same choice I made, but I’m not sure
that’s the right perspective. The best
way for me to explain it to them is
that my decision was not necessarily
to join the priesthood; it was more
a decision to be true to myself. As
someone with a psychology degree
(not a master’s or anything, but just
enough background to get me into
trouble), I am usually more comfortable focusing on the “who am I”
aspect of discernment. For me it has
been a more grounded place to discern my call while avoiding the traps
of trying to become a “super holy”
but potentially disingenuous person.
I believe that being true to one’s self
is all God asks of anybody.
The “who am I” questions
The trap I often fall into, however,
is not getting out of myself enough.
I went to a Jesuit college, and in one
The big gift in all
of this discernment
is the experience
of God as a direct
presence in my life.
Enter #103 at VocationMatch.com
That being said, the second
rule is: “When it is time, it is time.”
When the time finally came, the
tiebreaker for me was that on some
level I have always felt that there
is some certain work on this earth
I need to do. And when I’m on my
deathbed, while I might have missed
having a wife and kids, it is not
what I would have regretted. While
I understand that having a vocation
and having a wife and kids are not
mutually exclusive, for me it seemed
that the work and life I was being
called to precluded the responsibilities involved in raising a family.
People have told me they did
not think that they could make the
class the professor gave an extra
credit question on each one of his
tests: “What does ‘A.M.D.G.’ stand
for?” The Latin phrase is “Ad Ma-jorem Dei Gloriam,” “for the greater
glory of God.” But when I think
about my relationship with God, I
might describe my attitude with “A.
M. M. G.” (“for the greater glory of
me”).
Each time God would nudge
me in the direction of religious life,
I would shove right back. After all,
there were things I wanted in my
life—things like a girlfriend, a wife,
48
VISION 2009
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