Vocation - finding real joy and meaning.

Hard to believe that I've been a priest for over four months! It's been a complete transformation of my life! 

Let's say a prayer for vocations - the world is hungering and thirsting for Christ. Have a question or trying to figure out your vocation - www.whynotpriest.org. 

What time is it really? Understanding our lives as a pilgrimage.

This is the concluding reflection from my ordination pilgrimage, and it sums up what I feel after a couple months of priesthood - I've barely scratched the surface. Each day is an adventure that builds on his grace.

 
Wow! Time has really flown by, and you’re already on your way back to America. All of us are probably saying, “I wish it could be a couple of more days.” Couldn’t we just go back in time and even just repeat some of it. God has a time for everything. “There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven…” (Ecc 3:1ff).

Money, fame, and the priesthood - the true story.

Funny. Until the other day, I wasn’t thinking of starting this way. Coming back to the seminary, I stopped by a hotel, and there was a businessman getting out of a Mercedes sedan. He walked into the hotel, and the driver waited on him. Okay, I have to admit I did think, “Wow, wouldn’t that be nice. Having someone to wait on me hand and foot and take me everywhere.” I at least naturally tend to like these status symbols and the idea that others respect and admire me.

But then my mind wandered back to something else. “I’m going to be a priest forever.” Okay, I won’t have a Mercedes with a driver, but then again when I celebrate the Mass, Jesus Christ, God waits, on my word to come down to the world again in the Eucharist. When I sit in the confessional, he hangs on my lips waiting to bestow his forgiveness on a soul in need. Who is more important, the guy who has a driver or the priest, for whom God waits?

How can I be happy, humble, and trusting? What John, the priesthood, and our vocation have in common.

I stood nervously at the bottom of the steps, going over all the possibilities in my mind. Maybe I would get one of those great men that brought Christ to thousands like St. Patrick or St. Francis Xavier. Or it could be one of the saints that had a really specific virtue like St. John of the Cross and his prayer or Blessed John Paul II and his devotion to Mary.

What am I talking about?

What's my vocation? Dear 17 year old me...

Yesterday was World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Late again, but hopefully you said a prayer for me anyway! What is vocation? It comes from the Latin to call. It's not just the vocation to the priesthood - we all have a one!

Last night, I got to tell my story for the umpteenth time. It's funny, I don't get tired of repeating. Not just because I get to talk about myself - finding happiness and fulfillment is what's most important to everyone.

Two fellow seminarians and I went to dinner with a wonderful couple from Idaho. Before the appetizers reached the table, Br. James was well along in recounting his vocation story, and Br. Andrew didn't stop until we had finished our pasta. His was already cold.

Then it was my turn! Just that morning, I was thinking about what a vocation really is. But wait a second, let's back up a bit...

Phil Mulryne: What to do with our lives? Vocation and discernment are for everyone.

Phil had it made. He was 18 and playing for Manchester United, one of the most respected football (soccer, for us Americans) teams in Europe. He had already played on their youth team for a couple of years. What more could a guy want?

But vying for midfield with David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and losing out on playing time wasn't exactly a glorious career. He moved to a much smaller club in hope of a little time on the field. But things didn't get better. Injury struck, more than once. As he moved from team to team, he wasn't getting playing time or recognition. What was he to do with his life?