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Father Ryan Nigli's Vocation Story
Discover the heartfelt journey of Father Ryan Nigli, who joins us to share his path from a faith-filled home in Etobicoke to embracing his divine calling to the priesthood. Father Ryan's story is woven with personal anecdotes of familial devotion, where the prayers of his grandmother and the spiritual habits of his grandparents played pivotal roles in nurturing his Catholic faith. He opens up about a pivotal moment during his final year of university, where a whispered calling during mass led him to explore the priesthood. This transformative experience, supported by his family, set the stage for his decision to undertake missionary work and eventually enter the seminary.
For those contemplating a similar path, Father Ryan shares valuable insights on the discernment process. He provides encouragement rooted in his own experiences, stressing the importance of trusting in God’s plan and being open to divine guidance, even amidst doubts and external pressures. Whether you're discerning a call or simply seeking inspiration, Father Ryan's story offers profound lessons on courage, faith, and the unwavering support of family.
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Welcome to yes Catholic, where real people share their real stories and discover God's grace at work in their lives. I'm your host, david Patterson, and every week we bring you inspiring guests who share how they came to say yes to Jesus and His church. Let's dive into their journeys of faith and see how grace is transforming lives in our world today. I'm really excited tonight to welcome Father Ryan Neely. Welcome, father. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story. Thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here, absolutely. So why don't you share a little bit about yourself before we dive into the rapid fire? Sure?
Speaker 2:So I grew up in Etobicoke, spent most of my life there, went to London, ontario King's College at Western for university, went to London, ontario King's College at Western for university. I find myself now at St Justin Martyr Parish in Unionville, having recently been ordained to the priesthood just this past May.
Speaker 1:Well, congratulations for your ordination. Let's get to know you a little more. With the rapid fire ready to tackle some of these questions, let's do it All right. Describe yourself as a child in three words.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'd say easygoing, thoughtful kind.
Speaker 1:Are you a morning person or a night owl? Night owl, for sure. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Speaker 2:I'd go with teleportation. I think that would be handy for ministry All right Go-to order at a coffee shop.
Speaker 1:Do you drink?
Speaker 2:coffee. I do drink coffee. I'd mix it up quite a bit, but probably the most would be a double-double.
Speaker 1:Okay, tim Hortons, reference Tim Hortons. Yeah, go-to short prayer as you're going about your day Very simple Come Holy Spirit.
Speaker 2:One of your favorite books of all time, I'd say the Confessions St Augustine.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to lie, it took a minute for me to get into it. I I feel like once I got past the first 10 pages just to get used to the writing I was hooked I was on a retreat when I read it, so it just I had the time if you could have coffee with any saint, who would it be? I'd go saint teres of lizzie and he thought on a question.
Speaker 2:You sit down with that, tim hortons, double, double and teach teach me, in the little way sure, her humility, her trust in god okay, last one.
Speaker 1:If you could ask god one question, what would it?
Speaker 2:be. Yeah. How can I serve god better? How can I serve you better and your people? That's one thing that I could change today all right father, while you flew through the rapid fire.
Speaker 1:Let's begin with an opening prayer and then we'll have you share your story in the name of the father and of the son and the holy spirit. Amen, oh god, who wills, not the death of a sinner, but rather that he be converted and live. Grant we beseech you, through the intercession of the blessed mary, ever virgin, saint joseph, her spouse, saint junipero, sarah, and all the saints, an increase of laborers for your church, fellow laborers with Christ, to spend and consume themselves for souls through the same Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit. God forever and ever. Amen. St Therese of Lisieux, pray for us in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, father, let's dive right in. Where does your story begin?
Speaker 2:So, as I mentioned, I grew up in Etobicoke. Two loving parents who came to Canada from India raised myself. I have an older brother and a younger sister, so the three of us the middle child, the peacemaker my parents just raised, you know, raised us all Catholic and it was such a beautiful home to grow up in Just seeing their example, my mom and my dad, both very, very faithful, involved in the church. My dad worked a night shift for most of our life Just seeing him go to work at night, come back in the morning instead of going to sleep, trying to spend some time with us, just that kind of selfless, selfless love. You know the sacrifices that were made for my siblings and myself, very blessed, you know, very blessed at home to grow up and very grateful for that. And also, when I was, I think, one or two, my grandparents, my mom's parents, came from India to grandparents. My mom's parents came from India to Canada to live with us. So my grandfather at the time was 80. My grandmother was 70. They both since died but they lived to 102 and 90. Most of my life, you know, into my, into my twenties, they were at home with us, so got to be spoiled by the two of them for sure. They were babysitters really Like they. They helped to raise us. So got to be spoiled by the two of them for sure. They were babysitters really they helped to raise us.
Speaker 2:We're always involved in the church because altar serving from a young age I would also see, in addition to our own family prayer time, my grandparents. Every morning they'd wake up and they'd pray the rosary together. They'd watch the daily TV mass and then they'd have their breakfast every single morning. Yeah, that was their routine and you know I look back on that and see like their faithfulness, right, their dedication, that was how they started the day, but always the rosary again at night. Their example as well, having them in the home, contributed to my own faith, like the seeds of the faith that were were sown in me. And it was no secret, my grandma Ruth, the two of them. They had 10 grandchildren, five girls, five boys, and my grandma Ruth prayed that one of her grandsons would become a priest. But yeah, I was very grateful for that upbringing.
Speaker 2:And then, when I was in grade eight, that's when I first decided that I wanted to become a teacher, that was, I guess, the more serious career that I was looking at, apart from wanting to be a soccer player when I was a kid, but to be a teacher. And I was really, really inspired by my grade eight teacher. He was, you know, just a lot of fun to be around. He made learning enjoyable, he would tease us and just a great example for all of us. And I thought I can see myself doing this, you know, for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2:Even at a young age, like just in grade eight, I also thought to myself, you know, I liked working with kids. I enjoy playing with my younger cousins, things like that, like I'm a heart for young people. So let's see where this takes me. And as I went through high school, like that desire to want to be a teacher grew in me and I started to think more seriously okay, okay, what will I teach? I found myself, you know, not surprisingly, just really passionate about the faith, about the Catholic faith. Yeah, unfortunately, a couple of my teachers, you know, weren't the best, you know, teaching the faith soundly, you know, like what the Catholic Church truly professes and holds to be true, and that really, I guess, ignited, kind of increased my desire to want to teach the faith. So, as I went through high school, it became pretty clear that was what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1:When would you say that spark was ignited? Was that like grade nine, grade 10? Or were you?
Speaker 2:more, yeah, grade 11. Came out of my shell a little bit more. I was like, okay, I am really really passionate about this. Yeah, so there was a real passion for the faith. Then it was a matter of, okay, where am I going to go to university? I know U of T has a program, christianity and Culture, and I think they had a concurrent program for education at the time as well. But I went to the university fair just to see one of the options out there. My older brother had gone to Western, enjoyed the experience of leaving home and I happened upon a program called Catholic Studies for Teachers at King's College at Western, so the Catholic College at Western. It really caught my attention. It's like Catholic Studies for Teachers Makes perfect sense, very, very, very fitting. And then also to be able to go away, like to live away from home you know, try my hand at that and experience, you know, student life and see how that. You know, see how that goes. I was excited and we got in the program, you know, went, went well in the beginning. You know I started to really, yeah, just just enjoy the studies. And also one of the benefits of this program was it was kind of a smaller community at king's small program, but then we would also get sent out to schools. So my second, third and fourth year university to have some experience in the schools just observing mainly. But I enjoyed those experiences as well.
Speaker 2:Things are working out and in my second year of university I met a good Catholic girl. We started dating and I could kind of start to envision what my plan for life was going to be. So I was in the right program program that I wanted to be in and I was dating and I could see myself becoming a teacher, getting married, having a family. Yeah, I was pretty happy about all of that by the time I got to my final year of university. So just before my final year of university, the dating relationship that I was in ended and that was a tough one for me. But what was surprising from that was that my desire to be a teacher kind of disappeared and I couldn't really understand why, you know.
Speaker 2:So I was in a bit of a crisis in my fourth year university. All of my peers are, you know, ready to take the next step, to go to teacher's college, and I found myself just really doubting like, am I sure I want to do this. And so, in that time of kind of stress and anxiety, I leaned into my prayer life. You know, just invite God in. How do I understand what is going on? You know, since grade eight I wanted to be a teacher and if I'm not going to be a teacher, I have no idea what I'm going to do.
Speaker 2:Have I just wasted the last four years of university with encouragement, you know, for my family, for my parents and others? You know, just to pray like God. What is it that you want me to do with my life? And it took a while to get to that place or even to ask that question. A lot of reflection, examining, okay, how have I gone about my own plans, realizing I've done things the way that I wanted to do them and well-intentioned, I think, right To want to be a Catholic school teacher as a man of faith there's nothing wrong with that, certainly. But kind of becoming obsessed, as I was going through with yeah, this has to be this way and I want this to work out and just realizing I was trying to control everything and when things weren't working out, okay, now what am I going to do? And, lord, I need your help. You know, what is it that you envision for my life? What is it that you want for me?
Speaker 2:I remember there was a moment in my final year of university I had actually decided to defer Teachers College.
Speaker 2:So I was given permission, we all had kind of guaranteed acceptance to Teachers College and I was able to defer it, so just kind of giving myself a little bit of breathing room, like I don't have to worry about making that decision right away. I remember being at a mass shortly after that on a Sunday and still feeling, you know, the burden of doubt about my future, like what is it, lord, that you want me to do? And it was at the moment of elevation in the mass when the priest you, the priest has said consecrated the Eucharist this is my body which will be given up for you and raises the host. And I remember just looking up and I heard the word seminary, just like a gentle whisper. In an instant this peace overcame me. This peace just washed over me. All of the worries and stress and doubts, like we're gone, and it's funny. I remember looking up and looking around the pews, making sure was there somebody who said that, but there was no one around me.
Speaker 2:So just hearing that word, seminary, it was clear to me it was an invitation from God to consider a priesthood, you know, to consider becoming a priest. So, you know, it's funny how God works, you know, because in that moment I wouldn't have thought too much about it. But looking back, you know, god had been, you know, introducing me to, even to seminarians, because King's College at Western is right beside St Peter's Seminary in London. I had the opportunity to take a class there. So in little ways, you know, god was kind of preparing the way for that moment. And so when he said seminary, it was like just kind of hit me, you know, that could be the path forward, you know, and that peace was really powerful. Right, it was something that, yeah, I've experienced peace before, but it was such a tangible experience that has stuck with me since then that would have been 2015,. So it's been nine years and this carried me through my studies, my vocation becoming a priest. Now, after that event, I started to discern a little bit. I was speaking to a few seminarian friends at St Peter's. They encouraged me to do a come and see weekend Again in my final year of university it was February, I remember I didn't even tell my parents just went on this retreat weekend.
Speaker 2:I probably told them I wasn't going on a retreat. It was at St Augustine's, where you know. It was the simple weekend come and see, experience what seminary is like, to meet the priests there, the formators, to meet other seminarians. There were a number of talks, but you really got to just be immersed in the seminary and that weekend brought me an increase of peace. You know, like I really felt in my heart a desire just to be open, and I think back to the word, or if that god spoke to me, was seminary, and it was a cause of, I guess, hope and also a little bit of doubt. Right, because he said seminary, he didn't say priest. I was like I don't know where it's going to go. At the Come and See weekend I felt this grace just to be open. You know, I've tried to work towards becoming a teacher and now I'm feeling this peace to be open to the priesthood. Lord, if this is what you want for me, I'm open to it, I'm here. And that brought a lot of joy to my heart. Really, one of the talks that we had that weekend was from Cardinal Collins and I remember he said you know, there's two good ways for a man to leave the seminary either as a priest after ordination, or discerning out and discerning another vocation marriage. I was. There's a lot of, there's a lot of freedom here, you know, and I felt really comfortable with that right less pressure, like, okay, there's no stress that you have to to go all the way. You have this freedom to discern.
Speaker 2:So after that come and see weekend, I did go home, because I had driven from, from london back to the seminary and then I went back home on my way back, and that's when I had the courage to tell my parents I just did a come and see weekend, I'm thinking about becoming a priest. And they were God bless them. They were overjoyed, you know like super, super happy for me, which I'm not surprised by, but I'm grateful for having the you, for having the Catholic faith. That's such an important part of their lives too. But they were really, really happy. I remember my mom was moved to tears and I remember my younger sister saying I want nieces and nephews. What are you talking about? At that time? My grandma Ruth, she hadn't been doing very well, my mom said you know, if you're comfortable with it, you can share with your grandma, just let her know she's been praying for this for so long. So I remember having a very special moment with her and very clearly, you know, I told her I'm open to becoming a priest, I'm thinking about it, but I don't, like I'm not. I'm not promising you anything. You know, like I I might. It might not be for me we'll see. And she said, said, whatever it will be, just try. And she actually died later that week. So it was really really special, special moment that I got to share with her. Am I glad? I'm glad I got to share that news with her and I'm sure you know she's praying for me a lot.
Speaker 2:So from there, you know, I ended up actually taking a little bit of time off, like I took a year before joining the seminary. Some might think, yeah, like how the experience jumped into the seminaries. But it took some time just to continue to discern and I planned that year to do some missionary work. So I went to the Philippines with a good friend of mine and we worked with Salesian Sisters out there, a boarding school. It was a special time for me to be able to minister, to be kind of taken out of my comfort zone into a place where everything the culture, the way of life, the pace of life is so different, where the children don't have a whole lot but they have a lot of joy, which is very, very inspiring and moving. And I went from there. I traveled a little bit throughout Southeast Asia with a friend of mine and all the while facing doubts Am I sure I want to actually join the seminary?
Speaker 2:You know I found myself discerning in real time. You know I was having a lot of fun traveling around and meeting a lot of people and thinking can I really, you know, not get married? Can I give up the chance of having a family? Will that make me happy? Really wrestling, like, am I worthy to be a priest? Am I holy enough? I'm a sinful, sinful guy? Like, how can I do this? Throughout that journey couldn't really shake the call you can say, or anything god had had planted in me that had spoken to me.
Speaker 2:And I remember, even when I came home from that trip, I was away. When I came back home, just with the travel bug, I think, with fear about joining seminary, just thinking, yeah, I could go abroad, travel, teach, that would be fun. Go to Japan or something and teach. And I remember my mom encouraging me. Remember that experience you had at the common sea, the news you shared with us. I was like, yeah, I hear that. And something she encouraged me to do, which I'm so so grateful for, was the consecration to Mary. So, 33 days to morning glory, father Michael Gately. So my parents God, god bless them and my aunts and uncles had had recently done that consecration. And so when I returned from my travels, my mom said you know, this is really powerful. You should, you should try it out. I was like, okay, like I was on vacation, I'd finished university, so okay, I'll check it out.
Speaker 2:And that consecration to Mary really, really renewed my sense of being open to God's will, of thinking, okay, all these kind of desires, fleeting desires, of wanting to go and travel some more and to pursue fun, you know, wouldn't ultimately satisfy me. God has called me to do something. And can I be open to that? Can I trust in him and take that next step? And so I reached out again to the vocation director. It was Father Chris Lemire at the time. We worked together, met a few times and then eventually, with our blessed mother's help you know, completed all of the requirements you know to apply to the seminary, which are quite substantial. You know there's a number of interviews and tests and psychological assessment and she carried me through that and got in seven years of seminary formation, a very, very blessed time, a time of continued you know, growth, like entering day one to my final day there.
Speaker 2:I've grown so much you know, so so grateful for the formation that I received in all those areas right, academics and prayer and community life and the human formation as well just to grow as a man. So I'm very, very grateful for that formation and a lot of ups and downs, you know, with anything I was gonna ask did the wrestling continue with the lord?
Speaker 2:oh, big time. And that word like lord, you called me to the seminary. I don't know. Did you also call me to the priesthood? I have to really wrestle with that too. It's funny how the evil one works. You know. He tries to to interfere with what god is trying to do for us to to do in us. There are many experiences throughout seminary that helped me to keep going, to persevere. So many people that I'm grateful to brother seminarians, the priests, spiritual directors and the prayers, family members, friends and so many that I don't know who accompanied me. It's a great grace to be now ordained a priest and to be serving in the Archdiocese of Toronto. What was?
Speaker 1:ordination like for you, Father.
Speaker 2:Ordination was such a joyful experience, like easily the best day of my life.
Speaker 2:Spent so much time preparing for that day it's everything you can imagine, you know, nerve wracking. There's a lot happening in that liturgy that you have to be aware of. The cathedral was packed. I remember feeling very emotional walking in the doors, like just seeing so many people there to support us, there, to pray for us, there, to celebrate this joyful occasion with us, and then at the same time it's also like a blur and it went so quickly before you knew like the ordination was done and you're outside giving first blessings, all these people flocking to you, calling you father, like, oh my goodness, this is real, this happened, this just happens.
Speaker 2:Still getting used to that. The fulfillment of what god had had called me to, but also just the beginning of this new way of life, this new state in life, formation that the seminary is over ordained. But I've so, so much to learn, so much to do, to do, to keep growing you, to keep growing in holiness. Become every day a better shepherd, to learn how to be a good shepherd, a good father to the people that God has entrusted to me.
Speaker 1:Hey friends, I want to pause for a moment to give a quick shout out to our friends at Tabella. They're a sponsor managing the production of this podcast, so I can keep bringing these powerful stories to you week after week. Join ministry groups, stay connected to your parish and grow in your faith with the best Catholic content, all for free on Tabela. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can download the Tabela app on the App Store or Google Play. You can use it to listen to all your favorite podcasts, like this one, Father Mike Schmitz, Abiding Together, and more, as well as other exclusive content. You can also use Tabela as a communication tool for your parish or group. If you're interested in activating Tabela in your diocese, parish or group, just head over to wwwtabelaapp to learn more. All right, let's get back to listening to God's grace at work in our world today. Yeah, and as St John Paul II says, life with Christ is a wonderful adventure. Any advice for anyone who's currently just discerning seminary at this point?
Speaker 2:I always tell young people you know, just to be open, just to be open to what God is inviting you to. You know, if you are discerning the seminary, you know God has made that known to you, has called you just to trust. Trust that he is with you, right, Despite whatever doubts and fears and worries that you might have about your worthiness or whatever it may be. Just to trust that you know god will provide. God will provide everything that you need if he's calling you to be a priest. And I'd also say to, to trust. You know you can never know for sure. Even when I was applying, like I don't know for sure, is god calling me to this. Like should I take this step, the step and I'm sure for you, David? Like proposing you know, like you never really know for sure, you got to take a leap of faith, right?
Speaker 2:Like to trust and to do so with hope with trust, with faith that you know God is with you. God will provide, god will form you and shape you into who he needs you to be.
Speaker 1:I think, just echoing what Cardinal Collins said about how you know, if you leave as a priest or if you leave to discern another vocation, you're going to be impacted in a positive way regardless.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, that's so true. You know some guys might put added pressure on them. You know on themselves to say, if I'm gonna join I have to go all the way. But I personally I don't see a downside. You know, even if you join, you join for a year. You know you gain so much formation. You know just the growth in prayer life you know, seeing other guys who are with you. That was really what one of the things that really convinced me to join.
Speaker 2:I was like I was traveling, I was discerning on my own and I reached a stage where I thought I think I could be called to this, but I'm still not sure. Joining the seminary meant just continuing that discernment process, but in the perfect environment, right when you're so close to Jesus, like you've got a chapel right there, and to be surrounded by holy priests and brothers who are taking these same steps with you. So to put yourself in that environment to continue to discern, without the pressure of the commitment you know and I think some boundaries are good there too you know, if there's pressure from family members or whatever it may be, or putting pressure on yourself, just to say, yeah, I'm going to do this in freedom. If God seems to be calling me to this, I want to discern for sure.
Speaker 1:if this is what I want, if this is what God wants, if this is what the church wants, it's interesting how you speak about pressures, though, father, because I remember when I was a youth minister at the Catholic church. I find like every time a little lady sees a young man who's on fire with their faith, it's just immediate, like you are going to be a priest. It's challenging to discern through that right when it's like you know you hear it so often and it's like okay, like thank you for your opinion, but it's kind of like how do I actually discern what God's calling me to personally?
Speaker 2:I know, I think there's often there's goodwill there. You know, I think For sure it's good that you hear something like that, but you can't listen to what others say. You know, at the end of the day you have to discern. Well, like, like, really listen for the voice of God, reach out to the vocation director or spiritual director and work through that. But yeah, I hear what you're saying.
Speaker 1:I think your story is just so powerful in exactly what you said right, like just listening to the voice of truth and just saying Lord, like what is your will. Is there a scripture verse that really helped you during your time of discernment?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'd say not a scripture verse per se, but the divine mercy image was huge for me and I actually chose that as my ordination prayer card. Jesus, I trust in you. When I was in my second year of seminary I had some serious doubts about continuing, for many reasons and partly my own brokenness, right, and it's like, lord, I don't think I can do this right. That image just started coming up a lot in that year.
Speaker 2:So for one, my favorite retreat at the seminary. So we have three retreats a year at the seminary. One of them that year happened to be Father Michael Gately who came in and that was such a treat for us. I think most of my brother seminarians would say that's probably their favorite retreat that they had at the seminary. And he spoke to us so beautifully about the time of mercy right, jesus' mercy, about you know, the time of mercy, right, jesus's mercy, of course, consecration to the blessed mother, but divine mercy was the theme and he gave us all an image of the divine mercy which you know I kept hanging in my room every year after that through seminary and it came up, you know, a lot in prayer and then, especially, actually, I'll say even watching a movie, so I don't know if you've seen hacksaw ridge, andrew garfield. There's a scene in that movie spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen it there's a scene after he's, you know, spent the night saving the lives of his fellow soldiers, right, one by one, dragging them off the hill, and he's like caked in dirt and mud the next morning and I don't know if it's mel gibson or who you know decided on the shop but they splash like water to to clean him and you just see blood and water like coming off of him, like just in a movie. Like my mind went straight to divine mercy. I was like, okay, lord, like that's another, another powerful reminder, like why am I seeing this everywhere? And then what really hit home for me was in that same year, my second year, the spiritual year, we did the 30 days spiritual exercises of saint ignatius.
Speaker 2:I had gone into that retreat really struggling, like I'd say. My heart was hardened, like I was wanting to leave the seminary. In the beginning of the retreat you have to recall all your sins. Like you spend a lot of time, you know, dwelling on your sinfulness, your brokenness, where the things you know, where you've offended god, and like asking god for his mercy and there were a number of hours we had to spend reflecting on that and I remember not being able to do it Every time I tried to reflect on my sins, like, yes for sure things came up, but I kept being drawn to the divine mercy image. After like a year of kind of struggle and doubt and all that, god was just drawing my attention, you know, up towards him. It's like, okay, you've dwelt on your brokenness and stuff. Enough trust in me on to meet with our spiritual director every day.
Speaker 1:But he said, yeah, you know, we focus on that, that's good the line that's coming up for me right now is oh, blood and water which gush forth from the heart of jesus has a fountain of mercy for us. I, I trust in you.
Speaker 2:That's powerful, yeah, very, very powerful, that God has given us his son. Jesus has died for us, died for us while we were yet sinners. He calls us to himself. He calls us through our imperfections, through our weaknesses, to serve him how he wants us to right, not how we think we should or shouldn't.
Speaker 1:Listening to your story, there's a lot of wrestling going on just with discernment, with God's will. Any advice for someone who's currently just wrestling with doubts right now?
Speaker 2:Don't suppress them, don't run from them, don't hide from them. I found it's when we bring those things to God. It's the only way to work through it. If we allow the doubts to overcome, to take over, like we miss out on opportunities for grace out of fear, you know we might go down a different path. Just take it to God, you know. Speak to him from the heart, from that place of worry, from that place of fear, and continue to do so. It's not an easy thing to do. It requires some effort. Try to open that up to God and ask him to meet you there. And God sent his son to heal us, to heal the brokenhearted, to bring comfort, and he wants to meet us in that place. He will never abandon us but in his time right. Sometimes it's necessary that we wrestle, you know. We learn from that, we grow from that. But he's always there and he will answer you. He will give you that hope that you desire and the clarity that you desire.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when I'm speaking with young people, I always love to use that image of the anger iceberg. You ever seen this before? I don't think so.
Speaker 1:So the top of the iceberg, it says anger but then below deeper, below the surface, it has all the words, with the understanding that anger is a secondary emotion to what is deeper going on, and the deeper realities is grief, anxiety, fear, loneliness, and the list just goes on. And I think what's so beautiful is that even when we bring our anger to the lord, the lord sees it, but he also sees what is deeper going on and so he, he meets us with just such deep compassion and love and mercy. And so I try to challenge the young people to to kind of look at what is deeper going on and to just recognize like God is with you in this yeah, we sometimes think, you know, god doesn't want to see those emotions from us, you know.
Speaker 2:But even like the anger, whatever it is right we can direct it at other people. We can complain all we want, but take that also to God. Allow him to kind of break through that slowly and, as you say yeah, to get to what is underlying it. You know the deeper hurts and wounds that we might have.
Speaker 1:I always love to ask this question to every guest that gets to share their story is what is your hope for the future of our church?
Speaker 2:My hope is that you know we continue to draw young people back into the church. I think out there today there's so much brokenness, you know so much yearning for truth. You know desire for truth, yeah, a lot of suffering. Right, we see depression and anxiety and fear really, about the future. Sometimes it is kind of bleak, right, where our society promises a lot of things. Right, fleeting joys. You know things that don't truly satisfy and it's my hope that we can continue to bring people, young people especially, into the church, you know, into the knowledge that Jesus Christ is our Savior, you know that he desires to heal their brokenness, that he is the only one, ultimately, that can do that.
Speaker 2:I see a lot of hope in my own church here at St Justin Martyr I can't take a lot of credit for it we have, you know, a hundred people, a hundred young people in our EDGE program, 75 in our Life Teen programs. Really amazing to see like what's possible. You know like what's happening here. You know forming young leaders who can shape other young people in the truth, in the beauty and the goodness of our faith.
Speaker 1:On that note, father, I just want to thank you so much for your yes to Jesus and his church. It's been such a blessing to be able to hear you share your story and the wrestling, your honesty through all that wrestling. It's been such a grace to be able to. I know a lot of people are going to listen and just find comfort in your story. So thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much for having me, David.
Speaker 1:I really appreciate it being here, absolutely, for those that would like to learn more about vocations. St Augustine Seminary that's where you studied, right With St Augustine's Mm-hmm. Where can they? They can check that out to learn more.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the website, I believe staugustinsonca.
Speaker 1:Yes, and then check it out on Instagram staugustins T-O underscore to learn more. On that note, do you want to close us in prayer and maybe give us a priestly blessing, if you could?
Speaker 2:Sure, absolutely, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord Jesus Christ, we give you thanks for this time. We ask you to continue to pour out your blessings upon us in a special way, to bless all those who are continuing to discern their vocation, answer their prayers, grant them clarity, give them courage and hope to trust that your plan is the best plan for them and that you will satisfy all the desires of their hearts. We ask this in your name, amen, amen, and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, may the blessing of Almighty God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit come down on you and remain with you always.
Speaker 1:Amen. Thank you again, father. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and want to support our ministry, please share it with others, post about it on social media and leave a rating and review. To stay updated with the latest stories, follow us on Instagram at yescatholic and visit our website at yescatholiccom. If yes Catholic has made a difference in your life, consider joining our Patreon community at patreoncom. Slash yescatholic A big shout out and thank you to our current patrons for all the prayers, support and contributions that help us reach thousands of souls around the world every week. Let's remember the words of St Peter always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you. You have a story. Don't be afraid to share the good news of how Jesus has moved in your life with a family member, friend or colleague. Give Jesus your yes every single day and witness the ripple effect of the gospel. Join us next week as we continue the journey right here at yes Catholic.