Fr. Mark Goring: Our Lord Jesus tells the rich young man, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” So my question is, what advice do you have for a young man who is discerning the priesthood?
Bishop Athanasius Schneider: When you feel in your heart the call of the Lord to follow Him, be not afraid. Follow and trust in the Lord, and be ready, as the apostles were, to leave all things and follow Christ. This is truly a grace of God, an extraordinary call to follow Him closely, to leave the world, riches, and family completely.
It is beautiful for a young man who feels the call to the priesthood to have the desire to belong completely and exclusively to the Lord. Twenty-four hours a day, I belong to the Lord, not to myself, but to the Lord. Therefore, I am completely at His disposal and am renouncing even marriage and family life to be entirely at the service of the Lord for the salvation of souls.
A vocation to the priesthood must have these basic elements: to be completely for the Lord, for Jesus, at every hour, and to desire the salvation of immortal souls. This is love. Without love, you cannot live your vocation. It must be rooted in deep personal love for the Lord and a burning love for your neighbor in the sense of desiring the salvation of his soul for eternity.
So, my dear young man, when you feel the vocation to the priesthood, remember, a priest is a man of eternity.