Laboure Society
“I deeply desire to bring others to Christ as a priest.”
Meet the rest of my class
My name is Charlie Barnick. I am discerning a call to serve Christ and His Church as a priest with the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. This is my story.
I was blessed to be raised in a Catholic family with loving parents and a father who taught me the importance of faith, personal sacrifice and the conviction to do what is right. Yet growing up, my faith life lacked true intimacy with Christ, and I spent my time focusing on sports, video games and friends.
As I entered college, I decided to be more intentional about my faith. I chose to say no to the worldly behaviors college life often brings. I sought a brotherhood that I discovered was difficult to find. One day, the thought to consider the priesthood came to my mind. Unsure what to make of it, I asked God to show me a sign – a red cardinal – if He wanted me to consider the vocation. The next morning while walking to class, I saw one lone cardinal. God had answered me, and thus began my discernment.
Though there were ups and downs emotionally and spiritually over the next few years, I followed through on a desire to become an intentional leader of faith amongst my peers. I brought football teammates to Adoration, led the team in prayer, and started a Bible study group. For a long time, though, I was resistant to the call to the priesthood because I was afraid that my friends and family might treat me differently if I pursued it.
A book from my grandmother called All in: Breaking Barriers to the Priesthood finally pushed me out of my comfort zone. I visited the Saint Paul Seminary and was able to interact with other men who all wanted to give their lives to Christ. I saw the brotherhood that I had desired being lived out.
As I follow God’s calling to the priesthood, I seek others to accompany me on this journey. May we meet so that I can share more? Until then, please keep me and my classmates in prayer, and feel free to reach out to me at CharlieBarnick@rescuevocations.org.
Download a PDF of my story
(The progress bar will be updated as donations are processed.)
Your gift gets our aspirants one step closer to their ordination or profession of vows.