Signs of a Vocation to be a Priest

What are the signs of a vocation to the priesthood? Every Catholic priest who discerned a vocation experienced some evidence in his life that this was the right path. But, what signs of a vocation should we look for? Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP, has a few suggestions.

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Click here to read Fr. Philip Neri’s Vocation Story!

Director of Homiletics, Notre Dame Seminary
Contributor, Priestvocation.com

 

I’d been asked to tell my vocation story to a group of young men who were on a Come & See retreat at our studium in St. Louis, MO. When they had found their seats in the chapel, I stood up and told the following story:

I was raised in a largely un-churched Southern Baptist home.

Though my family rarely went to Church, we all believed in God and thought going to Church was generally a good idea. All that I knew about the Bible, the church, Jesus, salvation could fit easily on a Post-It note.

It wasn’t until I was 17 years old and visiting Mexico City with my junior Spanish class that I came to know anything at all about the Catholic Church. We were all inside the National Cathedral. I wandered over to the Altar of the Kings, a magnificent piece of Baroque art. I noticed other people kneeling and praying, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Once I was settled in, I started looking at the altar more closely. Saints, kings, Christian symbols, all of it fused together into one image of Christ on the Cross. As I took it all in I felt the air thicken and everything slowed down.

Then, from the foot of the Cross, I saw a bright light and heard a musical voice whisper to me, “Philip, you will be a priest of Jesus Christ!” [At the point in the story, I paused. The retreatants were silent. Then I continued. . .] Of course, that’s not exactly how it happened!

Everybody laughed, and I made my point:

“Many of you probably think you need a miraculous sign from God to say yes to a religious vocation. You do not. God is giving you plenty of quite ordinary signs already.”

God works most often through the ordinary events of our daily lives. The signs He gives us for following His will are subtle, telling, and perfectly boring.

What is a sign of a priestly vocation? Before we can answer that question, we have to ask and answer another: what is a sign? Simply put, signs point; they indicate location and direction. They give us information and guide us where we are going.

They also tell us that we have arrived. Religious signs do all these in the context of our relationship with God and His church. For Catholics, the most common signs are the sacraments. This sort of sign not only symbolizes (stands-in-for) God’s presence but also makes His presence real. Saints and mystics often report seeing, hearing, smelling signs that they are the presence of God.

Think: fire, the scent of roses, the taste of blood from the consecrated chalice.

Though these signs are pretty mundane in themselves, their task is to point us toward the sacred and give us direction. Properly read, religious signs will always lead us to God and away from sin. Signs of a priestly vocation are no different.

My fake vocation story highlights a common misconception about the signs of a vocation to be a priest. I once served as the spiritual director for a young man who was discerning a vocation to priestly service. We talked for almost five years. During that time it became clear to me that my directee would not say yes to his call until God unambiguously indicated that He wanted him to be a priest.

Just a little frustrated with his demand for a divine sign, I blurted out one day, “What do you want? An angel with a flaming sword to appear in your bedroom and command you to enter seminary?!” He calmly smiled and said, “That would be perfect.”

Setting aside the improbability of such an event ever occurring, I pointed out that God wants us to freely choose to serve Him. Sending an angel to command a positive response would violate His loving will that we come to Him freely. I’m not completely discounting the possibility of miraculous signs appearing to guide you, but waiting for signs of this sort will pretty much guarantee that you never say yes to your vocation to be a priest.

So, here are some ordinary signs that God is calling you to the priesthood:

You are attracted to the work and life of a priest

All Catholics are called to holiness, called to be Christs in the world for the salvation of the world. The daily life and work of a priest is oriented toward being a pastor of souls, a teacher, a preacher, a spiritual father to those in his charge. Are you attracted to the idea of presiding at the parish’s liturgies? Preaching to your congregation? Teaching the faith? Being available for spiritual direction, confession, or pastoral counseling? The life of a priest is given over to his parishioners in service; he is their spiritual father, guiding them as they seek holiness in Christ.

The thought of living and working as a Catholic priest can be daunting. You don’t have to believe that you’d be a Master Preacher or a Great Spiritual Director to be attracted to the work of preaching and spiritual directing. The question is: are these attractive to you? If you find yourself drawn to serving others as a leader in the Church, you can consider that a sign of a vocation to be a priest.

You’ve been told by others that you would make a good priest

Though it’s certainly possible that God could speak to you through a crucifix, or send an angel with a flaming sword to call you into the priesthood, it’s more likely that He would put discerning people in your way. It’s the people in your parish, your family, maybe your friends who have mentioned priesthood to you. Maybe you’re the one in your group of friends and classmates who serves as the unofficial confessor of the group.

You’re the counselor, the one who asks the right questions and guides them to better answers. They’ve seen you at Mass and see how transformed you are by the experience of offering God thanks and praise in the Eucharist. Maybe a total stranger at Mass has suggested to you that you’d make a good priest. God has been known to use strangers, enemies, even long-lost loves to prompt us into doing His will.

You can consider it a sign of a vocation to be a priest if someone has said to you more than once, “You’d make a good priest!”

You find yourself asking thoughtful questions about the faith and looking for faithful answers

Most Catholics question their faith. Some will look for answers. Fewer still will spend time and energy seeking out faithful answers in depth.

• Do you find yourself drawn to studying scripture well beyond your average parish-level discussion group?
• Have you read the early Church Fathers, looking for ancient wisdom to deal with modern problems?
• Have you found the wisdom offered my pop-psychology, politics, and “spirituality” to be shallow and unsatisfying?
• Are you serious about your faith but often think that “just going to Mass on Sunday” isn’t challenging enough to keep you on track for holiness?

The Church has 2,000 years of accumulated wisdom to explore, and dozens of disciplines for exploring. If you feel the urge to study your faith in depth, to really dig deep into the history and thought of the Church, then you have another sign of a vocation to be a priest.

You find yourself needing to pray

In one sense, we all need to pray! But not all of us really feel that need as a desire to pray. “Prayer” is the one-word name we give to the daily work of living in God’s presence with purpose and direction. A person who never prays is still living in the presence of God.

But the pray-er lives in His presence with a purpose, a goal firmly set in mind – to be as close as possible to God in every way. The pray-er also lives in God’s presence with a direction in mind – to grow in holiness, to be perfected in Christ.

The prayer life of a priest is one way that he stays in intimate contact with God, ordering his life more perfectly toward his final end: union with God in heaven. The priest also serves as a mediator with God, praying for his people, interceding for them before the altar, most dramatically during the Eucharist.

Do you find yourself especially inclined toward prayer? Do you find joy in liturgical prayer? Devotional prayer? Do you feel lost if you fail to pray regularly? If you can say yes to these questions, consider it a sign of a vocation to be a priest.

You are happy to be of service to others

Prayer fortifies the priest to be of service to his people. Unlike a secular job or career, being a priest is a 24/7 vocation. Even on your day off, you’re a priest.

Who and what a priest goes well beyond his function as a parish administrator or minister of the sacraments. You may not be hearing confessions and celebrating a public mass on your day off, but you’re still a priest.

At the center of a priestly identity then is the desire to serve others sacrificially; that is, to give your whole life, all your gifts, everything you have and are to helping others in their relationships with God. This level of service is best captured in the priestly promises of chaste celibacy, obedience, and the obligation to pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily. For religious priests and brothers these promises are taken as vows.

If you find yourself happiest when being of service to others, you can take that as a sign of a vocation to the priesthood.

You are drawn to helping others at their best and worst moments

Priests are often called upon to minister to others when things couldn’t get any better or worse. Highlights in priestly ministry include baptizing a newborn; witnessing the marriage of a young couple; and giving communion to newly confirmed children. Low points include attending to the sick and dying; ministering to those who’ve lost loved ones unexpectedly; celebrating a funeral Mass, and counseling a couple whose marriage is falling apart. As part of his sacrificial service, a priest often finds himself right in the middle of family disputes and celebrations; public controversy and crisis; and many moments of intimate reconciliation. Being present in the name of Christ and his Church at these moments calls for a peace and stability that can be an enormous opportunity for spiritual growth.

If you feel drawn to being with others when they need you most, you can count that as a sign of a vocation to be a priest.

You are excited by the idea of preaching the Good News

For many centuries in the Church, public preaching was considered the sole right of the local bishop. St. Dominic and his Order of Preachers changed that in 1216. Now, priests and deacons are charged with the duty of liturgical preaching as well. Preaching is a practical art that requires the priest to be well-versed in Scripture, the Church Fathers, dogmatic and pastoral theology, and a whole host of other related disciplines.

At its core, preaching is about bringing the Word of God as understood by the Church to God’s people so that they might share more intimately in His Self-revelation. All that the preacher shares in his preaching should be directed toward helping his people grow in holiness. Homilies – preached during public liturgies – are usually encouraging in tone and offer practical advice for living out our baptismal vows.

If after listening to a homily at Mass, you’ve thought that you would be a good preacher, take that as a sign of a vocation to be a priest.

You are excited by the idea of teaching the faith

As the spiritual father of his parish, the priest is charged with teaching his people the apostolic faith. He will have significant help from lay teachers, but the bulk of the responsibility for teaching the faith will fall to him. There are a number of formal ways of teaching the faith: RCIA, adult lay formation, baptism classes for new parents, etc. But there are just as many informal ways of teaching: casual conversation after Mass, office visits by curious parishioners, email questions and phone calls.

The hunger for knowledge of the faith is tremendous, and the priest is the first person most Catholics think of when a question arises. Like the father in a family fielding his children’s questions, a priest fields questions from his people and even people outside the parish.

Seminary formation provides the priest with a foundation knowledge of the faith, but four years of formal education can’t answer every possible question. The priest relies on his formal education, of course, but he also relies on on-going formation in his intellectual life – reading, attending classes and workshops, staying current on Church news and teaching, and knowing where to get an answer he can’t provide.

If the prospect of being a teacher of the faith excites you, you can count that as a sign of a vocation to be a priest.

You think being a priest might be a way to grow in holiness

Religious priests, brothers, and sisters will tell you that they didn’t take solemn vows because they were already holy. They took vows because it was their only shot at ever being holy! In other words, vows aren’t a sign of holiness; they are a means to holiness.

The same can be said for priestly ordination. All that goes into making a baptized Catholic layman into a ministerial priest shapes that man into someone fully capable of becoming a saint.

Laymen can become saints, of course.

But a man called to the priesthood recognizes that his means of sanctification lies in the sacrificial service of ordained ministry. The intellectual and spiritual training of seminary, and the rigors of human and pastoral formation establish a firm foundation for receiving and making use of God’s abundant grace.

Priestly service in the Church is a constant test of virtue and spiritual strength, an on-going reshaping of an imperfect man into a more perfect servant. Many young men find the hierarchical nature of the Church to be incredibly freeing; that is, they find the clear boundaries of authority and expectations to be a means of overcoming the free-floating anxiety and confusion that our culture wants to nurture in our young people.

If you’ve ever thought that being a priest might be a great way of growing in personal holiness, you might have received a sign of a vocation to be a priest.

These are just a few of the signs that you might have a vocation to be a priest. If you are waiting for an angelic visitation or a miraculous event to give you a sign….well, good luck with that. It might happen. Most likely, it won’t. God works through and with His creation to make His will known. He requires our cooperation, so the signs will necessarily be subtle even ordinary. What He wants from you is a freely-given “Yes” to His call. Waiting for certainty is certainly not foolish. Waiting for Him to remove from you the responsibility of making the choice just might be.

Have you experienced one of these signs of a vocation? Two? More?

Dominican Friars aren’t fortune tellers. But, we do know how to read signs.

Click here to share your sign with the Friars