After meeting with all the freshmen in Knott Hall where I’m the rector, I asked why they came to Notre Dame. There were a range of responses, but the most frequently cited for those who were trying to discern between two or three final options last spring was their positive impression of the people they met here during a campus visit.
There are many factors that go into any decision, but while people viewing these blogs may be interested in Holy Cross because of the influence of teachers or pastors or because of an appreciation for our charism, in the end people join people. Whether as a married person or religious, there needs to be the right fit. We don’t live out our commitments as an abstraction but in the day-to-day grist of lived reality.
So there are two fundamental questions in the initial discernment process for someone looking at us. “Do I feel called to a vocation to be a priest or religious?” and if so, “Who do I want to spend the rest of my life living that call out with?”
Students in our educational apostolates have plenty of opportunities to get to know our brothers and priests, but I think if you are edging closer to exploring this life and really want to know whether we’re a fit, it would help to spend some time with our men in formation – whether you’re a student at Notre Dame and can get to Lucenarium on Thursday nights or living elsewhere and can free yourself up for a weekend visit.
Those guys are closer in age and provide a better sense of where we’re heading and are likely to look like ten or twenty years down the road when you might be a rector!
Fr. Jim King, C.S.C.
Published 18 October 2024
