Welcome everyone!

Spirithound · #1 Mar 24, '09, 5:43 pm

Welcome, gentlemen to a group of those discerning the priesthood. I look forward to getting to know you all, and walking down this road in your friendship and prayers.

Peace be with y'all,
Spirithound

RavenousWolf · #2 Aug 13, '09, 11:43 pm

Perhaps we can get to know each other a bit better in this thread by introducing ourselves?

My name is Benjamin, and I will be entering my senior year at university this fall. I am 21 years old and have been discerning a call to the priesthood off and on for about 10 years (I think that's right! Though it's been more off than on...). Anyhow, the past few months God has been really moving my heart towards a greater discernment and a deepening of my relationship with Him, and for once I feel certain that I am called to the priesthood.

Now it is just a matter of working out the particulars, telling my family and friends, figuring out the timing of when I would enter seminary, etc. I will graduate next May and am trying to discern whether I am called to work for a few years, go to graduate school, or enter seminary right away.

By the way, I would likely enter seminary to study for the Diocese of Austin, Texas. (Random fact: Our Bishop was just made the Archbishop of New Orleans!) I'm looking forward to getting to know you all and growing together as brothers!

TNKnight · #3 Aug 14, '09, 9:41 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by RavenousWolf

Perhaps we can get to know each other a bit better in this thread by introducing ourselves?

My name is Benjamin, and I will be entering my senior year at university this fall. I am 21 years old and have been discerning a call to the priesthood off and on for about 10 years (I think that's right! Though it's been more off than on...). Anyhow, the past few months God has been really moving my heart towards a greater discernment and a deepening of my relationship with Him, and for once I feel certain that I am called to the priesthood.

Now it is just a matter of working out the particulars, telling my family and friends, figuring out the timing of when I would enter seminary, etc. I will graduate next May and am trying to discern whether I am called to work for a few years, go to graduate school, or enter seminary right away.

By the way, I would likely enter seminary to study for the Diocese of Austin, Texas. (Random fact: Our Bishop was just made the Archbishop of New Orleans!) I'm looking forward to getting to know you all and growing together as brothers!

Benjamin, I urge you to listen carefully to the Lord. My name is Steve and I was also thinking about the Priesthood as a boy, but got side-tracked and ended up following my own preferences. I have had some rocky times in my life, and as I look back, I wish that I had listened better to the Lord and pursued His wishes instead of my own.

I am firmly convinced that my life would have been better if I had put His will first instead of mine. Here I am at the age of 56 wondering if God is now calling again. I will try to pay better attention to Him now and am ready and willing to accept His will in my life. Everything seems better to me when I have God as my partner.

Attempto · #4 Jun 19, '12, 4:27 am

Hello guys!

I am 17 and I`m from SLOVENIA - EU.
I want to become a priest, but my parents do not agree with that.
They forbid me to go to Holy Mass. They are very upset if they see me praying and so on. What can I do?
Please, pray for me and for my parents!

Iacobus - "Attempto"

Post Scriptum: I am acolyte and if I succeed, I will be after three years in seminary.

I apologize I apologize if I wrote something wrong.

Spirithound · #5 Jun 19, '12, 6:25 am

God bless you Attempto! Please continue to pray for your parents. If God is willing, the day of your ordination will be the happiest day of their lives, as well as yours.

bobballen_18 · #6 Jun 25, '12, 8:23 pm

I can't help but feel silly to reply to this thread, since it was begun 3 years ago and only has 4 responses. But here is a very short background:

My name is Charlie (contrary to what my username might suggest

) and I will be a Junior at Ave Maria University this fall. I have been discerning the priesthood actively ever since my desperate-sounding post in this forum a little over a year ago.

I have learned much about myself in the process and, despite the concerns and uncertainty, am very excited about the possibility of entering seminary in a couple years after I finish my degree in Music. So excited, in fact, that I often wonder how I will ever be able to wait that long! I hope that is somewhat normal for one discerning priesthood...anyway, there ya go.

bobballen_18 · #7 Jun 25, '12, 8:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Attempto

Hello guys!

I am 17 and I`m from SLOVENIA - EU.
I want to become a priest, but my parents do not agree with that.
They forbid me to go to Holy Mass. They are very upset if they see me praying and so on. What can I do?
Please, pray for me and for my parents!

Iacobus - "Attempto"

Post Scriptum: I am acolyte and if I succeed, I will be after three years in seminary.

I apologize I apologize if I wrote something wrong.

I will keep you and your parents in my prayers!

Spirithound · #8 Jun 27, '12, 3:58 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobballen_18

My name is Charlie (contrary to what my username might suggest

) and I will be a Junior at Ave Maria University this fall. I have been discerning the priesthood actively ever since my desperate-sounding post in this forum a little over a year ago.

I have learned much about myself in the process and, despite the concerns and uncertainty, am very excited about the possibility of entering seminary in a couple years after I finish my degree in Music. So excited, in fact, that I often wonder how I will ever be able to wait that long! I hope that is somewhat normal for one discerning priesthood...anyway, there ya go.

Hi Charlie,
Ah, normal, oh most beloved of words! I would hazard to guess you fall well within the bounds of a "normal" seminarian. Having talked to many of my seminary brothers, we all have different stories to tell. Some have entered the seminary right out of highschool and are here for the long haul (8 years). Others have some university experience to take a year or two off that, or even if he's done his philosophy outside the sem, he could be admitted to 1st Theology directly. Of this latter group, some have BAs, some MAs, and one PhD. Several have some years of work experience, or have been discerning with a religious community, and have discerned into diocesan priesthood.
God bless you!

Attempto · #9 Jun 29, '12, 1:47 pm

God bless you, Charlie!
OMNIA POSSUM IN EO, QUI ME CONFORTAT!

Brother in Christ, Attempto

DanHere · #10 Jul 17, '12, 7:33 pm

My turn!

How long can I stare at what I've written so far before continuing?
Answer: Quite a few minutes it seems.

To start with, Attempto, Charlie and spirtbound, you'll be in my prayers. I look forward to getting to know you all better. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

Soooo.... About me stuff. I'm a 54 year old "revert." I'd drifted away from the Church for 15+ years until one day 15 years ago. In a very short time God took me from a searching soul who "knew" organized religion was not the way to go, especially the Catholic Church, to the desire to go to Mass (Still with no thought of returning, mind you) to shocking my family by actually going to Mass with them. That was on February 9, 1997. As soon as the opening hymn started, I knew I was home and never looked back. I returned to daily Mass the next day.

Flash forward.....

When I was 8 years old until about 13 or so, I wanted nothing more from life than to become a priest. Over the years, many people have suggested it, even when I was a fallen away Catholic.. I normally just shrugged it off, but it has always been in the back of my mind and sometimes popped to the front. A couple of months ago, my parish priest asked me if I'd ever thought about it and suggested I do. Having a priest bring it up was a real wake up call for me! Since then, I've been on a very interesting discernment journey.

One of the problems I have is that I can't drive at present. With my parish priest serving as pastor for two parishes and my diocesan vocation director being a two hour drive away, I don't really have anyone I can spend much quality time with to discuss the journey.

I guess that's enough babbling.

Spirithound · #11 Jul 17, '12, 8:30 pm

Hi Dan!
Good to hear from you, and God bless you.
That's quite a situation you have, but I'm sure it's not an insurmountable one. I don't drive yet, as well, although I would like to start the process soon enough. Have you called the vocations director? That may be all you need to start your process.
Peace!

DanHere · #12 Jul 17, '12, 8:50 pm

Don't get me wrong. I didn't mean to imply that I'm completely out of the loop or see my lack of mobility as a serious problem. I only brought it up to express how happy I am to be have decided to look for a discernment forum and found you guys.!

I've talked to my vocations director and I talk to my pastor regularly, we just don't get much time for in-depth talks.

The two bigger problems that I see are my age and nystagmus, which basically means, shaky eyes. That's why I can't drive right now. All will work out in the Lord's good time.

Methinks that you'll be seeing a lot of me around here.

Attempto · #13 Jul 22, '12, 12:58 pm

Dominus tecum Dan!

God bless you, you are in my prayers.

EXAUDI DOMINE VOCEM MEAM QUA CLAMAVI MISERERE MEI ET EXAUDI ME! Ps 26