What to do?

I saw this for the first time on a card Fr. Stitt had the other day.  It really spoke to me, and it only seems appropriate to share it on this World Day of Prayer for Vocations...

If you are wondering what to do with your life, 


if you feel you want to do something really great with it, 


if you don’t want to fall into a conventional, self-centered existence, 


if you want to help other people in the deepest way possible, 


where they most need help, 


then think about the service of the Gospel in the priesthood. 


If you become a priest, 


you will never be rich;


you will have to give up the love of a partner 


for the love of everyone you meet; 


you will have to give up your family commitments; 


you will often be on the move; 


you will never have a mortgage; 


you will be under obedience to the leader of the Church 


just as Jesus was obedient to the will of the Father. 


But if you are faithful to the ideal of the priesthood, 


you will have the deep happiness 


which Jesus gives to those who are his friends. 


One last thing: 


you don’t have to be perfect to think of being a priest. 


Jesus chooses ordinary people, not moral heroes. 


You just have to want to serve him; 


he will give you the rest in due course.

Most Rev. Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville (1929-2007)

Archbishop of Birmingham (England)