I Want To Be A Priest...

[dlz7486]

I posted this in the "Vocation Station" forum but I thought I'd post it again here and get some professional opinion.

Don't be really freaked out by the title of this topic.

There are times I feel so called to a religious vocation, and sometimes when I am at Mass and I watch what the priest does and I think to myself, "now that would be such an awesome thing to be able to do for the rest of my life." I know that I could always be a nun/sister, but I feel drawn to a vocation where I could play a more active role in Mass. Consecrating the Eucharist, celebrating Sacraments, interacting and molding faith communities... that all just sounds so wonderful to me. But I think the femaleness just puts a stopper in that.

Any thoughts?

[BLAZEr]

Of course, you know Christ can only call men to serve him as priests, but I think that this desire you have should not be ignored. The desire to be close to the Eucharist, to lead people to Christ, to help prepare people for the sacraments, this is beautiful.

This is beautiful. St. Therese used to say the same thing. She was moved by the awesomeness of the priest's sacred role at mass and also wished that she could do it. St. Therese also felt the call to be a great missionary, to travel to far off lands, to convert non-believers, and to be a martyr. St. Therese also had the desire to have a huge family, to have many children, to educate them to holiness. She also had the desire to lead a great army to defend Christians in lands where they were being killed.

The fact is, though, that St. Therese could do none of these things. She was a young, not very healthy, not very large cloistered nun. She knew this, so she did them "in her heart." She realized that what she wanted was to give all of herself to God, to give him all of her life. This is why all vocations were beautiufl to her, because they were all ways to be close to God. She wanted them all. And so she made her vocation all of them, by making her vocation love.

I often look at mothers with their children and think "Wow, I wish I could do that." Obviously, I could not be a mother. Even if I wished it with all my heart, I could not be a mother. Because I'm a guy, my vocation would be to be a Father, or a priest, or a devout layman . . . but never a mother!

In the same way, you have to respond to this desire in your heart from the reality of your life. You have to say "Ok, I have this desire, and clearly I am not called to be an actual priest, because I'm a girl, so what could this desire mean?"

In this way you are completely open to the desire and you are not imposing your own will on reality. By saying "What does this Desire mean for my life?" you open yourself up to responding to this desire from reality.

Maybe your vocation will be, like St. Therese, to give yourself in intimate love to God for priests. Maybe you will be an awesome mom who raises a priest (or two or three!). Maybe your vocation is to defend the priesthood from those who want to dismantle it and impose their own way, instead of God's on the Church.

This is why you have to pray. Pray, because prayer isn't just talking to God, it's conforming yourself to God's will. Pray so that you can know his will better and then do it!

God Bless!