I Want to Be His Priest

Fr. Matthew and the St. Isidore Youth Delegate team represented our parish at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis. In this newsletter series, our youth share reflections on their encounter with Christ in the Eucharist.

One of my favorite moments was on the Saturday of the Congress, the last full day, when we had a Eucharistic procession from the Indiana Convention Center to the Indiana War Memorial roughly 8 blocks away. Most participants packed the sidewalks on both sides of the road for the entire distance to the memorial, all looking to see the King of Kings. Everyone was cheering and showing great excitement for what God was doing.

As a seminarian, I was blessed to be invited to join the procession itself. It was very moving to see the love of the Church for Jesus the Bridegroom from the perspective of someone in the procession, of someone nearing the end of the formation process for priesthood. In that procession, I had a great love for Jesus in the Eucharist, and I also beheld His love for the Church. Likewise, I felt the Church’s love for Jesus and those who minister in the person of Christ (i.e., the priests).

In the formation process for priesthood, the final few years are intended to bring about a configuration, a sort of changing of the whole man, to be more like Jesus. That way, when he gets ordained, he is already a lot like Jesus and the graces of ordination already have a fertile heart to build on. I saw the fruits of that configuration process in my own heart during that procession. I felt immensely close to Christ, and I was reaffirmed in that moment that I want to be His priest.

I felt immensely close to Christ, and I was reaffirmed in that moment that I want to be His priest.

—Aidan, Oakland Diocese seminarian