Today’s Vocation Story comes from Mark Berwanger, a seminarian studying for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is in his first year of seminary studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum. Mark is a son of St. Andrew parish in Milford, OH.

My name is Mark Berwanger, I am 24 years old and a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in my first year of collegiate studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.

I first felt called to the vocation of the priesthood when I was a young man through grade school at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton/St. Andrew. At the time I would talk about desiring to become a priest, inspired by the positive models of good and holy priests I either served for or knew as friends of the family. I wrote often that when I “grew up” I wanted to be either a priest, an author, or a teacher. Throughout high school I entertained a more secular philosophy on life and put aside any thoughts of priesthood. I entered the business world after college and earned the position of VP/GM of a local small business, where I worked for 5 years.

In May 2010, one of my sisters was married and it was during her wedding Mass that the priest’s words in his Homily touched my heart and ignited again an awareness of a possible vocation to the priesthood. He spoke of how the priest is merely a witness to the Sacrament of Marriage, and I was alerted to a more full understanding of how the priest acts in persona Christi in the other sacraments. I put the feelings aside, but continued to pray about God’s Will for me throughout the summer. That Fall, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I received some valuable spiritual direction that once again gently encouraged me to seriously consider the priesthood. After speaking with Fr. Kyle Schnippel [Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati] I applied to the Archdiocese and the Josephinum and was accepted in the Summer of 2011.

Seminary life so far has provided such peace and clarity. I was nervous upon entering the seminary and even after the first week or two, but the formation process is formulated and installed in each seminarian so as to guide him along his way.  There are certainly challenges in the life of a seminarian with the academic work, the spiritual formation, and even interaction amongst brother seminarians. However, we are encouraged to remember that we are discerning a vocation to be servants to the people of God and that provides consolation in that we can do all things “in Him who strengthens us.”

Have the words of a priest really resonated with you at some time or another? How have those words effected the way you live out your discernment?

Click here for more Vocation Stories.