How do I know if God is calling me to be a priest?

and other questions

How do I know if God is calling me to be a priest? How can we be certain anyone wants us to do anything? – we have to ask them. And since we’re speaking of God’s will here, it is God we have to ask and that means prayer. Pope John Paul II was once asked how he prayed and he probably astounded his interviewer with the simplicity of his response: ‘I speak and then I listen, very carefully’. Of course, when we’re praying about something as life-changing as priesthood we also have to begin to discern in practical ways which path we’re meant to go down. If you think you’re called to marriage you look for a girlfriend; if you think you’re called to priesthood, you don’t look for a girlfriend! Instead, following the lead of the priestly psalm 116 ‘The Lord is my portion and cup’, we should look for a special relationship with Jesus Christ in prayer. And keep asking and listening. Perhaps set aside 20 or 30 minutes each day for scripture reading and prayer and you could include in this praying part of the Divine Office, the official prayer of the Church. And of course, since the closest we can come to the Lord on earth is at Mass, we should try to get to weekday Mass, daily if possible. If we’re generous, the Lord will surely respond. Perhaps in any one of two ways or maybe a combination of the two, namely: joyful attraction to the thought of being a priest or fear combined with a nagging inner voice that just won’t go away.

But I can’t really imagine myself as a priest… none of the priests I know are anything like me. Very often young men think of priesthood because they are impressed by some quality in a priest they know. But it doesn’t matter if that isn’t true for you. It is Jesus Christ who invites you to follow him, not Fr Smith or Fr Jones. Although among the first disciples it was Andrew who called Peter to meet Jesus, and Philip who called James, it was and it still is Jesus who says to each and individually ‘follow me’.

Will I be lonely? Alone – but not lonely. A Jesuit priest once described a diocesan priest as ‘a contemplative in action’, and the one we are contemplating is Jesus Christ. He is certainly enough to satisfy a human heart if he’s invited in. Celibacy or better vowed chastity for the sake of the Kingdom of God is truly a state of being in relationship with Jesus Christ. And if a priest is generous in giving himself to Christ and since he shares in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, he will find that, just like his Lord, it is pretty difficult to find time even to be alone. In short, as a priest you are in a certain sense alone but never lonely – unless you leave the Lord.

What do I do next? Speak to your parish priest or feel free to contact me directly and we’ll meet for a chat. Sometimes men feel very nervous of taking that first step: too young… too old… too unworthy. There’s no dotted line to sign on at that first meeting.

Do you think God might be calling you to be a priest? Why not begin to find out.

Fr William Massie

Vocations Director

St Peter's, Castle Road, Scarborough YO11 1TH

Tel: (01723) 360358