The Calling To The Priesthood Is Not For Every Man

This Friday, God willing, we will have Deacon Jason Lee ordained to the priesthood for our diocese. God willing, we will have two more men ordained to the priesthood next year. This is a wonderful thing, as we have been pretty blessed to have eight men in the last two years ordained and hopefully three more in the next two years.

The calling to the priesthood is not for every man, it is something that must be discerned by both the man, as well as the seminary, bishop, and Church as a whole. In seminary, I remember quite a few guys who dropped out of seminary that I felt would make wonderful priests, but they, or their formation team and diocese, felt otherwise. Some of these guys I keep in touch with, and they are making wonderful husbands and fathers because of their time that they spent really praying and discerning their true vocation in life. Through that discernment, they decided that their calling was not the priesthood. There were also a few of the guys that went through, and some that got ordained, that I personally wondered about, but in the end, it is not my call, but God’s.

To be honest, the life of a priest is not always easy, one must be someone who can first and foremost be a man of prayer, while also being someone who can talk in front of a group, run a multi-million-dollar corporation, be a counselor, a spiritual guide, a maintenance guy, critter patrol, and so many other “duties as needed.” A professor in seminary once said, “The life of the priest is not for wimps.” In this, he was very true. The priesthood is so much more than a job; it is a vocation and a life. As a priest, you will be with people in times of great sorrow, maybe even be with someone during the worst day of their lives, but you will also be able to be with people in their greatest joys and even in some cases, the happiest days of their lives.

So, I would like to remind each and every one of us to pray for vocations and I would like to ask everyone to encourage someone to consider the religious life. To those young men considering the priesthood I would give this advice. If you want an easy job, do not become a priest. If you want a job with a lot of free time or a lot of material wealth, do not become a priest. If you want something that is more than a job, something that is challenging, something to help people in their life’s struggles and their great joys, consider the priesthood. If you want something that the blessings outweigh the difficulties, consider the priesthood. The priesthood is a wonderful calling. We priests and bishops are far from perfect people, we have many and similar faults just like everyone else, but that is why we rely on God for strength. I ask for a favor from you and that is to keep us in your prayers and help to encourage those young men to consider the calling.

God bless,
Fr. Ken