourishing

The story of how I came to be in the seminary is one of God's persistence and my stubbornness. I am writing this at the start of my first year of the theology program as a twenty-four year old studying for the Archdiocese of Detroit. It certainly seems like it has been a long time since I first heard the call to the priesthood at age ten. In a moment of God pouring his grace upon me, I heard him say, Tell other people about me. To me, it was clear that this was a call to the priesthood.

At that age, however, I did not understand what it meant to have a vocation to the priesthood. My faith was not particularly strong. I had no clue what a priest did outside of Sundays. In public school, I told my friends about this desire to be a priest and they, too, did not understand. Without the any fertile soil to take root in, my calling withered. I set it aside and did not explore it again until high school.

In high school, I began to think more about my future. All of my classmates were preparing for college and careers, and yet this idea of the priesthood kept coming up in my mind. At times on retreat with my parish youth group, I would say that the calling was strong. But I did not have the tools or courage to answer the call. So, I went along with the flow of the other kids and entered college. I went to Michigan State University where I studied physics and competed on the track team.

The Catholic parish there had and incredible priest who really helped me to grow in my vocation. He started a priesthood discernment group where other men like me could talk about our journeys and learn from this priest. Most of the time we just listened to him tell stories about his ministry. So this is what a priest does the other days of the week!

I noticed myself falling in love with the idea of being a priest. It was at that time when God put an amazing girl in my life. We datedand again I began to run from my true vocation. But the seed God had planted in my heart had taken root and grown. I could not ignore it any longer.

Through much prayer and the guidance of a spiritual director, I came to have a greater confidence in my vocation and took the steps necessary to enter seminary. I entered the fall after graduating from college and could not be happier. Sacred Heart has helped me to deepen my prayer life and grow in confidence of where God is calling me. The life as a seminarian is busy, but God has been teaching me to be his instrument in the midst of it all. This is my greatest desireto be an instrument of God's persistent love.