Laboure Society
“I look forward to serving the Catholic community around me as a parish priest.”
Meet the rest of my class
My name is Grant Sharstrom. I am called to serve Christ and His Church as a priest with the Diocese of Duluth. This is my story.
I was raised in a Lutheran family in Willmar, Minnesota, where I enjoyed a childhood of sports, video games and camping. During my high school years, my faith life began to grow and I became involved playing music at Youth for Christ events with friends. Music became my passion.
While in college studying music, I had a job working with disabled individuals which included taking one of the residents to Mass at a Catholic Church on the weekends. This, along with my study of early church music, piqued my interest in the Catholic faith. I started attending Mass with a few classmates. Eventually, I discussed theology and church teachings with a priest, and soon after, entered the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) and was welcomed into the Catholic Church. This was a joyous moment not only for me, but for my grandmother Loretta, a lifelong Catholic. She often described being my sponsor as her greatest moment late in life.
Shortly thereafter, thoughts of the priesthood began to go through my mind, but I pursued and found success teaching choir in public school. However, there seemed to be some inexplicable sense of unhappiness. I thought that if I pushed myself and my students to be better, that I would find joy in my work – but that joy never came.
Seeking true meaning and fulfillment, I met with a priest for some spiritual guidance. I began to invest in my faith in a way I never had before, attending spiritual retreats, praying the rosary and other devotions, reading books by Catholic authors, and becoming more involved at church. Eventually, I committed to a weekly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration. During these times with God in Adoration, thoughts of the priesthood kept returning to me. I found this challenging, as pursuing the priesthood would mean giving up my teaching career and embracing a later-in-life vocation.
Seeking to find God’s call for my life, I left public school teaching and began teaching in Catholic schools. Still, the call to go even deeper with God continued. Finally, I reached out to some vocation directors and began exploring various options for the priesthood and/or religious life.
Through continued prayer, discernment, and spiritual direction, I was drawn to the diocesan priesthood for the Diocese of Duluth. I look forward to serving the Catholic community around me as a parish priest, to engaging in evangelistic outreach, and to ministering to the poor. I seek to walk with God’s people on their faith journeys, providing the sacraments and witnessing to the love, hope and joy of Christ.
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: grant@rescuevocations.org
Download a PDF of my story
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