Considering Seminary

[tojo]

Hi, I'm Thomas, I don't post on the Vocations Board very often.

I'm 23, I've been Catholic two years, I'm starting my last year of college this fall. I will graduate in the spring with a degree in history and linguistics. I've been dating a nice Catholic girl for 19 months, we're in love, we often talk about maybe getting married in a few years.

I also drawn to seminary and the diocesan priesthood. It's a recurring desire, it keeps coming back. The great need of the Church for priests really touches my heart. Also, the opportunity to make great sacrifices for the Lord is very appealing. I think I would absolutely love seminary.

This past Sunday my diocese, the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, had a "Dinner with the Bishop" for current and potential seminarians. There was also an overnight retreat that some of us stayed for afterwards.

The event was amazing. I already knew a couple of the seminarians, because they are amongst my very best friends. I also met many others, and they were all so wonderful. They were all very nice and eager to get to know us "potentials" and to help guide us in our discernement. One really cool thing was that my home parish had the most seminarians, it's so awesome that the Lord has blessed us to be such a vocational powerhouse! The number of vocations has picked up here in recent years, and the quality of our seminarians is even more encouraging.

Lots of priest came for dinner too, in fact almost every priest I personally knew was there! My pastor came up not just for the dinner, but was the only parish priest to remain there overnight. Our Director of Seminarians and our Bishop, Carl Mengeling, also really impressed me, they are so wonderful and so holy.

Our Bishop, our seminarians, and many of our priests have become so much more dear to my heart. I love our diocese! I so very much want to be part of what the Lord is doing here!

Over and over again, it was said, by the Bishop, by priests, and by seminarians, that the place to discern is in the seminary. I'm really starting to wonder how I could possibly allow myself not to go.

There is however a few things in my way. The little things include my family and my finances. My family is not Catholic, and not religious, and while I know they wouldn't stop me, I don't think they will be very supportive. I also know that I can expect absolutely zero help from them, both financially, and in other things, like I'm pretty sure they wouldn't drive to the seminary to come and get me even to visit them, and in everything in between, I'll be on my own. I've been on my own for college, and getting through has taken everything I've been able to scrape together, and I will have nothing when I graduate.

The thing that concerns me more is that I have long had a strong desire to marry and have children. There is also the girl I am with now (who, btw, is casually beginning to discern sisterhood). I love her, I don't want to break her heart - I don't want my heart to be broken either.

I don't know what else to say.

Any thoughts?

[catholicinsd]

Don't get rejected.