Category: Vocation Stories

“Immaculate Mary, thy praises we sing”.  Why do we sing your praises, O Blessed Virgin Mary?  Because God chose you for a special purpose and you lived your life for that meaning and purpose and if we all stop and think about it: we are Eternally Grateful that you did.  For the life we give thanks for each day as Christians is one we have because you brought the Saviour of the World into the world.

That is something we are truly mindful of during Advent when we prepare to welcome your Son, our Lord more deeply into our hearts and souls, just as He was welcomed by the faithful into the world more than 2,000 years ago.  Each year, we give glory and praise to God for so many, but Blessed Mother, we thank you most especially for your “yes” to God.

Even before that “yes”, God who knew Our Lady’s heart and soul prepared her for her life with the special gift of her own Immaculate Conception.  Sometimes these special moments of God’s involvement in the lives of His loved ones go amiss.  Many people don’t stop to really reflect on what the meaning of Mary’s Immaculate Conception might have to do with them.  Mary being born without Original Sin isn’t something to pass over unreflected.  She may have been given this very special grace as a special servant of the Lord to help “re-create” humanity, but whether with Original Sin or not, Mary had choices, the same choices we have in our lives.  She could have sinned, but did not.  In our first reading, we hear of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Eve too was conceived and was without Original Sin.  In fact, it was God’s desire everyone be without it.  Eve (and Adam) made choices that impacted everyone us.  So too did Mary (and her Son our Lord) make choices that impact us all!  And here we are: that through their lives and the Divine Gift of their lives: we are and can be redeemed, that we can be without Original Sin too.  We may not be immaculately conceived, but because of Our Lord and Our Lady, we can be without that Original Sin and restored in that grace every time we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  And hence, we can spend our lives being reconciled and redeemed and get on with living as God calls us to as well.

Mary’s life was not determined for her, as though she did not have choices.  God who knew her future as He knows ours, gave her this gift because He also knew this blessed woman would come to know and love Him more than anything else and would choose day by day to respond to that love, embody it and share it with everyone.  Simple as she was, she lived according to the meaning and purpose of her life as we are called to live ours.

There are skeptics out there about just how or why Our Lady was Immaculately Conceived, about whether or not she had total and complete freedom to say yes or no to what was in store for her in this life: but I am not one of them.  I have a very human view of Our Lady: she is not a Divine Person, but a human one!  She is a model for me in so many ways having managed to get as close to the Lord our God as any one person on this earth ever could.  She was chosen, but so are we!

Mary, our Mother is also the Mother of Vocations; because she is the greatest example of anyone living for the meaning and for the purpose God gave her and in doing so, without power or might changed the world forever.  When I stop and think about it: so too has God created you and I with a meaning and purpose.  He has called us to live for Him, love Him and embody that love and give it away for the world.  We may not have been immaculately conceived, but that’s also because we are not given Mary’s vocation, we are given ours.  We have been given the grace to do that.  We are equipped for whatever we are called to do for the Lord and like Our Lady, need to be generous in doing it and joyous in praising God for what He has called us to do.

Last Friday I celebrated the opening School Masses for Fr. Michael Goetz CSS in Mississauga.  The chaplaincy leader, Mr. Ray Frendo invited me to come out to the school at the beginning of the summer this year.  The first things I was impressed with was all the students from the school walking across the street to Cristo Rei Church where both Masses were celebrated; a powerful sign of the important relationship between the parish and school community.

This was an especially joyful experience for me, as I was able to reflect on the very appropriate readings of the day (especially the Gospel… “pray to the Lord of the harvest…”) but also to connect this not only in a reflective way but personal and concrete way to the lives of the students of that school.  Fr. Michael Goetz is the alma mater of a couple of our seminarians, Shawn D’Souza and Sean Jacob.

Shawn D’Souza is on his Pastoral Year at St. Edward the Confessor in North York and is doing well there.  He is in a very important year of his formation where he will spend the year working in a parish, mentored by his pastor, Fr. Pat O’Dea (a former Vocation Director) and “learning the ropes”.  This is so important a year, that seminarians often determine whether they will continue or not on this internship year with Lord.  I know I did.

Shawn is a fine young man who has many gifts and talents and whom I had the pleasure to get to know well when he worked for me as my Seminarian Assistant in the Office of Vocations a few summers ago.  He worked very hard that summer to help shape our new Vocations Office and develop so many things within.  He is a joyful young man, very social, very engaging and down-to-earth; these gifts and talents are what he now puts to good use with the people at St. Edward’s.

Sean Jacob is in the Propaedeutic Year of his seminary formation; a year dedicated to prayer, spiritual life development, reflection and understanding of our Catholic Christian faith in a deeper way.  I shared with the students a few of my own thoughts as well as to speak about Sean.  He is younger than Shawn D’Souza so some of the older students remember him still.  He was also an altar server and known to some of the students who also serve Holy Mass at Cristo Rei (where Sean’s family also attend).  To know Sean is also to know a very joyful, engaging and lively young man.  I first knew Sean when we hired him as a Totus Tuus missionary a few years ago.  His summer of evangelizing helped him to begin (or continue really) to discern what the Lord might be calling to: he entered seminary to discern whether that might be the priesthood.

I humbly admitted to students that Sean has taught me a lot about what young people are “into” these days which helps keep me in the know and this is something that should be important to priests as we preach and hope to evangelize the culture.  It’s an important thing that we try to understand the culture we live in, and I really appreciate that many of our seminarians, especially both these young men who have helped me in this way.

So as not to put any pressure on them (every seminarian should have the freedom and peace of mind to know that) good discernment doesn’t mean ordination…it means leaving seminary as a priest, or knowing you’re not called to be one.  It was great to be with a school and parish community that is seeing a number of young people, men and women discerning the Lord’s calling for them in their lives.  When I tweeted out my presence at the school, I also came to discover several former Totus Tuus missionaries had attended Fr. Michael Goetz.  One is teaching at the school, one is part of the amazing Re:Generation team in the archdiocese; even Mr. Frendo himself is in formation and a year away from ordination to the Permanent Diaconate.

I share my experience of an awesome morning at Fr. Michael GoetzCSS/Cristo Rei because I think’s it’s vitally important for all people to know that our Catholic Schools are important and there are many vocations in these places.  As a priest who works with so many other people to continue building and re-building a culture of vocations within the Archdiocese of Toronto; I recognize how important it is for us all to support these schools.

This is the vocation story of Matthew McCarthy, who is in his fourth year of theology studies at St. Augustine’s Seminary.  Matthew will be ordained a Transitional Deacon at Our Lady of the Airways Parish in Malton this coming Saturday December 17 by Cardinal Collins.  We look forward to Matthew serving as a priest in the Archdiocese of Toronto in May of next year.

The story of how the Lord called me to the priesthood is not something I would consider extraordinary.  God never communicated his will to me through external means – I received no dream, or visit from an angel who commissioned me to go forth and serve God as a priest.  Nor did I receive a divine message through more familiar means, such as a phone call or text message.  Rather, the Lord let me know his plans through quieter, more interior ways: through prayer and a deep sense of peace and joy I experience whenever I see myself serving him as a priest.

I was born into a fairly devout Catholic family.  We went to Mass every Sunday, and during the week whenever we could make it.  From the second grade until the middle of high school I was an altar server at St. John Fisher parish in Brampton.  Some of my fondest memories of altar serving were the times when my parish priest, Fr. Aflred Grima, would chat with me in the sacristy before Mass began.  He and I were committed Leaf fans, and so our conversations often included a commentary on the latest hockey game.  But before we began to talk hockey, the first question he would always ask me as he walked into the sacristy was: “So, how is my future priest?” I would always answer with a smile and a shrug.  To be honest, the question never really meant much to me at the time, being only about eight or nine years old.

Even throughout my teen and early adult years, I never seriously considered the priesthood.  I had my sights set on a career in sports.  I grew up playing competitive hockey, baseball, and basketball and it was my dream to make it to the pros in one of those sports.  If that didn’t happen (and it didn’t), I wanted to commit myself to studying sports.  And so, after finishing high school, I entered the kinesiology and health science program at York University with the intention of becoming a physiotherapist or the trainer of a sports team.

It was at this time that I also joined the Catholic Chaplaincy at York and attended the Masses they offered, as well as their other social functions.  It was here, for the first time, that I began to wonder if the Lord was perhaps asking me to consider the priesthood.  The two chaplains at the time, Frs. Allan MacDonald and Roger Vandennaker CC were very helpful in opening my eyes to the beauty of this particular vocation.  Also, for the first time, I met two seminarians at the chaplaincy, who were studying to be priests for the Companions of the Cross (a society of priests based in Ottawa).  Prior to this, I had not known anyone who was going through the process of seminarian formation. They, like me, were young men and we shared a lot of the same interests.  So they, too, helped me realize that that God often calls ordinary men (like me!) to the priesthood.

Over my years of study at university, I noticed that, while thoughts about becoming a trainer or physiotherapist appealed to me, the excitement didn’t last very long.  I would often find myself trying to work up and sustain an enthusiasm for the career.  Now, there are things about being a trainer and therapist that still interest me today.  However, when I see myself serving God as a priest, I feel a profound and lasting sense of peace and joy.  The best way I can describe it is: through prayer and reflection over a period of about 2 to 3 years, I’ve become confident that this is where the Lord is leading me to use my gifts and my talents.

Looking back, I can see that now that Fr. Grima’s question to me as a young altar server of 8 or 9 years old was a seed that was planted in my heart by the Lord.  And over the next 20 years, he slowly watered it and cultivated it, until I made the decision to join the seminary in my final year of university.  If anything, my vocation story shows that the Lord often doesn’t reveal his plans in fantastic and extraordinary ways, but chooses rather to work gently in the depths of one’s heart.  Today, seven years after making the decision to join the seminary, the Lord has continued to strengthen my conviction to serve him as a priest, and I humbly and gratefully speak as a man who will be ordained to the priesthood in a few short months.  So I ask you to continue praying for me and the other men in my year who are making final preparations for ordination – that we may be loving and faithful priests, serving the Archdioceses of Toronto.

 My Greatest Joy of Discernment: Discovering God’s Grace in Unlikely Places

We all have areas of our lives that we wish were different.  Like a piece of cracked pottery, each of us is broken and chipped in certain ways.  Perhaps one of the greatest joys of the discernment process for me is discovering how the Lord has worked in these particular areas of my life, and helped me to realize that, even in these very areas, there exists a value and strength that I had not recognized or considered.

I recently heard a preacher speak about the art of Kintsugi, which is a Japanese method of repairing broken pottery.  The preacher used it as an analogy as way of illustrating how God can use each one of us despite the parts of our lives that seem broken or embarrassing.  According to the philosophy of this art, the damages and repairs sustained by a broken clay vessel are considered part of its beauty, rather than unsightly flaws.  When a piece of a clay vessel chips off, a Kintsugi potter will meld the two pieces together using a mixture of powdered gold, silver, or platinum.  By using these types of precious metals, the potter gives the once-broken vessel an added brilliance and value.  Furthermore, because of the materials and technique used in the process, the clay vessel is even stronger and more resistant to damage than it had once been before. 

This is how the grace of God operates when I allow it to permeate every aspect of my life! There are many days when I look at the broken and seemingly awkward areas of life and feel discouraged.  During these times, I’ll often hear words in my heart such as: Who am I kidding? I’ve got no place in God’s plan.  I’m too weak. “These” areas of my life are definitely going to get in the way of God’s plan for me.  The reality is, however, every aspect of my life, good or bad, can pose a challenge to God if I don’t allow his grace to touch it.  But when his grace does touch these areas, he is capable of drawing from them a brilliance and a value that I had never noticed before.  But this realization almost always occurs in the context of reflection and prayer – and this is the beauty of discernment.  It is the process by which I, in the context of silence and prayer, allow the Lord to pour his grace on all areas of my life and evermore discover how he can use even my deepest cracks and faults to reflect his glory.

It was a great blessing to have been able to celebrate a momentous anniversary in the Eternal City; Rome. On October 15, the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, I celebrate my anniversary of ordination – not priesthood but the Transitional Diaconate, the occasion I received the Sacrament of Holy Orders for the first time. I celebrate this day because although I prepared myself for the life-changing event of entering the clerical state. It was when I became Rev. Mr. Lemieux that everything I had prepared for became very, very real.

I was ordained a deacon at St. Gertrude’s Catholic Parish in Oshawa. It was October 15, 2011 (five years ago). Although I was given a choice of the parish I worshipped before entering seminary, I chose St. Gertrude’s because this was the parish I served in on my internship year, where I learned to truly be a servant of the People of God. My vocation was strengthened, my resolve that God was calling me to the Holy Priesthood was made firm here by the love of the people. I have been blessed with love from the people I worship with, and it was the love of my brothers and sisters in Christ that helped me consider priesthood in the first place. Throughout my adult life, by the grace of an open ear [God’s gift to me before I had faith] I found faith with the help of my best friend’s sister, I found my calling to priesthood through many people I journeyed with in RCIA and I was affirmed in love at a school Christmas pageant where the teachers, the parents, the children – the parish community affirmed me in love, and I felt a great and deep love for all those whom I had served for a short time really.

I was back in seminary and beginning my last year of theology when I was ordained a deacon. I had a retreat to make as well to help spiritually prepare me for ordination. The People of God, the people of the parish came together and planned so many things and made it one of the most beautiful moments, experiences I had in my entire life. I was overwhelmed with tears of joy when I lay prostrate on the ground in the position of humility submitting myself as the saints of the Church prayed over me; the Litany of the Saints. I had asked that each of the Holy Canadian Martyrs, John Paul II, Andre Bessette and Teresa of Avila (whom I only really got to know before my ordination) pray for me. I also knew that the faithful people of God were praying for me and it began to dawn on me that I had (have) a lot to live up to and do with my life for the people who have shared their abundance of faith with me.

One of the parishioners whom I had come to know well on my internship year, spoke with Cardinal Collins (who ordained me) after the ordination. He told the Cardinal that he had been one of the founding members of the parish in the late 1950’s and felt like Simeon. He said that he had witnessed every other sacrament and on that day, an ordination. Again, this beautiful moment Archbishop Collins shared with me spoke to me of the importance of my ordination. Although it was a special moment in my life, it was ultimately and importantly for others as my priesthood is too.

I am blessed as Director of Vocations to have the opportunity to visit the parishes of the archdiocese. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to return several times as a deacon and as a priest to St. Gertrude’s. The love is still there, as it is at every parish I have served at. I am ordained not for myself, but for Christ and to bring our Lord Jesus to His people. I am reminded of this by way of my anniversary. I am reminded of how important this date is too. Before I was a priest I was a deacon and the role of the deacon most clearly and distinctly is to serve. I am ordained to serve, not to be served. I find myself very often as a priest being served because the People of God love their priests but I must never take that for granted. It is a desire to honour the priesthood and not because I deserve it and not because I have earned a higher place. I share this short reflection as my brothers in Christ, our Toronto men who are men of deep love and humility are preparing in these coming days and weeks to be ordained to the Transitional Diaconate. May God continue to bless them and the people they will love and tirelessly serve by their ministries.

Our lives have meaning and purpose, and while some of us make manage to make sense of it all without the help of God, most of us need that help and all of us benefit from knowing God and how He has called us out of the darkness of confusion into the light of meaning and purpose.  This is the discovery of what a vocation is and this is what we celebrate today in Word.  Samuel anoints Saul; affirms in him God’s call for him.  We hear of Jesus’ invitation “out of blue” of a notorious figure in Matthew.

In vocation work, I have more than one person who has told me that St. Matthew’s call story is a powerful one for them; that a man who was so notorious could be chosen not only for a mission to be a disciple like everyone else, but an Apostle, to be a leader of the Church of Jesus Christ.  Many of us feel like great sinners and that the weaknesses and failings we exhibit could keep us from greatness as Christians.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Saints are reformed sinners, every one of us.  Whether we’re called to be a married man or woman, priest or religious, we are all reformed sinners still in the process of reforming and hopefully being restored in an on-going way through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

What is so amazing to me about Matthew’s call we hear today is how it truly speaks to a very real human experience.  Matthew is making money; as a tax collector he surely has money in his pocket, and even though he is despised, he has a certain amount of power and influence and probably could cruise through life with “friends” or people who pretend to be his friends at least.  But has he found his meaning and purpose?  Could he be happy?

Although we can only ever speculate, I would assert that he could be content.  He has money and more than others living in Galilee and Jerusalem, he could afford things.  We know he had a place to have Jesus in for supper.  He may have to sell himself a little but he surely had people who could do things for him, or whom he could do things for – these might be ‘friends’ in a manner of speaking.  On his own, he got himself a job – but to find his true meaning and purpose, that which he gave his entire and the rest of his life for; He only managed to find through faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus Himself invited him to this, and when he accepted his life was forever changed.  He lived for something, which he completely lived for (and died for).

What about us?  Can we see ourselves in St. Matthew?  Can we see a similar pattern in our lives?  I know I can and did.  Like St. Matthew (maybe a lot older than he was), I had Jesus come and invite me to “follow Him” and I did, followed Him into priesthood; and although my life continues to have challenges, struggles, hardships at times – it is filled with joy and through priesthood I have found my meaning and purpose and I am fully committed to it.  Most priests and religious are.  Something to consider on this day we remember the calling of St. Matthew.

St. Charles Borromeo was born with all the advantages in life.  He had everything, came from nobility and was given a good education and even his vocation seemed to have been handed to him in a manner of speaking. He was made a Cardinal before he was ordained (at the age of 22) then ordained a priest at 24 and made a bishop a couple of months later. St. Charles held high positions in the Catholic Church and was the Archbishop of Milan.  He could have taken full advantage of the privilege and position which had been handed to him, but instead he chose to be holy and to allow God to guide Him along the path of life and he is not remembered for the great wealth or power or influence he had in this world, that which he had been given by his bloodline.  St. Charles is remembered for what he did to make the Church better to the Glory of God!

He worked hard to build better seminaries, holier places for new priests to be trained. He worked hard to help keep people on the right path and was a major player with St. Ignatius Loyola and others in what was known as the Counter-Reformation.  I can well imagine his life was an important part of this.  The Reformation saw many wanting to leave the Church and form another community, often because they saw the corruption of its members, especially its leaders.  We see that in our time too, because many people have given up on the Church because all they can see is the smudge that entitled clergy and the mistakes and bad example on the part of Christians.  But St. Charles showed the people, as we have to be open to see past all of that, to the Church Jesus founded and used frail, weak human beings to lead.  God chooses weak humanity to help each other find the salvation Jesus offered, and we have to see past that.  St. Charles among other people have helped us in great ways.