Seminarian: Taking a step in the right direction
Lee Acervo, Sacred Heart Major Seminary theology student

After college, I began to work as an engineer – a career I enjoyed very much. After a couple years of working, I enrolled into graduate school.

I had many plans for myself – meet a good Catholic woman, get married, raise a family, finish graduate school, and move on to a bigger and better job – but I vividly remember sitting in my 8 by 8 cubicle one afternoon thinking, "Is that it?" Not that there was anything wrong with these goals – I had the holiest intentions in mind. But it seemed to be missing something. I was very grateful for the gift of my faith and the many blessings that God had given to me, and I had a sense of wanting to do something for God in return.

Thoughts of the priesthood had entered my mind in the past, but those were quickly set aside in favor of my own plans. That is, until I began to sincerely pray about what God really wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do for God.

I began to spend a lot of time in prayer in front of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament simply asking God the same question over and over: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" It's a very simple, yet very powerful prayer when you are honestly seeking the answer. I was sure that I wasn't called to the single life, but I couldn't figure out whether my vocation was marriage or the priesthood. So for the longest time, I was stuck in between.

Finally, after a lot of time spent in prayer, I came to the realization that I couldn't discern my vocation sitting on a fence. I had to take the first step in one direction without the fear of choosing the "wrong" path. I had to have faith that if I was honestly seeking God's will for me, He would guide me on the right path. I wanted to serve God and while serving God as a husband and father is a wonderful vocation, I felt that He wanted me to use my gifts as a priest. That's when I made the decision to apply to the seminary.

The primary focus of all that we do as seminarians is to become formed into the image of Jesus Christ, who is our Eternal High Priest. That formation consists of intellectual, human, spiritual, and pastoral formation. This means forming my body, mind, and soul to be like Jesus so that I can serve and minister to the people of God as Jesus did. In other words, to be like Christ.

Practically speaking, this means that while study, prayer, and service to others are keys to becoming a holy priest, developing a well-balanced life – physically, mentally, and spiritually – is also important. There are many recreational and social activities, as well as many ways that we can serve others, individually or as a community. In addition to study and prayer, I belong to the basketball team, sing in the choir and chant schola, and bring Holy Communion to the sick. As a community, our days are centered around daily Mass, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and weekly Holy Hours.

I feel contented with the decision I made to come to the seminary, and I am very happy where I am right now.

But discernment is never-ending as is the road to holiness, so fulfillment won't come until I've reached the end that God created me for: to be in complete union with the Trinity in Heaven as a saint. Until then, I can never stop asking the question: "Lord, what do you want me to do?"