In what he calls his past life, the Rev. Geoffrey Horton worked at a Bloomington-Normal insurance company, coached a women’s softball team, owned a home and invested in a 401K.
Although life was good, Horton, 43, felt something was missing. In May, he found his calling as a newly ordained Roman Catholic priest.
“I became a priest for the only reason anyone should ever become a priest, because I felt that’s what God was asking of me,” said Horton, currently assigned at a church in Peoria.
The Rev. Michael Bies heard the same call, but before he did, he worked 20 years as a machinist in his native Chicago and even considered marriage. Ordained about four years ago, Bies, 52, is associate pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Pontiac.
The two Central Illinois men aren’t alone in making such monumental mid-life career changes.
There’s hope for …. oh, sorry, my wife just said “no way, José! I don’t want to be a priest’s wife at this stage of my life!”
No wonder Catholic priests are un-married. 😉
“I became a priest for the only reason anyone should ever become a priest, because I felt that’s what God was asking of me”.
What’s God got to do with it?
Funny, my wife had the same reaction!
Fortunately for her, our Bishop seems to feel the same way about mid-life vocations. I belong to the Diocese of Pennsylvania and Bishop Bennison’s guidelines for candidates say that they have to be able to be ordained before age 40. Which means that any candidate past his/her mid-30s would be refused entry to the discernment process! (I know from personal experience).
Here’s an excerpt from the guidelines:
“Persons who feel called to ordained ministry as a deacon or a priest pursue the following steps:
(1) Meet with their priest, who, if able to recommend the person as a nominee in the ordination process, must write a letter to the Bishop setting forth the reason why the recommendation is being made. Only in rare cases will the Bishop consider aspirants who would be ordained at age forty or older. Those considering ordination must hold a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent, and be fluent in a contemporary language (including American Sign Language) other than their own native tongue….”
Even though Bennison was inhibited last year, the guidelines have been retained (actually, there’s a moratorium on the whole process for a year). Frankly, this seems to violate Canon 1.2, and I haven’t heard of this in any other diocese. There’s also a second language requirement (refer to the quote above). I understand the intent behind this, but the requirement is not well thought out. One could satisfy this requirement by being fluent in Finnish, let’s say, but what possible good would that do? I think a better solution would be to provide language training based on the requirements of one’s specific ministry.
Just my thoughts.