Somewhere in your school there is another guy who has had the same thought and told nobody. Neither of you is strange. Neither of you is committing to anything by wondering. That is what we are here for.
Most men never ask the question at all.
Not because the answer frightens them. Because nobody ever told them it was theirs to ask, and there was no one in the room who would take it seriously if they did.Why we exist
Maybe you are not sure it is real. Maybe you figure it would sound strange said aloud. Maybe there is simply nobody to say it to, and so it sits there, year after year, unexamined.
Ecce Vocatio exists for that guy. Not to answer the question, because that is not ours to answer. To make sure it can be asked at all, and that somebody takes it seriously when it is.
The work is unglamorous and it is real. Prayer. Encouragement. Formation. Retreats. An introduction to the men whose actual job this is. And the steady company of someone who does not need you to decide anything today.
The path
Every stage belongs to you. Stop at any one of them and you have not failed at anything. Nobody is moving you along, and nobody is keeping score.
You find out the question exists, that plenty of men have asked it before you, and that asking costs you nothing at all.
Most guys never go past this stage. That is not a failure. Considering it honestly and deciding it is not yours is still worth doing.
You find you can mention it without someone pouncing, correcting you, or turning it into an expectation you now have to manage.
This is the stage adults ruin most often. Too much enthusiasm shuts a man down as fast as dismissal does.
Retreats, the sacraments, reading, and the habits of a real prayer life. Good for you either way, whatever you end up choosing.
None of it depends on you still considering priesthood. We would rather form a good layman than pressure a reluctant seminarian.
When you are ready, we introduce you to the diocesan Office of Vocations. Actual discernment starts with them, not with us.
We hold no authority here and want none. Whether a man has a vocation is the Church’s call.
Whichever way it goes. Seminary, we are praying for you. Marriage, we are at the wedding. The friendship does not end when the question gets answered.
Adsum is what a man says when his name is called at ordination. It is also what we intend to be for you, whatever you answer.
Our limits
These matter more than the programme itself. We would rather be held to them in public, by you.
That is between you, your pastor, the Office of Vocations, and the seminary. Never us.
Seminary admission is not ours to offer, and we will not imply otherwise.
Discern a different life and nothing changes. Support continues, nothing is owed back.
This is free discernment. If any part of what we do starts to look otherwise, tell us.
Where this stands
We are not an approved ministry yet. The proposal is with the diocesan Office of Vocations and we are waiting on their guidance before going further.
We are not taking donations. There will be real costs in getting started, and eventually a bursary for a graduating student, but we are not asking for a dollar until we have been told this should proceed.
We are beginning with one school and one student because that is the honest size of what we can do well right now. It is a beginning, not a ceiling.
If it is not approved, we will say so right here.
Stand with us
The most useful thing you can give this today is prayer. If you want to stay close while it takes shape, pick one.
The second is not a pledge and commits you to nothing. We will only write if and when this is approved and ready for support, and you can leave the list at any time.
Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will.