2025 Vocations Awareness Supplement

Happy, holy priests and seminarians encourage men discerning vocations

Seminarians Dominic Pavey, left, and Max Ecoff chat on Oct. 21 at Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary in Indianapolis where they are respectively in their second and first years of priestly formation. Both members of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis, they noted that seeing happy and holy priests and seminarians helped them in their discernment of a possible vocation to the priesthood. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Jennifer Lindberg (Special to The Criterion)

Leading by example is the number-one way current seminarians say is most helpful in assisting men discerning the priesthood, along with being a joyful witness and living a life of prayer.

“It’s difficult for a young man to visualize himself as a priest,” said Father Liam Hosty, parochial vicar for St. Ann Parish in Indianapolis and St. Thomas More Parish in Mooresville. “I think that the joyful witness that seminarians offer is that they can help a discerner to mentally bridge that gap.”

Father Hosty, who was ordained in June, holds quite a distinction. His father is Deacon Thomas Hosty, and they are the first father and son in the history of the archdiocese in ordained ministry.

“While it might be difficult for a young man to see where God will take him 50 years from now, the witness of a seminarian can help a man see where God might be taking him as soon as next year,” Father Hosty said.

Seminarian Max Ecoff, who is in his first year of formation at Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis, said other seminarians helped him with his vocation.

“Seeing some of my friends being open about the vocation and becoming seminarians was extremely helpful in my own discernment,” said Ecoff, a member of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish in Indianapolis.

He said it was also helpful that he was never over-encouraged to be a priest.

“Simply support them and pray for their vocation,” Ecoff said. “What helped me was seeing priests and seminarians who were joyful and excited about their vocation.”

Dominic Pavey, in his second year of formation at Bishop Bruté, echoed this sentiment.

“Young men will see the beauty of the priesthood if they see their pastors filled with joy as they dedicate their lives to saving souls,” said Pavey, also a Holy Rosary parishioner.

Pavey also said his strong parish youth group in his high school years helped him because it was more than “just games and snacks.” It also had adoration, spiritual reading discussion and talks from different priests about vocation and discernment.

“Those times of prayer and discussion and listening were all extremely helpful in my discernment,” he said.

All of the seminarians interviewed said attendance at Bishop Bruté Days— the archdiocese’s annual summer vocations camp for boys in junior high and high school held at Bishop Bruté Seminary—helped make seminary life less mysterious and more realistic as a choice in life.

Seminarian Randy Schnieder said the camp helped in his discernment.

“I was profoundly impacted by the seminarians’ joy and life of prayer,” said Schneider, who received formation at Bishop Bruté Seminary before attending Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad, where he is in his second year of formation.

“But most of all, I found that Bruté Days made seminary a ‘real’ choice for me—one that I could see myself pursuing,” said Schneider, a member of All Saints Parish in Dearborn County. “Seeing just normal guys doing something extraordinary allowed me to see myself doing the same thing.”

These sentiments reflect a 2025 national survey of how men discern the priesthood conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It found that at least 89% of men ordained to the priesthood said they were encouraged by someone in their life—most frequently by a parish priest (60%), friend (52%) or parishioner (42%).

The biggest question a seminarian is always asked is: “How do you know you want to be a priest?”

Lucas LaRosa, in his second year of formation at Saint Meinrad, said he always gives the same answer: “I only know God wants me to be in seminary right now. What happens from here is in God’s hands.”

Answering such questions is important, La Rosa said, because many men think they need to be 100% sure before entering seminary.

“They may be worried once they make the decision to try seminary, they’re stuck with that decision,” said LaRosa, a member of St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis.

Yet, seminary doesn’t force a vocation onto someone. It is a process to see what God wants for you, La Rosa explained.

Pavey said if a man even thinks he may have a vocation, he should actively discern the possibility that God is calling him to the priesthood.

“The reality is that unless God gives a man a direct sign, he will never absolutely be certain of having a vocation to the priesthood until the bishop lays his hands on him and he is ordained,” Pavey said.

There’s also another important distinction for seminarians and priests to explain to men thinking about seminary, Father Hosty said.

He noted that many well-intentioned people encourage men to go to college first, work a few years and then go to seminary.

“My question is this: What other profession do we give that same piece of advice to? If a young man told you he wants to be a medical doctor, would we say, ‘Are you sure? Maybe you should study engineering first, work a few years as an engineer. Then, if you feel like you still want to be a doctor, you can go to medical school?’

“And yet we do exactly that with the sublime gift of the priesthood. It is almost as if we are giving God the leftovers.”

While Father Hosty understands everyone’s discernment journey is different, he said he is glad he became a seminarian immediately after high school and received formation at Bishop Bruté.

“My time at Bruté were some of the best years of my life, and I have absolutely no regrets,” Father Hosty said.

“If you feel like Jesus might be calling you to share in his priesthood, I promise you that question is going to bother you until you talk to a priest about it,” Father Hosty added.

Those interviewed who are in priestly formation also noted it’s important for seminarians to witness by their prayer life and involvement at local parishes.

LaRosa said he still tries to serve at Mass as a witness to vocations or give tours at Saint Meinrad where people can ask him questions.

Schneider said Bruté Days was an “incredible witness of seminary life to me as a high schooler” because it helped him realize at it that seminary was a real choice. Seeing other seminarians work, pray and relate to others allowed him to see himself doing the same thing.

The men also encouraged talking openly about obstacles to the priesthood by acknowledging there are real questions, such as sacrificing your entire life for others, sacrificing marriage, accepting celibacy, doubting one’s abilities as a singer or preacher, and other things a priest is asked to do in his life and ministry.

“It is true we will always be insufficient in our abilities … but that is why we need the Lord to provide the necessary grace to take up our cross and fulfill our mission,” Pavey said.

LaRosa said many men question if they have the right personality to be a priest.

“God isn’t looking for a specific ‘cookie-cutter’ type of priest,” LaRosa said. “He’s looking for all kinds of people to help build his kingdom. … A young man should never write himself off because of what he thinks God is looking for.”

Father Hosty said showing men that priests are happy is important. Parents, he noted, sometimes think their sons may be lonely in the priesthood or even unhappy with such a sacrificial life.

“When someone loves something, they desire to share that with others,” he said. “Priests are able to experience an intimacy with their friend that is beyond words. Who are we to stand in the way of that happiness of our sons?”

In the end, the seminarians and Father Hosty said praying for vocations and for the men discerning is important.

Father Hosty offered a prayer for vocations in the archdiocese that everyone can say each day:

Almighty Father, you have created us for some definite purpose. Grant us the grace to know the path you have planned for us in this life and to respond with a generous ‘Yes.’ Make our archdiocese, parishes, homes and hearts fruitful ground for your gift of vocations. May our young people respond to your call with courage and zeal. Stir among our men a desire and the strength to be good and holy priests. Bless us with the consecrated religious, and those called to a chaste single life, permanent deacons and faithful husbands and wives, who are a sign of Christ’s love for his Church. We commend our prayer for vocations to you, Father, with the intercession of Mary our Mother, in the Holy Spirit, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
 

(Jennifer Lindberg is a member of St. Mary Parish in North Vernon. For more information about a vocation to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, visit HearGodsCall.com.) †