My Next Step

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It is with great peace and joy that I announce to the Mir Movement community my next step:

On January 1, 2010 (which is World Day of Peace, interestingly enough), I will enter the Capuchin-Franciscan Order to begin discerning my call to religious and priestly life.

Given that I am wholeheartedly supported in this decision by the Capuchin Vocation Director (see Letter from Vocation Director) as well as my spiritual director (also see Letter from Spiritual Director), family, friends and wider faith community, I can't help but feel very assured that this is the direction in which I must now turn my peacemaking efforts.

I do, however, have one, big problem in regards to this decision. And I am asking (no, begging) your help to overcome this potential obstacle to my discernment.

Allow me to explain:

It was during this past Lent that - following 6 years' of intense struggle over the decision to enter the seminary or not -I suddenly found myself at great peace with the idea of living a priestly (and religious) life.

Despite the unmistakable peace surrounding this idea, however, I knew (or I thought I knew) that discerning a vocation in the foreseeable future was impossible for one very simple reason: I have personal debt and one must be debt-free to enter the seminary.

The debt issue not withstanding, I decided to tell my spiritual director about my newfound peace towards the priesthood the next time we met. My expectation was that he would say, "That's great, Joseph. But let's talk about it when you no longer have any debt." But, to my surprise, he did not instruct me to put discernment on the back burner until my debt was paid off. Instead, he suggested that I contact the Capuchins (the Order that I had previously felt called to discern my vocation with) right away, explain my situation and "just see what happens."

So that's what I did. Two days later, I emailed the Capuchin Vocation Director and explained my scenario. Again, my expectation was that I would receive a reply email saying something to the effect of, "That's great, Joseph. Contact us when your debt is paid off." But, again, that wasn't what the reply said at all. Rather, the email said, "Joseph, we are excited by your news...let's meet next week to discuss how we can make this work."

So that's what we did. Four days later, I met with the Capuchin Vocation Director to discuss "how we [could] make this work." In the end, his advice was simple:

Let's proceed as if the debt is already paid off; we need to trust that if this is a true call from God He will provide whatever is required. You, Joseph, must work as hard as you can to earn the money needed. Further, in the spirit of St. Francis, you must beg for any money you are unable to earn through your own labour. If you do these two things, we can trust that God will make up the difference.

So that's what I have done. In an effort to earn the money, I have already taken on two additional jobs and will continue to take on any odd jobs that come my way (see How you can help - Hire me...).

The problem is: basic math tells me that I will be unable to earn the full amount ($20 000 including both personal and Mir Movement liabilities) by January with my own two hands. If my discernment is to start in the new year, I will need the support of my community. This, then, brings me to Phase 2 of the plan: a little modern day begging.

Specifically, I am asking you, my community, to support my vocation in two ways:

1. Read the letters from my vocation director and spiritual director
2. Take 5 minutes to pray on whether or not you feel moved to support my vocation. If the answer comes back "YES," please continue reading about how you can help...

I thank-you in advance for saying this prayer and listening to what The Spirit has to say about all of this.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me any time.

Sharing Medjugorje and encouraging "peace, peace, peace - and only peace!"