Serra Club Vocations Essay
Student comes to greater understanding of his vocation during retreat
By Albert Hudepohl (Special to The Criterion)
The question of my vocation has been something I have pondered frequently for as long as I can remember.
As a child, I grew up with many exceptionally inspiring role models. But as a boy, the male leaders in my life took center stage: my father and the priests from my home parish. As an impressionable child, I wanted to model myself after these figures. I soon realized, however, that I couldn’t be both a father and a priest.
My vocation, as I wanted it, not necessarily how God wanted it, would shift frequently throughout my teenage years. It wasn’t until my junior year in high school during a retreat that my understanding of vocations would be forever changed.
Through my school’s youth group, a few friends and I were invited to attend Ignition, a retreat at a seminary for young men in Cheshire, Conn. Because this retreat took place at a seminary, I spent nearly the whole weekend surrounded by excellent seminarians and priests, once again provoking my thoughts of discernment toward the priesthood.
However, my thoughts went back to my girlfriend at home. I felt a great conflict inside, but I refused to confront it. This feeling persisted as the retreat continued until we finally reached its last night. It was New Year’s Eve, and we were ringing in the new year with eucharistic adoration.
Once again, I was confronted with the thought of my vocation. But instead of running from it as I had before, I chose to face it. I let my mind fall completely still, and within my thoughts and prayers, I asked God, “What do you want me to do? Be married or become a priest?”
The moment I asked this question, I was presented with a vivid image of our Lord’s crucifixion in my mind. I asked God what he wanted me to do with my life, and he showed me his Son giving up his life on the cross, the ultimate symbol of love. Christ wants me to live a life of self-sacrificial love and die to myself for others.
Something that stuck out to me about this experience was a sense of urgency in Christ’s message to me. When I asked him what I should be, what I meant was what should I be 10 years from now. Christ corrected me by saying my vocation is something I should be living now, not later.
My vocation is not a destination years down the road. Instead, it is how God is calling me to live my life today, and he wants me to love: my vocation is love.
Understanding the concept of a vocation in this manner has brought me much peace when contemplating my future. I now understand that if I live my life allowing Christ to penetrate my days and permeate my choices and decisions while also maintaining a life of self-sacrificial love, I will end up exactly where he wants me to be.
(Albert Hudepohl and his parents, Andy and Angie Hudepohl, are members of St. Nicholas Parish in Ripley County. He recently graduated from the Oldenburg Academy of the Immaculate Conception in Oldenburg and is the 12th-grade division winner in the Indianapolis Serra Club’s 2025 John D. Kelley Vocations Essay Contest.) †