The Catholic Weekly 12 July 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 12 NEWS 12, July, 2020 FEATURE Father Peyton Plessala gives his first blessing to Archbishop Thom- as Rodi of Mobile, Alabama. PHOTO: CNS/ROB HERBST,THE CATHOLICWEEK A1 I’d be crazy if I said I haven’t weighed is- sues including sexual abuse, long hours and loneliness in discernment, but at the same time, in the midst of so much turmoil and very few world- ly compensations, the Holy Spirit is the only answer. The Holy Spirit calling me to be a priest is it. But that’s not the whole story. The reason I an- swered the call to priesthood is because I know I am called to it, which means, I know that I will have the greatest amount of joy, peace and meaning in my life by being a priest. This is my vocation. This is how God is calling me to follow Him. A2 I grew up in a Catho- lic family. We went to Catholic grade school and high school. We always went to Mass as a family every Sun- day and had a family dinner every night of the year. Our family is very close. We were always active and busy with extra-curricular activities, mainly sports. We weren’t an incredibly religiously active family when I was young. We never talked about the faith as a family until my brother Pey- ton entered high school and got involved in campus min- istry. I’d say we were a normal family. A3 I was a junior in high school, 16-years-old. I never thought about it a day in my life until then. A4 During my junior year in high school, I felt God stir my heart and speak to me, telling me He was calling me to priesthood. I prayed about it every day and told Him, “I will do what- ever you want, just tell me what it is.”The more andmore confirmation and affirmation I had in prayer about my dis- cernment, the more confident I grew in knowing I was fol- lowing His call for me. There was a clear moment when I started discerning, and I’d say ever since that moment, I grew more and more confi- dent in the call to priesthood. A5 My family and friends were very supportive from the begin- ning. They were always there to help me grow and were willing to do anything and everything to help me follow God’s call. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for every- one. But I was very blessed to have such good family and friends that always supported me. They seemed to not be as surprised as I was when I said I was going to enter the sem- inary. A6 I was a junior in high school, heavily in- BROTHERS in ARMS These siblings were ordained priests on the same day, but what drives two young men to give their lives over in service to God and the Catholic Church in 2020? Debbie Cramsie asked the two young men fromMobile, Alabama: volved in sports and school- work. I was running track and playing soccer at the same time when I started discern- ing. I was focusing on school- work and my girlfriend. I was a normal 16-year-old boy in high school when the Lord spoke to my heart. A7 I think that makes a lot of sense. We are so worried about finding out what we are going to do with our lives, what we are going to do when we grow up, what we want to do, what should we do, etc that we end up miss- ing out on living our lives. Entering the seminary does not require prior knowledge of “I am absolutely commit- ted to the priesthood.” No! We enter the seminary to figure it out! We enter the seminary to answer the question, “Is the Lord calling me to this or not?” Entering the seminary can be very freeing because we have committed to figur- ing it out, we have commit- ted to letting God direct our lives instead of us trying to direct it. A8 To be honest, I did not know what I was expecting when I entered the seminary at 18-years-old. I did not re- ally know anyone there be- sides two people. I did not know what I would be doing besides taking classes and praying. But, I would say the last 8 years of my life were some of the greatest ever, far greater than I could have imagined. Why? Because I met some of my closest friends, some of the holi- est people, visited places around the world on pilgrim- ages (Australia in the future I hope!), and experienced the Lord in incredibly real ways, working through others and throughme. The seminary is an incredible place. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But it is a place where men go to figure out how God is calling them to follow Him and how God is planning to work through their lives. A9 Bring people closer to Christ and bring Christ closer to people. That’s it. I want people to have life and have it to the fullest. The only way to do that is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s the plan. A10 How do you be- come closer to a friend? You spend time with them and talk to them. That’s how it is with God. If we want to be closer to God, we just spend time with him and talk to him, this is prayer. God desperately desires to be in relationship with us. He wants to talk to us, to listen to us. All we have to do is give him our attention. The next step is to ask him where he is leading us, in this moment, today, this year, in our life. He will tell us, we just have to ask Him. A11 The priesthood is full of joys and blessings, but it is also full of struggles and challenges. It is tempting to become a work- aholic, always saying yes to everything because I want to be at everything. I am a people person, so I have to be weary of burning out and spreading myself too thin. If I In the midst of so much turmoil and very fewworldly compensations, the Holy Spirit is the only answer. The Holy Spirit calling me to be a priest is it.” Fr Connor Plessala Fr Connor Plessala 1 Why have you committed to a life of celibacy, obedience and service? 2 How would you describe your upbringing? 3 When did you first think about a vocation? 4 Was there a single moment when you were sure you were doing what God wanted? 5 What was th response fro family / friends entered the sem 6 How would describe you when you did (s working, girlfrie QUESTIONS