In my sophomore year of high school, during a youth retreat, I came face to face with the Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. He asked me if I was still going to keep seeking what did not fulfill. Though I resisted, in the end, I said to the Lord, “Ok, let’s try it Your way.” In the days following, I did not regress back into laxity as I had previously done. Instead, I experienced a renewal within my heart as I sought the Lord in prayer, service and virtue. What I had once considered “weird” had become a new joy.
Though I felt that I needed to discern the priesthood, I kept pushing it aside. After college graduation, I went on mission to Honduras, where my love for the Lord deepened dramatically. Inspired by a missionary priest who gave his entire life and energy to minister to those who were both physically and spiritually hungry, I decided to start afresh in my discernment and really seek what God was calling me to.
After about a year of living as a missionary, I could finally say to the Lord with all my heart, “Thy will be done.” Saying those words gave me true freedom. The Lord could finally reveal my own desires to me, and He began to show me what beautiful plans He had for me. Like the apostle John, I seek to rest in Him Who is Truth. I desire to dialogue with the world – with those who are doubting their faith, and with those who simply have questions.