The road to full-time religious vocation starts with a willingness to engage in a relationship with God and follow his direction The question is often wrongly worded: Why did you decide to pursue a religious vocation? This question assumes decisions and actions solely of a human nature— and misses the divine prompting. God chooses, God calls and people who are attuned to his voice hear the message. Their choice is how to respond.
“If you don’t let the allures of the world get in the way of trying to become holy, you can ask this very scary question: God, what do you want me to do?” Rev. Jay Horning said. “You put that in his hands, and it can be scary. If you really mean it, you could become Catholic and end up becoming a priest.” Fr. Horning (BS ’10) references his own faith journey. When he enrolled at the University of Saint Francis, he wasn’t a regular churchgoer, let alone a Catholic. But along the way he converted to Catholicism, earned a degree in psychology and answered the call to the priesthood and his life’s vocation. He is a parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Church and co-chaplain at Bishop Dwenger High School. “Something that’s cool about the mystery of God is the way he works gently with us sometimes, and sometimes pushes us hard,” Fr. Horning said. “It’s interesting to see how he uses things we can be drawn to or motivated by to get us to a certain place and how it all changes our lives.”
6
saint francis magazine | fall 2020
