Fr. Gregory Ihm |
When a man stands as his name is called during an ordination and responds “present”; it isn’t the first time he has presented himself to the Church for ordination.
The commitment to the priesthood comes in stages.
First stage: interior journey
The first stage is the interior journey that happens before applying to the seminary. It is probably the most important/pivotal, because it makes real many aspects of the priesthood that are usually off limits in most men’s minds.
Once they wrestle with the many doubts and fears that surround it and give themselves permission to pursue a call to the priesthood there can be freedom.