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A lover of the liberal arts, especially antiquity in its diverse forms, I am nonetheless wholly devoted to, utterly transformed by divine revelation. I seek to know the thought of the past, articulate my deepest longings aroused by the wise, and understand the uneasy relationship between reason and revelation; all for the sake of proper action and contemplation, both now and in the future.

5.07.2012

Pursuing the Vocation

I am working now on my application to Pontifical College Josephinum, on Father DePalma's orders. He is my vocation director, and it will be through him that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe either accepts or rejects me as a candidate for the priesthood. An unnerving time, in some respects, but I am called from none other than our Lord and he shall eliminate all obstacles in my way. 

Our Lord's call notwithstanding, it is as if there are bureaucratic, obfuscating demons blocking my path recently. I have lost my immunization records, and it seems as if Josephinum requires a full set of shots. This will be a slow, arduous (I hate and fear needles - there is no possible chance of a heroin addiction in my future, so I like to believe) process, but I shall conquer all, for this choice is not up to me - it is a call issued by our Lord and recognized by his anointed ministers. 

Still, the list of requirements and expectations is rather beyond me at present. My circumstances are rather unusual, having converted to the Church rather than being brought up within her ken, and having parents who do not exactly understand the vocation to Holy Orders. My father certainly doesn't, and my mother fervently hopes I have not made a disastrous decision. As if it were my decision! Jesus Christ himself has called me, and I can elude the Heavenly Hound no longer. I swore long ago to follow him wherever he commanded me to go, and to that I hold. For five years now I have been impelled to the seminary and the diocesan priesthood. I am called, most unworthy, wretched slave that I am, to serve our Lord as priest in his most holy Church. And thus whenever I thoughtfully reflect on it, my difficulties in finishing my application appear meaningless. But swamped amongst difficult choices and requirements, occasionally the end escapes my sight.

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