Some youths say just talking about a vocation helps them consider it

Published: 2005-02-01

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- Eric Olsen, Erik Lundgren and David Sailer have many things in common. They are all students at Jesuit-run St. Louis University, they all attend the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, where they frequently serve at Mass, and they are all discerning a possible vocation to the priesthood. And they all belong to the Edmund Campion Society, a university group that gets together regularly to discuss Catholic faith and doctrine and the intellectual tradition of the church. The group has about 20 members, both men and women. About half of them are considering a vocation. "Many of the guys who are part of this group are pretty committed to becoming teachers and bringing a Catholic presence to the classroom," Olsen told the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the St. Louis Archdiocese. "Some are called to be teachers, some to be priests, and some to both. Some of the girls, in their mind is religious life, and some people are pretty certain their calling is to marriage." Lundgren said one reason he wanted to go to a Catholic college was to be able to discuss his faith and to explore a vocation he has thought about off and on since eighth grade. Sailer said that through the Campion Society he gained friends to talk to who shared his thoughts, fears and uncertainties.

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