Brothers in Arms

AUSTRALIA
Catholic Weekly

July 13, 2020

By Debbie Cramsie

These siblings were ordained priests on the same day, but what drives two young men to give their lives over in service to God and the Catholic Church in 2020? I asked the two young men from Mobile, Alabama.

Why have you committed to a life of celibacy, obedience and service?

Fr Connor:
I’d be crazy if I said I haven’t weighed issues including sexual abuse, long hours and loneliness in discernment, but at the same time, in the midst of so much turmoil and very few worldly compensations, the Holy Spirit is the only answer. The Holy Spirit calling me to be a priest is it. But that’s not the whole story. The reason I answered the call to priesthood is because I know I am called to it, which means, I know that I will have the greatest amount of joy, peace and meaning in my life by being a priest. This is my vocation. This is how God is calling me to follow Him.

Fr Peyton:
I think what drives a man to pursue priesthood in this day and age is quite simply the impulse I believe to be at the heart of every man, which is the impulse to fight and even die for something valuable. Everyone wants to spend themselves for the sake of a greater goal. Fathers sacrifice daily for their families, soldiers die for their countries, and even athletes train tirelessly for excellence. For me, all of the inconveniences and pains of priesthood are simply the cost of uniting myself to Christ on the cross, the suffering by which the whole world was saved. Nothing is more worthy of sacrifice than that, in my humble opinion.

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