Thursday, June 14, 2007

My Son The Future Priest

Right after work on Wednesday I drove to my wife's office and then we walked down the street to a restaurant. We were to meet my youngest son and a representative of the Archdiocese for dinner. As part of the discernment and application process for being accepted into the seminary, the Vocation Director likes to meet the parents of young applicants. It was a very casual and enjoyable meeting. I immediately hit it off with this priest. He is older than my son but much younger than me. We soon discovered that we not only shared some similar interests but we had the very same personality type. That explained the immediate connection and easy conversation. Despite my background, I really did nothing to encourage my son to want to be a priest. He was already well into the discernment process before he informed me of his intention. As I have told my son, and the Vocation Direction, I am happy with this and support it 100%. I would be very proud to have a son who is a priest. This apple didn't fall far from the tree. My other apple....Chloe's father...fell from the same tree but rolled down the hill just a bit. Later in the evening when Nick returned home, I asked him if we passed the audition. He said that we did and the Vocation Director thought my wife and I were exactly as Nick described us. I then asked, "How did you describe us"? His response was, "I told him that you were the spiritual one and Mom was the practical one. You want to talk about prayer and the spiritual life. Mom wants to know how much this will cost". Well, he nailed us pretty good! My son hasn't been officially accepted yet but everything is looking very good. Stay tuned and keep him in your prayers.

I was very tired when I went to bed last night. Sleep came easily. Morning did not. Today is another day of work followed by my Thursday afternoon routine of picking up Chloe at the day care. By the time her father picks her up at my house tonight I will be semi conscious. Of course, Chloe is part of what makes my life exciting. She is always a joy even when I am tired. So....I have no deep thoughts or opinions today. I just have a quiet joy and excitement over my son's potential future and the continuous pleasure of being a grandfather. Life is good!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I'm just curious, how old was your son when he first started mentioning the priesthood? My 9 year old has been talking about it since 1st grade and has gone as far as initiating very serious discussions, such as making sure I'm OK with not having grandchildren!

I don't know how to help him. If he said he wanted to be an scientist I'd be doing experiments with him. But the priesthood is a calling that is just between him and God.

Since he is only 9 he is likely to change his mind...especially when puberty hits.

Did your son express any such interests this young? How did you handle it?

Kelly

Michael Brown said...

My son never thought about the priesthood until a year or so ago.
Although he was raised Catholic, he was never particularly religious and,
in fact, never cared much about religion. A few years ago he had a
personal conversion that first led him to the Baptist Church. He later
attended a Baptist seminary where the anti-Catholic views of a teacher
led him to re-examine his own faith tradition. His decision to become a
priest was a happy surprise for me. I, on the other hand, was also
raised Catholic and wanted to be a priest from a very young age. I first
went to the seminary when I was 13 years old. In those
days...1965...this was not uncommon. I would not discourage your son but in today's
world most seminarians are in their 30's and 40's. My son is the
youngest in our Archdiocese and he is 25.

I hope this helps.

Michael Brown