We face so many questions in our lives – what brings happiness? What is the purpose of my life?  Where can I find meaning?  One powerful way of living is the priesthood.  We can have all kinds of images about the priesthood,  but every priest is different and has something unique to offer. Think of the priests you know and how they do their best to answer their vocation.  The Lord calls ordinary men to serve him in this extraordinary way.  If God is calling someone to be a priest it will be a life that is challenging but also rewarding in so many ways.  You build a bond of trust and friendship with your people, you become part of their families as you journey with them in the highs and lows of life.  No day is ever the same and in the course of a single day you may have helped prepare a couple for marriage, help another family as they look forward to their child's baptism and  been with a third family as they mourn the death of their loved one.  You can show that the ministry of the Church is not something distant but personal, where the Lord reaches out to his people, making a real difference.   It takes a lot of courage to go against the grain but if the Lord calls you in this way, the priesthood offers a way to be truly yourself, the person that God wants you to be.

Fr Mark Floody, Vocations Director

This set of resources written by our team at NYMO in collaboration with Fr Mark and other priests from the diocese are intended to help you explore priesthood with your young people. Click on the links below or to the left to navigate around the resource area. And join with us as we continue to pray for our priests in theYear for Priests.

As always, please do feedback (to Matt on matt@nymo.org) with any thoughts or suggestions about how DYSpatches: the resource can be usefully themed for you into the future.