Following my return to the Church, parishioners often asked me if I’d thought about the priesthood. After dating a few great girls in college, they, too, asked me, one after another, following the end of our relationships, if I’d considered being a priest. I began to realize that God was telling me something. 

I looked into the diocesan priesthood as well as a few different religious orders, but nothing seemed like a fit. I began to think perhaps I was not cut out for a religious vocation after all.

Then I heard a talk on the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is like a bowl of ice cream:  enjoyable in the moment, but after an hour, the feeling dissipates. Joy, on the other hand, is the ever-lasting peace one feels in a loving relationship with God. I realized that this joy was what I longed to attain, and decided to give discernment of a religious vocation another try.

In prayer, I turned to my confirmation saint:  Maximilian Kolbe. I thought, “Perhaps if I follow the path this great saint took…” which led me to the Franciscan Order to which he belonged: the Franciscan Friars Conventual.

I attended the ordination of a Franciscan Friar. During the Eucharistic prayer, all of the friar priests went up to the altar, while the friar brothers remained in the pews, sitting among the people. It struck me:  THIS is what I believe God is calling me to – a life of service and ministry not from the pulpit, but among the community, using my actions more than my words. I had found where I belong.  

The Franciscans bring people to Christ primarily through prayer and their work in nursing homes, schools, soup kitchens, and retreat centers. Their dedication to helping the poor, homeless, sick, dying, and marginalized strikes a chord within me. My experience with my grandparents growing up enabled me to see the beauty of serving others; I now wish to dedicate my life to serving those in need.

I look forward to becoming a friar and pouring out my love to those who are struggling and oppressed. I want to show them that God truly loves them, and that their lives are unique and beautiful.