David Pellican, 20
Archdiocese of Detroit
Third-year Philosophy
MEET YOUR SEMINARIANS
I
first felt called to the priesthood
when I was ten years old. It started
out as a little voice in my head saying:
“Be a priest.” The idea has never left
me. At that young age, of course, I did
not really understand what a priest was,
but my understanding of and love for
the priesthood have only grown since.
I grew up in a wonderful Catholic family. Both of my
parents provided me with strong examples of how to live a
Christian life. They homeschooled my seven sisters and me
all the way through high school; with all the grief we caused
them, they must be saints! I think my parents were surprised
when I told them I wanted to be a priest, and thought at first
that it was just some passing whim. But, once they realized
that I was serious, they were very supportive.
When I got to high school, though, I began to better realize what sacrifices the priesthood entailed, and I was not
always quite so enthusiastic about it. At age ten, the life of a
priest had seemed pretty easy and appealing to me. A priest
was someone who said Mass once a day and passed around a
basket when he needed money, right?
As I got older, I began to realize that priests make a lot of
sacrifices. They cannot get married and must promise to live
simply; I was not so sure that this was what I wanted to do.
No matter how hard I tried, though, I could not push the
idea of the priesthood away.
During the summer before my senior year of high school,
it was time to begin applying to colleges, and I finally had to
make a decision about the priesthood. So I began to investigate
a little more seriously. I spent some time during my senior year
of high school discerning with some religious orders, and also
visited Sacred Heart for a “discernment weekend.” Through
God’s grace, I was able to make the decision to join seminary,
where I am still continuing to grow in knowledge of and love
for the priesthood. I am now in my third year of philosophy
and, God willing, will be ordained in 2020.
I would like to me