Laboure Society
“My name is Skylar McLaughlin. I am discerning a call to serve Christ and His Church as a priest with the Diocese of Joliet.”
Meet the rest of my class
My name is Skylar McLaughlin. I am discerning a call to serve Christ and His Church as a priest with the Diocese of Joliet. This is my story.
I grew up in a small, close family in Matteson, Illinois. Although there was a mix of religious traditions in my family’s background, I was not raised practicing any faith. Despite this, even as a small child, I was drawn to God, seeking Him in prayer before I had a clear understanding of what prayer was supposed to be. I had a deep interior love for God and desire to know Him. As I grew, my life lacked fulfillment – and so, God drew me, led me into the wilderness, and spoke tenderly to me, revealing Himself to me along the way.
I attended Mass for the first time when I was in high school. From that moment, I understood the importance of the Sacrament, and everything about Jesus began to draw me to Him, culminating in me recognizing my need for Him and the Catholic Church as my home. After I joined the Church, various pastors asked if I was considering the priesthood. These questions planted a seed to consider that vocation. This seed was further cultivated by reading St. Augustine’s Confessions; I was gripped by the beauty of his story and his great love for Christ. It was in the midst of a time of sorrow, after the death of my grandmother, that the seed began to grow. I began to really think about the life I wanted to live and who I wanted to be. I knew I needed to give the Lord the chance to speak to me, which led me to tell my pastor that I wanted to discern the priesthood. Thus, the journey began.
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 skylar.mclaughlin@rescuevocations.org
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