Young men hear about priestly vocation at Serra Club luncheon

Discerning God’s will for a person’s life can be confusing, but having a clear picture of what a vocation entails can help.

A luncheon hosted by the Serra Club of North Columbus on Nov. 7 aimed to help young men in the Diocese of Columbus to understand what a vocation to the priesthood could look like.

Serra Clubs, named after St. Junipero Serra, support and encourage priests and religious sisters, as well as young men and women who are considering vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life.

“We want to give you an opportunity to know a little bit more about our faith and a little bit more about what it is to be a priest,” Tom Rhatican, president of the Serra Club of North Columbus, told young men attending the luncheon.

Middle and high school students shared a meal with seminarians studying for the priesthood in the diocese; heard discernment tips from Father William Hahn, the diocesan director of vocations; and listened to Father Kyle Tennant, chaplain of Columbus Bishop Ready High School and parochial vicar at Columbus St. Cecilia Church, speak about his path to the priesthood.

After the luncheon, which was held at the Pontifical College Josephinum, seminarians led the young men on a tour of the facility.

Chaplains at diocesan Catholic high schools were present, including Father Paul Noble from Columbus Bishop Watterson High School and Father Anthony Essien from Columbus Bishop Hartley High School, as well as Dr. Adam Dufault, superintendent of Catholic schools for the diocese.

Father Jeff Rimelspach, chaplain of the Serra Club of North Columbus and pastor of Columbus St. Margaret of Cortona Church, offered a blessing.

Students were present from several diocesan Catholic schools, as well as homeschools. 

“I wanted to come to the Serra Club luncheon because I think it’s a great way to expand on my faith and grow closer to God,” said Sam Giglio, an eighth-grader at Westerville St. Paul the Apostle School. “I think that’s mainly why I want to be here today.”

Giglio said he has considered the priesthood but is not certain if that is where God is calling him. Spending time with seminarians and hearing from priests at the Serra Club luncheon could be helpful in knowing how to take the next step.

“I think it’ll let me look in closer to what I should be doing, what I can do,” he said. “So, I think it would help me a lot and understand what I would do if I was a priest and going into the priesthood.”

Anthony Maurer, a student at Bishop Ready, said he came to the luncheon to learn more about the priesthood. 

“It’s still a little bit confusing, but I know a good amount of it, just like how long it is and what it takes to go through it because I’ve gone on many retreats and stuff here (at the Josephinum) before and learned a lot about it,” he said.

“(The luncheon) might just show like another side that I haven’t seen maybe or just help me, help teach me a little bit more about different experiences and how it might appeal to me.”

Loren Williams, a student at Columbus Trinity Catholic Elementary School, agreed that the luncheon could help to “learn more about the priesthood and what it can include for us and see if that’s an option for us young Catholic men down the road in our lives.”

Williams said he has considered a vocation to the priesthood.

“I’ve definitely thought about it, and I hope to learn more about it when you listen to the priests and the people here at the Josephinum talk about what it is and what they do,” he said.

“It might help me think about what they do, what sacrifices I might have to make later in life but what joy it could bring me and how it can help other people.”

Choosing a vocation that brings joy and involves service to others was a theme of Father Tennant’s vocation story.

Father Tennant said when he was in sixth grade he began to worry about what he was going to do in the future. He tried to figure out his future career and what God had planned for him.

“Eventually, it occurred to me that if God made me and God loves me, then if I figure out what He wants me to do with my life, then that’ll be the happiest that I could possibly be,” he said. 

“If I figured out what God made me for, then that’s as happy as I could possibly be in this life because I’m using the gifts that He has given me for the service of those around me.”

Father Tennant, who is from Scioto County in southern Ohio, visited the Josephinum in high school. He attended live-in retreats, in which he spent a few days on campus, attending classes and spending time with seminarians to “get a taste” of seminary life.

“Seminary is really about discerning and trying to pray and figure out, ‘Is this what God wants me to do?’” he said. “And some guys come to seminary, and they find out, ‘no,’ and that’s fantastic because they’re giving it a shot, and they’re putting themselves in God’s hands and saying, ‘Look, just show me what You have in store for me, and I’m willing to say, ‘yes.’”

After high school, Father Tennant attended the University of Notre Dame, which, he said, was his “dream school.” He studied mechanical engineering, but he continued to contemplate the priesthood and the possibility of attending seminary after college.

Father Tennant worked in Chicago as an information technology consultant after graduation. He believes God opened a path for him, he said, that He wanted him to follow.

“Sometimes God’s will for us becomes apparent through the things that He either makes available or the things He kind of takes away,” Father Tennant said. 

He said he enjoyed the Windy City, but his favorite parts of the week were spent at church, helping with the youth group and teaching Sunday school.

Shortly after meeting with a friend from college who was a priest, Father Tennant applied for seminary. It was as if a “fire was lit,” he said, after submitting his application.

As a priest, he knew he would have to make sacrifices, but in sacrificing he would also find joy, he said.

“A lot of people will be like, ‘Oh, you have to give up women?’ No, you give up one woman. You give up the woman you’re going to marry. That’s it. That’s the only woman that you sacrifice.

“But what you gain as a priest is being a part of so many different families and being able to impact and be a spiritual father to so many different people and help in so many amazing ways that you can’t even begin to imagine sitting where you are right now.”

As chaplain at Bishop Ready, Father Tennant said it is a joy to be around students.

In living out a person’s vocation, not every day will be amazing, he said, and some days will be frustrating. Difficult situations will occur, but even those times are good, he said, because he is doing God’s will.

“It’s worth thinking about what did God make you for because if you start trying to be a hammer when you’re actually a plate, something’s gonna feel off,” he said.

Father Tennant recalled the words proclaimed at Mass during the transition from the Liturgy of the Word to the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

“That’s what your vocation is about,” he said. “That’s what God has made you for: for the praise and glory of His name, for your good as an individual but also for the good of all His holy Church.

“God has given each one of us a set of skills that He intends us to put to use for the good of our brothers and sisters, and the real secret about vocations is, when you figure out what yours is, whether that’s as a married man, as a priest, as a religious brother, … whatever it is, you’re doing exactly what’s going to make you, as a person, the most fulfilled you can possibly be this side of heaven.”

Father Hahn offered ways for young men to actively discern. He encouraged students to grow in relationship with the Lord and spend time with others who are discerning, such as seminarians, and priests to get a concrete picture of the priesthood.

Father Hahn told the young men it is important that they attune their ear to God’s voice. 

He suggested reading the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to learn God’s language and how He speaks. By becoming familiar with God’s Word in the Scriptures, which is absolute truth, Father Hahn said, young men can recognize God’s voice speaking to their heart.

He also encouraged young men to spend time with seminarians, so they can understand seminary life and the priesthood. Juniors and seniors in high school can participate in a come-and-see weekend at the Josephinum, he said.

Young men can also participate in diocesan Andrew Dinners, which are hosted by Bishop Earl Fernandes, with seminarians and priests, he said, as well as the Melchizedek Project throughout the diocese for young men in high school to learn about the priesthood and discuss how they hear God’s voice.

Altar serving is another way for young men to discern, Father Hahn said, as it combines time spent listening to the Lord’s voice and time with priests.