This vocation story was relayed to us from a priest who has spent much time in his priestly ministry promoting vocations:
Dear Father,
I know this is completely out of the blue, and I doubt you remember me or the event I’m about to share, and honestly I’m not 100% certain that you are the priest I’m thinking of, but I’ve looked into things and asked around and have reason to believe you are.
Almost 10 years ago, I went on a father-son day retreat/tour of Mount St. Mary’s with a group from my parish of the time. I was just about to turn eight years old.
I do not remember much from that trip; the campus was beautiful, I believe the mass we attended was in Spanish, and I got to hang out with friends.
The thing that I do remember for sure though, and what I wanted to thank you for, was that the priest leading the tour/retreat gave all of us there a coin with “Jesus, please give me the gift of a generous heart” written on it, and also made us promise him two things: that we would pray three Hail Marys every day for our vocations for the rest of our lives, and that we would always carry that coin in our pockets to remind us of that first promise.
I am happy to say that nearly 10 years have passed and I’ve faithfully kept that promise, only forgetting to pray daily a handful of times.
But what I think is more exciting is that I will be applying to my diocese to enter the seminary program next year and attend St. John Paul II College Seminary in Washington, DC!
I cannot overstate just how much of an impact those daily prayers have had on my discernment! I truly believe they are what has led me to be as open to God’s will in my life as I am today!
So, thank you so much, Father, for working to foster vocations! It’s amazing the impact we can have on a person’s life by planting a small seed in their heart. I find that simply amazing and wanted to share this small part of my story with you.