Laboure Society
“I’m excited at the prospect of being able to bring Christ to people through the sacraments as a priest, and...preaching and teaching truth with clarity and love.”
Meet the rest of my class
My name is Caleb Johnson. I am called to serve Christ and His Church as a priest with the Diocese of Memphis. This is my story.
I was raised in a devout Southern Baptist household with a profound love and understanding of Scripture. I had a personal relationship with God, and attended church with my family every Sunday to worship and every Wednesday for Bible study and youth group. I tended to be a little introverted, and explored faith on a more intellectual level.
When my family moved to Memphis, we were left without a Baptist church to attend. In my youth I had had a very negative view of Catholicism; however, my mother had served as a nurse at a number of Catholic care facilities and had a curiosity about the Catholic Church. After our move, she urged our family to attend classes in the Catholic faith offered at a local Catholic Church — not necessarily to convert, but just to learn about Catholicism.
My curiosity was suddenly met with a level of truth I had never before encountered. I knew the Scriptures well, but for the first time, I experienced the truth of Scripture in its fullness, within the context of history and Sacred Tradition. The splintered factions and disparity of doctrines between the various Protestant sects had long deeply disturbed me, and a few times throughout my life had almost caused me to leave the Christian faith. The coherence of Catholic doctrine was unlike anything I had known. It was a truth I could not ignore. Most of all, I was drawn in by the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I had always sought a deeper relationship with Christ — and now, here it was. Seeing the fullness of truth in comparison to everything I had previously studied brought me to the Catholic faith.
Unfortunately, soon after I entered the Church, the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Here I was, a new convert, yet I could not interact with my fellow Catholics and was denied access to the sacraments. Yet I believe this early trial helped strengthen my love for the Church, as it made me realize the importance of the sacraments and community.
Looking back, I can see that my call came almost immediately after I converted. The priesthood was an idea in the back of my mind that never really went away. Both career planning and romance always ended with me looking towards the priesthood. Yet I worried about my lack of knowledge of prominent saints, Church history, and Catholic culture due to my Protestant upbringing. I reached out to the Diocese of Memphis, and they alleviated my fears and accepted me into the seminary.
We live in a chaotic time, wherein everyone hungers for the truth. I want to be a harbinger of the truth of the fullness of Jesus Christ found in His Church. I’m excited at the prospect of being able to bring Christ to people through the sacraments as a priest, and to preaching and teaching truth with clarity and love. I want to be a part of the Church’s mission to bring reason, stability, and the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and confused world.
Please pray for me and for my fellow Labouré classmates on our vocation journeys. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have at: calebjohnson@rescuevocations.org.
Download a PDF of my story
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