I had so many fears about becoming a priest. 

What if I get lonely…

What if I don’t fit the “mold” (whatever that means) of being a priest…

What if I am not holy enough…

What if I am not effective…

You get the idea. What I have discovered in my first 100 days as a priest is that none of these fears have been realized. Instead, I have found that being a priest is even better than I thought it would be. 

One of the reasons for this is that no day is the same and no day is boring. Take, for example, yesterday:

6:00 am: Wake up, drink coffee, pray, and get ready for the day

8:00 am: Celebrate daily Mass

9:00 am: Go to our school, lead a game, and give a talk on happiness

11:00 am: Visit a homebound parishioner, hear her confession, and give her Communion

11:30 am: Pick up Raising Canes for an eighth grader because he beat me in a game and a promise is a promise

1:00 pm: Have a meeting with a young adult about starting a young adult ministry

3:00 pm: Go to the parish office and call a family to prepare for a funeral

4:00 pm: Pray and take a glorious nap

6:00 pm: Attend an Edge core team meeting

7:30 pm: Meet a young adult for drinks at a local restaurant

9:00 pm: Share a debrief of the day with the pastor and another priest on our patio

10:00 pm: Pray and go to bed

 

I would say this is not a special day, but a typical day at my parish. 

But it’s more than just being busy. There is nothing more fulfilling than hitting my pillow each night — tired, yes, but sure that this is where God wants me to be. My prayer each night is that I do the words of 1 Chronicles:

“In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things.” (1 Chronicles 29:17)

During my first weekend at my new parish, I made two promises to the parishioners. One: I promised to be a joyful and prayerful priest. Two: I promised to spend time with them and eat their free food as much as possible.

Please pray for me that I will stay true to those promises. Honestly, I can not imagine a better life than that of a priest. It is not always easy, but it is always satisfying.

I am reminded of these words by Saint John Paul II:

“It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.”

I am convinced that happiness can be found at the intersection of knowing that you have a purpose and knowing that you are unconditionally loved. It makes sense, then, that God’s plan for our lives will always make us the most happy. I wish I had listened to my own words as I was preparing for the priesthood!

Here’s the best part: this happiness is available not just to some people; it’s available to everyone who follows Jesus.

So, do not be afraid! The Lord desires greatness for you.