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<\/a><\/p>\nA student asked me today how I knew that I had a vocation to the priesthood. Maybe it would help others to hear the story too;\n<\/div>\n
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I was a student at Bob Jones University. In my sophomore year I had found my way to the Anglican Church, and I was praying about what I should do with my life. I can remember not having any idea what I was supposed to do, and I spent time on my knees asking God for guidance. It was then that I got the idea that I should be a saint. <\/em><\/div>\n
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Okay, not only was this ridiculously presumptious (but give me a break I was twenty one) but I\u2019m ashamed to say that I thought this was a good idea because I wouldn\u2019t have to do anything in order to become a saint. In hindsight, I can see that my Protestant \u2018sola gratia sola fide\u2019 upringing had fostered in my heart a sort of Quietism. I was simply a leaf in the tide, and if I submitted to God he would do it all. This is true in one way, but like every heresy it is only true in one way, and the reason it is a heresy is that it stresses one truth to the exclusion of others.<\/em><\/div>\n
Okay, not only was this ridiculously presumptious (but give me a break I was twenty one) but I\u2019m ashamed to say that I thought this was a good idea because I wouldn\u2019t have to do anything in order to become a saint. In hindsight, I can see that my Protestant \u2018sola gratia sola fide\u2019 upringing had fostered in my heart a sort of Quietism. I was simply a leaf in the tide, and if I submitted to God he would do it all. This is true in one way, but like every heresy it is only true in one way, and the reason it is a heresy is that it stresses one truth to the exclusion of others.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/em><\/div>\n
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Within this context I sought God\u2019s more specific guidance. I had a professor at Bob Jones who successfully combined his academic career with leading services at the Anglican Church, so I thought it would be neat to be an academic, wear a tweed jacket and a bow tie and perhaps teach English and maybe even smoke a pipe and ride a bike to classes. On the weekends I would go to the Anglican Church and take services. All very quaint. <\/em><\/div>\n
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Then one Sunday evening in my senior year I went to the Anglican Church for Evensong. As we knelt in prayer in the warm Spring evening the words of the prayer were read out. We asked that we might serve God, \u201cwith simplicity, beauty and singleness of mind.\u201d God shot the words \u2018singleness of mind\u2019 straight to my heart, and I knew that I needed to be a priest.<\/em><\/div>\n
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Does this mean I was called to be a Catholic priest? Not necessarily. I was a Catholic layman for ten years before that one became clear. The long story does not need to be told here, but it was a frustrating and confusing time. I felt a vocation to the priesthood, and those around me confirmed it, but nothing happened. For ten years those in charge pushed me from one meeting to another and nothing ever happened. Finally I had a meeting with a kind Catholic priest who listened to the whole long tale of one rejection after another. He looked at me and said, \u201cDo you want<\/strong><\/em> <\/strong>to be a Catholic priest?\u201d <\/em><\/div>\n
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My reply, \u201cTo tell you the truth Father, yes and no. If it means working with the bunch of idiots I\u2019ve met so far who are in charge then no thanks. But it it means I would be able just once to say Mass or hear a confession, then I want to say \u2018yes\u2019 because that must surelyl be the most precious thing any man can possibly do with the short time he has been given on earth.\u201d The priest thought for a moment and said, \u201cI think you should reconsider.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n
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\u201cReconsider \u2018yes\u2019 or reconsider \u2018no\u2019?\u201d I asked.<\/em><\/div>\n
<\/em><\/div>\n
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\u201cOh! Reconsider \u2018yes'\u201d he cried, \u201cWe need more priests like you.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n
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Ah well, there\u2019s the tale\u2013at least there\u2019s the short version. If you are reading this and feel a call to the priesthood or the religious life be prepared\u2013its\u2019 likely to be a rough ride; but then that\u2019s all part of the bargain isn\u2019t it? If you want it easy don\u2019t even think about a vocation.<\/div>\n
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<\/p>\n
Choose the broad road. You\u2019ll have lots of company and it\u2019s downhill all the way.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A student asked me today how I knew that I had a vocation to the priesthood. Maybe it would help others to hear the story too;I was a student at Bob Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/04\/vocation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A student asked me today how I knew that I had a vocation to the priesthood. 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A student asked me today how I knew that I had a vocation to the priesthood. Maybe it would help others to hear the story too; I was a student at Bob Jones University. In my sophomore year I had found my way to the Anglican Church, and I was praying about what I should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n