Guess who might be called to be a priest?

[Funky_R]

Hello everybody. I am Randall, and I am 17 years old. And I think I have a calling to the priesthood.

I actually started having this call a while ago, when a priest talked about vocations and the idea of "Fr Randall" came to mind. And it would not go away. But I ignored it. Then over the past year I've had people tell me I should be a priest and people saying they see priest that look like me, etc. and I've ignored that.

Then Monday all this comes back again, and I confronted God and said, "God, there is no way I could possibly be a priest. I forget to pray my rosary, I fall asleep on prayers...I'm just a struggling Catholic. A silly ol' Catholic teenager." And to be honest, I was scared of being a priest. Then I read the Bible readings. It was from Matthew, about the birth of Christ, when Joseph finds out Mary is pregnant. Here Jospeh was given this calling to be the foster father of Jesus, and he tried to avoid it, too. But in the end, he obeyed his Lord.

Nothing in my life made sense until I read that. I looked at my St. Joseph medal. My patron saint was trying to say something to me. The puzzle pieces started falling into place.

So I said to God, "Lord...I am going to give this a chance. I ask that You help my discern whether I should be a priest or not, and see if that is the vocation that You've called me to."

So now I am going to try and schedule an appointment with the Monsignor tomorrow to start discerning this vocation.

So I guess I'm asking for any help whatsoever as I try and discern this. Advice, prayers, encouragement, food (I am a growing boy )

Thanks for listening.

Peace,
Randall

[HisChild]

Randall, God bless you for turning your 'no' to an at least 'I'll think about it'. You have quite a road ahead of you, discerning the priesthood, diocesan or religious order.

Many saints will tell you in their biographies their struggles in holiness. Look at St Therese who fell asleep all the time in chapel, until she finally realized that our Lord puts His children to sleep sometimes, and He still looks with tenderness upon His children as He watches them sleep.

There are many stories in the Bible as well that show our Lord calling those which, at first glance, others might do a double take. . .take the story of David, for one!

If you are called to be a priest, He will show you that. He is, as I like to say, a relentless pursuer, albeit a gentleman who won't open your heart with a battering ram! He is waiting for your 'yes'. Now that you're thinking about it seriously, if it's His will, He will flood you with graces that, God willing, will be obvious to you.

Again I will pray for you, especially after I enter religious life next month, where I will be before the Blessed Sacrament day and night, pleading for the intentions of His faithful, and asking for Mercy and conversion, for those who aren't.

Randall, He needs so many good and holy men, to continue His Church, to give His faithful good teachings, and to perpetuate the great Sacrifice of the Holy Mass. He has so few friends! I'm glad you are considering being His, in this special way. God bless you.

your sister in Christ,
Denise

[benedictaj]

Oh WOW!! I love priests, hehe! I'll definitely keep you in my prayers. Sometimes that first step is one of the hardest. Our Lady will guide you, as well.

Oh, and keep us updated

[HisChild]

Randall, did you ever schedule that appointment? When are you going to see your Vocation Director for the Diocese! Tell, tell, tell, we're so excited for you!

[Guest phatdaddy]

Randall,

God bless you in your discernment to priesthood. I wish to encourage you to go forward with your inquiry. As long as the desire to love God and serve Him as a Priest is there, assume that He has put it there and He is calling you to this path. Don't worry about your worthyness because no one is worthy. Just keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and He will take care of the rest. Denise gave a beautiful discussion of the call and with this good Sister interceeding for you....well Fr. Randall sounds pretty good to me.

Mr. Ray
(I have a 19 old son who just entered the Fathers of Mercy)

[Funky_R]

Thanks y'all. Awesome to know that I've got "Sister Denise" praying for me, as well as y'all.

Well I called the office to see if I could talk with the Monsignor at my parish, since he deals with all the neew priests, I figured that would be a good start. But he took a few days off, it is Spring Break here after all.

So I got to wait until next week, but until then I'm going to still keep praying on it.

Mr.Ray, it's good to know that you supported your son entering the Fathers of Mercy. My mom is supporting me too, though she would like to see grandchildren too...

I'll keep y'all posted.

God Bless,
Randall

P.S. Excuse me for my overuse of "y'all". I am a [i]Southern gentleman[/i] after all.

[3n1]

May Our Lord and Our Lady guide on this path, Randell. I am very happy for you. So have you decided what type of priest you are called to be? Diocesean or religious? There is a pretty big difference.

I will keep you in my prayers.

[let_go_let_God]

[quote name='Funky_R' date='Mar 23 2006, 06:43 PM']P.S. Excuse me for my overuse of "y'all". I am a [i]Southern gentleman[/i] after all. 
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Randall,

First of all welcome to the pham (even though you've been here for a bit) my name is Amanda or commonly LGLG. It's wonderful that you are staying open to God's will. Keep praying and your eyes focused on the prize. As long as you are saying that you are open to God's will, you're doing awesome. Please know you have my prayers and that of many members of the pham (based on the posts above).

Keep us posted "don't chya know" (as a northern lady)

God bless-
LGLG

[Guest Rick777]

Welcome Randall! And big props to you for even considering the priesthood! May God Bless you....and direct you.lol

[TeresaAvila]

Praised Be Jesus Christ!

Thanks to our lord for giving you the beautiful gift of a call to the priest-hood and Thank you for answering that call, You are truly a blessing and know that I will be keeping you in my prayers as you discern and persevere on this beautiful Journey, May our lord and Lady watch over you!!

God Bless You!

[Funky_R]

Dear pham:

Thanks for all y'all's support.

Over the past few days I have been debating on if I should be involved in any dating relationships (I am currently single). And I've come to the conclusion, after reading some advice online and reflecting, that while discerning, it might be best if I don't get involved in any exclusive dating relationships. I'll still hang out and go places with friends, but I'm not going to have a girlfriend. It will be much easier for me to discern I think if I do not have a relationship to confuse me. It might make me think that the priesthood is not for me, and stray me off my discernment.

However this will be difficult, because I am going to still be attracted to girls, just as I will throughout the rest of my life. So doing this will also test my ability to remain celibate. But personally, this is not being easy. I'm pretty much giving up any oppourtunity to find my spouse, to just listen to God and find out if he means for me to take another path.

So is this is a good move? Do you think I'm going overboard? Some have told me I'm crazy, but it's not like I'm giving up my social life. But it'll be hard.

Good to know your prayers are there. I'm going to need all the help I can get.

Thanks,
Randall

Edited March 25, 2006 by Funky_R

[HisChild]

[quote name='Funky_R' date='Mar 23 2006, 06:43 PM']Thanks y'all. Awesome to know that I've got "Sister Denise" praying for me, as well as y'all. 

Well I called the office to see if I could talk with the Monsignor at my parish, since he deals with all the neew priests, I figured that would be a good start. But he took a few days off, it is Spring Break here after all. 

So I got to wait until next week, but until then I'm going to still keep praying on it.

Mr.Ray, it's good to know that you supported your son entering the Fathers of Mercy. My mom is supporting me too, though she would like to see grandchildren too...

I'll keep y'all posted.

God Bless,
Randall

P.S. Excuse me for my overuse of "y'all". I am a [i]Southern gentleman[/i] after all. 
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LOL! God bless you Randall, but I'm not a sister yet!

Keep us posted, we're excited for you during this special time.

[HisChild]

I was told by one priest that there was no harm in discerning both at the same time, the religious life, while being open to dating were that opportunity to present itself.

Then, after I found a good spiritual directo (not to say this first priest's advice wasn't sage), he shared with me that it might be too difficult to deepen my prayer, and deepen my discernment to the religious life, allthewhile also continuing to date, even casually. He suggested that I not do that, to take a year, if need be, and solely discern a religious vocation. I questioned that at first, asking, 'well what if I met someone wonderful? Should I pass that opportunity up?' (After all, I wanted to be open to whatever our Lord was calling me to.) He said that if someone came along that was fabulous, there would have to be a time, anyway, of being just friends, of learning about them, before I would even decide to take the friendship more seriously, and I could deal with that situation then, in a chaste and godly manner.

There are people out there, who say, well, you are young, why can't you see the world first, and then, later, if you still feel called, you can discern at that time. I preferred to give my 'first fruits' to God. . .to discern the religious life first, then if it became clear that I was not called to that way of life, then discern the call to married life. I say this to you because you too are considering the possibility of the priesthood/religious life.

I love Teresa of the Andes, and have offered quotes of hers before. Here is one of my favorites, which may resonate with you: When family life, the conveniences of the world are presented, when everybody insists that you are going to bury yourself alive while you are so young, when they tell you that you should wait a little while longer, that you should carefully examine if you have a true vocation by knowing the world, etc., if love exists in your soul, let nothing detain you. Jesus is waiting for you. Then come and lose yourself in His divine arms. He is going to make you divine by uniting Himself to you. (C130)

God bless you Randall.

[OLAM Dad]

Randall,

Your decision to not date is a good one in my opinion. You ask if being celibate is going 'overboard'. Heck no! In fact, as a single person you should be celibate even if you weren't discerning the priesthood.

God bless you in your discernment.

[Charms717RM1]

[quote name='OLAM Dad' date='Mar 25 2006, 05:24 AM']
Your decision to not date is a good one in my opinion.

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I second that.

While first discerning i met this wonderful girl at church and we dated for a little while. There came a point where i had to leave her behind to respond to God's call. It was a hard decision but we decided together to stop dating. We're still great friends and she knows more about my spiritual life than anyone eles alive, but now that I'm applying for the seminary- getting hooked up with anyone isn't an option.

Letting go of her was a big stumbling block for me to say yes to Him- and one that I created for myself unnecessarily. My advice would be to not see anyone exclusively. Period. You'll save yourself the trouble of hurting hers and your feelings in the longrun.