Today’s Vocation Story comes from Nathan Baldwin, a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in his second year of college seminary. Nathan is a son of St. Peter in Huber Heights, OH.

I first felt the call to the priesthood in 5^th or 6^th grade when my dad was in diaconate formation. I used to come down with him to visit Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary on weekends and getting to know the seminarians and the priests there really helped to plant the seed of my vocation. As I prepared to enter high school it was my intention to enter seminary after I graduated. When I started high school, however, I got distracted and my faith went on the backburner. I didn’t lose my faith or stop going to church, but I became lukewarm. I just went through the motions.

I was homeschooled from 8^th grade through high school and I credit my homeschool group and the friends I made there for helping me rediscover my vocation and enter seminary. My last two years of high school I became more involved in my homeschool group and became closer friends with other homeschooled teens. This slowly revitalized my faith and helped me become a better man.

When I graduated high school I still was not thinking about the priesthood again, however. It was completely off my radar. When I thought about it, if I thought about it at all, I simply brushed off the idea as something I had once wanted to do in my childhood just like I once wanted to be a police officer or an astronomer. As I started at Sinclair Community College in Dayton my plan was to pursue a degree in Political Science and do Air Force ROTC. When I began my second quarter at Sinclair, however, I began to question my life plan. I felt lost and unsure of myself. I wasn’t sure where I was going and why. I didn’t want to just go through the motions.

It was at this point that I began considering the priesthood again. The first thing I did was talk to my dad and he got me in touch with a few priests. Over the next couple months I began praying a lot before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and talking to priests about the priesthood and seminary. When I felt like the Lord was calling me to take the next step I talked with my pastor and Fr. Schnippel and began the application process.

Now I am here, at the Pontifical College Josephinum and loving it. I am in my first year here and it is a great place for a man to discern his vocation. The environment and fraternity is great. Our rector, faculty, and staff are amazing. The most beautiful thing is having the beauty and the fullness of the Church all around you especially in the Blessed Sacrament. I feel like I have really grown as a man here in all areas. The grace of God is really what has kept me here. There have been a lot of challenges and I’m still not 100% sure I am called to the priesthood, but that is ok because the seminary is the best place for a man to discern his vocation and become a better Catholic man.

Can you name a time in your life when you’ve truly felt like you’ve had an encounter with Jesus Christ? What were you doing at the time? What were you feeling or thinking? How have you been able to carry that experience with you along your journey in life?

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