Vocation Story

I had run away from my vocation for many years, as a child I was encouraged to consider the priesthood. I demurred because I did not want to make the sacrifices necessary, I wanted to get married, I wanted to have a family and all the nice things that a well paying job could provide. I became a public school teacher, yeah really got the big money, after trying to find a career I could get excited about. I taught for sixteen years, thirteen as coordinator of an alternative high school in Chicago.

Running a small school was difficult and rewarding, I also felt that I was doing what the Lord wanted me to do. The students I encountered needed a second chance and I was able to provide many with the chance for a high school education, an opportunity some may not have had. I started at that school in my early thirties, and I had the energy to fight with undisciplined teenagers who needed to develop habits that would allow them to succeed. I got older the students seemed to get more head strong, I knew that I could not spend the rest of my career teaching in this program. Again I began to consider the priesthood, but I had a house, a comfortable life, I would be giving up too much, besides I was forty, that seemed too old to pursue a vocation.

In 2006 things began to change, the school I ran was considered too expensive, so I had to leave a job where I was in charge of every thing to become a regular classroom teacher. I feared the switch, but was determined to give it a fair try. Then a very close friend got cancer at the age of forty-nine and I resolved to pray for him, daily rosaries and Divine Mercy Chaplets. I had attended Sunday Mass regularly for years, but was not overly religious in any sense of the word. Now prayer became a major part of my life, in other words, I gave God a chance to direct my life. One night I had finshed saying the rosary, when out of the blue I had the idea that if God allowed Ron to get well, that would be a sign that he wanted me to pursue a vocation. I know not where that came, but planted in my mind the idea grew. Sadly, Ron passed away in September of 2006.

I however followed my vocation, it led me to Rockford and Father Aaron, then to Israel, and now to the seminary. I feel that God has put me where he wants me, just as he did as a teacher. My only job now is to follow Him.