Would I become a priest?
To answer that, I’d first have to talk about my thoughts on vocation.
I do believe that vocation is something that you’ll always have to remain open to.
That right up to the point where your sacramental marriage is made covenant, God could very well call you and say:
“I changed my mind., this isn’t for you.”
And when God calls, you must follow.
The same goes for the priesthood, nothing is set in stone until you’re ordained.
With marriage however, it’s a little different.
This is where things may get a little morbid.
You can’t be a priest and still remain open to the vocation of marriage.
But being married, who knows? Your wife and children might die in a car accident.
Fall off a cliff. Trampled by elephants. Who knows.
And you might then find yourself again, ready to answer God’s call.
So that’s what I think about vocation.
When it comes to myself, nothing could appeal more to me than living a life dedicated to serving God.
But in some ways, that is a problem. Because there will always be a part of me that will use the Priesthood as an escape from the hardships of this world.
What I’ve realised about myself is that God tends to put me through trials by fire in order for me to be able to relate to others, and minister to them. To help. It’s something that always came naturally to me. Trying to understand people. To help others.
As I’ve written about before, you can never truly understand someone, unless you are them.
But I guess the closest you can get is by partaking in their suffering as our God did through Christ.
And that’s how I see the trials that God has given me. Every trial is a lesson to learn not just for myself, but for someone down the line that God will put me in the path of.
So I do feel that becoming a priest eliminates a big majority of life situations and people that I’ll be able to relate to and be able to help. As we all feel sometimes in the confessional, there are certain struggles we feel that a priest could never understand.
But who knows, maybe God is calling me to go through the trials of a priest, and hence, help other priests?
Who knows.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
