Discerning the Call
by Jeremy Meuser
MOSAIC, Summer 2007

Sr. Ellen Licavoli, IHM, left, associate vocations director, and Fr. James Bilot, top, vocations director, welcome five men to the four-day Discernment Weekend, March 15-18. Those considering the priesthood are, front, Tim Pruse, Jesus Cervantes and Mitchell Gleason; rear, Kurt McLeod and Timothy Eding.

Fr. James Bilot, outgoing vocations director for the Archdiocese of Detroit, hosted his final Discernment Weekend at Sacred Heart for five men on Thursday, March 15, through Sunday, March 18. The five guests all have something in common: they are friends of someone who has followed the call to the priesthood.

Four of the five guests are friends of current seminarians. The fifth has an inspiring priest in his life prompting his discernment. All were invited by their friends to consider a life serving God and his people as a priest.

"I feel a desire to get close to God," reflected Tim Pruse, a twenty-four-year-old Michigan State University graduate student. Kurt McLeod, nineteen, a St. Clair County Community College student, "got a feeling a few years ago," but it was his pastor's invitation that prompted his visit. Some mentioned responding to the invitation with a little apprehension. Timothy Eding, a twenty-four-year-old graduate student in comparative religion at Western Michigan University, believes in confronting fear head-on. He recently completed an inspiring year of missionary work in China, serving with Maryknoll, a U.S.-based Catholic missionary community.

Through a weekend stay at the seminary, these men were exposed to life as a seminarian through a variety of experiences, talks, social time with seminarians and faculty, and of course, prayer. What did they think?

Mitchell Gleason, twenty, a Ferris State University student, emphatically said, "I'm for sure going into the seminary. I feel a direct calling from God."

The importance of personal invitation cannot be over stated. Consider: perhaps you, too, know someone to invite along the path of priestly discernment? The vocation office is happy to answer any questions you or he may have. Call (313) 237-5875. The next Discernment Weekend at Sacred Heart is May 11-12.