Vocation Testimonies

From Jerry Tavares, seminarian for the Diocese of Peterborough , age 23

Hi! I'm Jerry Tavares, and I'm in my first year of studies toward the priesthood at St. Augustine's Seminary in Toronto.

As some of you may know, there is an NHL lockout this year. No I'm not recruiting people to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but I am here to talk to you about vocations. But let's continue to think of hockey for a second; when a Coach gets ready to plan for the regular season, he wants to make sure he's got a great team. He gets players from all different parts of the world, with different skills and talents on the ice, and it doesn't hurt to find players who can knock a few pucks into the net. The coach is trying to build a winning team, and eventually win the Stanley Cup.

Having said that, think of God as a coach (except He's a lot more powerful), and He's trying to build a Stanley Cup winning team, and to do so He calls people from all different walks of life, each special in their own way. God is building that team, he calls people with skills and talents that can help them win the Divine Stanley Cup, the Heavenly prize! God wants people to be his Shepherds, leaders, and yes… even goal scorers.

Everyone has a vocation! For some, it is to the married life, for others, God calls them to the priesthood, or to be a religious brother or sister. The vocation itself is a divine call, one that comes from God directly. His love for us is so great that he shares His hope with each of us, giving us signals, emotions, feelings, and that famous "call."

Id like to take a few minutes and share with you my 'call.' Growing up I always attended Mass, and was involved in the church, I guess you could call me a cradle Catholic. I always had the idea of the priesthood at the back of my head, but never really thought seriously about it, and when I had those feelings, I'd just try to ignore it, and it would go away. But after leaving home and heading off to University, things became very different. I went through a little bit of a withdrawal from the church- I didn't know of any churches near campus, and I couldn't find anyone on campus to talk to about my faith. I felt God tugging at my heart- it was like he was telling me to start going back to church, and to get involved. So five years ago this February, I decided I was going to go to mass… So determined, I went to the Ash Wednesday mass at the Cathedral; and I don't know if it was the mass, or the homily given by the bishop, or what went on, but I knew I had to do something.

I immediately started looking into getting involved in the church. I didn't know what to do, I was very confused. God has blessed me with the gift of music- I'm an organist- so I started playing the organ at Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Peterborough. I was satisfied with that, but it wasn't enough, I had this constant feeling that God wanted me to do more. So to get my feet wet, I spoke to my pastor, Father Ken Rae, and talked to him about becoming more involved in some of the parish ministry. I started visiting the sick and the shut-ins, with my pastor, helping the youth group in their activities and just offering any help I could. Even that was not enough, I continued to feel that there was more that I was being called to do.

I prayed about it…. A lot! And I spoke about how I felt with Father Ken, and with his guidance I was able to understand that God was calling me to the priesthood. Now hold on just a second here! I wasn't exactly excited about all this. I had always thought that I would fall in love, get married, and have a big family, but God had other plans, and I wasn't so excepting of them. I tried to press the 'mute' button on God, and try to ignore him…. But the more I pressed the mute button, the louder He got. I asked my pastor for some help, and he told to go home, pray, and grab the bible. Meditate on God's call for me, and flip through the pages, stop somewhere and read the passage. So I landed at Luke 10:2 where Jesus says " The harvest is plentiful, but the labourors are few ." Not only is God direct, but He's got a sense of humour too! That made me think a little bit. So, after ignoring God for a little while, I decided to hear His call, and I entered the Seminary.

Its alright to be scared of a call to the religious life or the priesthood. I was scared, I didn't know what to expect. But I have a desire to do God's will, and to serve God in whatever way I can.

God has a calling to each of us , it is Christ who opens the door for you , and its up to you to have the courage to walk through . My suggestion is to ask Christ what he wants you to do with your life. Pray about it. Talk to priests, religious brothers and sisters, seminarians, and if you feel God is calling you, get in touch with Father Norbert, our Vocations Director, and he'll help you with the discernment process.

If you think God is calling you, invite your parish priest out for a coffee, and talk to him about what's happening in your life and how God may be calling you, just make sure he picks up the bill!

Remember, it's a noisy world out there, you have to listen to hear the call! May God Bless you.

From Sister Mary Catherine, religious originally from Peterborough  

My name is Sister Mary Catherine, formerly Anne Perdue, and I am a member of a religious community, the Sisters of Our Lady Immaculate in Cambridge , Ontario .  I was born in Peterborough , raised in Douro and lived there until I entered the Convent at the age of 21.

If some one had told me five years ago that I was going to become a nun I would have laughed or possibly even cried.  I was raised in a good Catholic family, we went to Mass every Sunday, read the Bible and said daily prayers together. Though I was taught the Faith by my parents and at my Catholic schools I did not really believe it for myself.  I went to Church on Sunday because my father said, “You are going to Church!” so I went to Church.  Throughout my teenage years I did my own thing, walking farther and farther away from our Lord.  I carried on this way until grade 10 when I had a religion teacher who not only preached the Catholic Faith but actually lived it.  The words he said seemed to come alive to me and I wanted to have the faith that he had.  Through him I began to understand that God loved me and if God loved me I wanted to love Him back so I began to want to go to Church and want to pray. I started to attend youth groups to learn more about the Catholic Faith and I began to get in contact with other young people who were practising their faith. 

And then I felt it, “The Call”, as it is commonly called.  It wasn't a telephone call and I didn't see the clouds part and hear a voice say to me, “You are to become a nun”, but I began to fall more deeply in love with Jesus Christ and wanted to give my whole self to Him and to belong to Him alone.  I didn't really know what a nun was but I knew it was someone who loved God very much and spent their whole life serving Him and helping souls to get to Heaven.  On the other hand, I thought that God might be calling me to marriage, but it seemed that no young man could fill me heart the way Jesus did.  I wanted to be completely His and to give all my love to Him as a bride gives to her bridegroom. 

So I began to look into different orders and I came across the Sisters of Our Lady Immaculate.  They had everything I wanted in an Order: a strong devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Mother and they were loyal to the Holy Father, and I felt at home when I visited them.  So I entered on September 8 th , 2001 and I have just recently taken my first vows last summer.

I am so grateful for the gift of my religious vocation and encourage all young women to “Come and See” if the Lord may be calling you. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less ravelled by and that has made all the difference.” (Robert Frost) God bless you! 

Sr. Mary Catherine

(December 2004)

From Craig Cruikshank, seminarian for the Diocese of Peterborough , age 24

I feel that I can safely say that we do deserve to have the things we need to follow God's plan for us. So, if I need to have a Bible to do what God wants from me, then I will get one. Likewise, if I need to have a Mercedes Benz in order to do what God wants, then I will get one. However, I may need to ask for these things in order to get them.

We all deserve to have teachers. It's impossible for someone to be able to successfully make it through life without being taught how to relate to others, how read and write or how to take care of their bodies. Most importantly though, we deserve, and need teachers who can guide us in knowing God.

I'm specifically talking about priests. We only live here for so long and then we die hoping to go on to a bigger and better place, but how do we know how to get to heaven without the guidance and services of the priest? How do we know about what's expected from us here unless someone helps us to figure that out? Priests are needed to help teach us about how to follow God's plan for us.

So, if we need more priests, want priests and deserve them, then our first step should be to ask God for priests through prayer.

The next step is to act. Since the making of a priest is everyone's business, here is a challenge for everyone. If you know of someone who has qualities that would make for a good priest, mention it to him. Here, you wouldn't be telling him what to do with his life, but you would certainly be providing him with an option, and if he were secretly considering the priesthood, this would support him in his decision. You should never try and tell someone to be a priest, but there is nothing wrong with presenting the option and making it known that you support priests.

For those of you who are considering the priesthood, I'll leave this challenge. Give it a shot. It truly is foolish to sit and consider the priesthood day after day, month after month, without doing anything about it. The best way to know if the priesthood is for you is to get off the fence and check it out. One of two things will happen, either you will decide to continue, or you will decide that the priesthood is not for you and you can continue life in another direction without regret.

To tell you a bit about myself, I am a seminarian for Peterborough , in my first year at St. Augustine 's seminary in Toronto . I first entered a seminary in New York after high school five years ago after being challenged by a priest in my parish. I left the seminary two years later when it closed down. I then worked for about a year in a call centre in Peterborough . Two years ago I decided to re-enter formation. I spent a year at Serra House, and then moved to St. Augustine 's this fall.

To sum up, vocations should be a concern for everyone; we all deserve and need priests in order to properly grow. If you think that you could be a priest check it out; don't just ignore the idea. For everyone else, watch out for those who might make good priests. If you know of someone who would make a good priest, challenge him to consider the option. At the very least, pray for priests, pray for seminarians, pray for me, and I'll pray for you.”

Craig Cruikshank

(December 2004)