My view of priesthood came from a wide variety of sources: Bing Crosby in “Going My Way,” Spenser Tracy in “Boy’s Town” and Pat O’Brien in “Angels with Dirty Faces” gave me images of wise but friendly, urbane yet sincere, demigods. From literature, I took on board Bernanos’ sickly young cleric from “The Diary of a Country Priest” and the unnamed “whiskey priest” from Graham Greene’s “The Power and the Glory.” These characters all seemed far removed from the awkward, humble and often inarticulate men I met at school and in my parish.
I was not a “pious” youth, so when I first found myself considering the notion of a vocation to the priesthood, I didn’t quite know where to turn. Happily, I found myself in the company of Thomas Merton and his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. His path, the experiences that led him to become a Trappist monk and priest, were vastly different from my own, and yet I could identify with the spiritual journey he recounted. Over the years, I have learned that Merton’s story has had a profound effect on many others discerning a vocation to the priesthood.
I decided to contact a friend of my sister, Fr. Peter Knott, S.J, who was the Catholic chaplain at London’s Heathrow Airport. I was attracted in equal measure by his straightforward holiness and boundless good humor. If I was going to be a priest, I wanted to be like him.
Peter counseled me gently and without pressure. He arranged for the Irish Jesuits to send me some literature. One pamphlet was a collection of articles that had appeared in The Irish Times, and it included some pretty strong criticism of the Jesuits, including some from former Jesuits. I thought to myself, the Jesuits have to be pretty cool if they are prepared to present potential recruits with such an unfiltered view of themselves.
My Jesuit journey has brought me from Dublin to Paris to Tokyo to Syracuse, NY, to Los Angeles and now to Chicago. Not every day (or year!) has been easy, but I am grateful for every single one of them. Priesthood has been an incredible blessing – I feel like I won the lottery!
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