Each year at Corpus Christi College, a new group of young men, enters the seminary to begin their 7-year course of study to become priests of the Catholic Church.  This year there were 11 new entrants.  In the last weeks before they entered the seminary, we asked for their thoughts about how this decision was affecting them and their families.  Following are the comments of two of the men:

“A new time in my life is starting soon, with all those close to me with mixed feelings.  Parents anxious that I have made the right choice, mates completely bewildered, and fellow parishioners and good Catholic friends and extended family as excited as me.  So many loose ends to tie up, but God is always two steps ahead of me smoothing the path.”

“Now that entry is so close, I can sometimes feel a little nervous and other times excited, with the odd bout of 'What am I getting into?!  But these feelings are quite    understandable and are usually a sign that I'm looking to the future too much; whether that 'looking' be worrying, anticipating or planning. The future belongs to God and I should trust Him with it. The only control of the future that I have is the present, and as long as I just give myself to God now, I'll be fine and have nothing to worry about. So, whatever the   seminary throws at me, me and Jesus are ready for it! My family was rapt with my plans, and I think it has had a good impact on the spiritual lives of my brothers and sisters. Friends’ reactions were different: Some were surprised, others ecstatic, some didn't understand (like, "I thought the Jedi were extinct!"), and others thought it made their lives look silly.  It can actually be hard to not let peoples’ reactions affect you - both in persevering with the decision and to be totally humble about it. Now that it’s so close, my friends are preparing to not see me for a while and my family is talking about what's happening to my room – pool table was floating around for a while!”