When people find out that I’m a seminarian, they are naturally curious. “Why did I choose this kind of life?” “Do I not want to have a family?’ The most common question I am asked is “what if you wake up 10 years from now and not want to do this anymore?”
This question amuses me. The vocation of the priesthood is little different from any other vocation in this respect. People wake up all the time in marriages that they don’t want to be in. People go to jobs that they would rather not do. In marriages, one can get a divorce. In a job, one can quit, but the priesthood is not something that you can just abandon.
Catholics don’t believe that one can simply abandon a marriage or any other God-given vocation. A marriage is a solemn vow, to man and God. In wedding vows, one doesn’t promise that “I will be happy with you until death do us part”. On the contrary, one promises to be with another person no matter what happens. Even if that person is sterile, even if that person gets cancer and dies a painful, expensive, and slow death, even if that person is total trash, one promises to be with them. A marriage is special because even though a person may wake up and not want to do it, they do because of their promise. If love were easy, it wouldn’t mean much.
The priesthood is the same.
The seminary is the same.
I think you could say a meaningful life is the same: you must be committed to the process.
When I entered the seminary, I gave my word to the archbishop that I would remain in the seminary for at least a year. I am now going on year 3. I know that tomorrow, I am going to wake up tomorrow and there will be things I don’t want to do. But I will do them anyway because of a commitment I have to formation, and while I may not enjoy it at the time, I think that someday I will reflect and know that it was all worth it.
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