M EET YOUR S EMINA RIA NS
Mark Martin’s conversion
to Catholicism ignited his
calling to the priesthood
A
s a child, all I wanted to be when I grew
up was a medical doctor. I grew up in a
small rural town just outside of Hillsdale, Michi-
gan. At the time my family and I belonged to the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more
commonly known as “the Mormon Church.”
As a thirteen-year old, I began asking myself if
my life had a meaning beyond what I could see.
8
Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Winter 2020
I found myself longing
for something more that the
Mark Martin, II
Mormon church couldn’t give
me. I looked at all sorts of
Diocese of Lansing
religions, including Buddhism.
Theology III
Yet, they all failed to fill that
ache within me, which led to my
investigating the Catholic faith.
I started watching EWTN in secret, and the more I saw, the
more I fell in love with the Catholic faith. I joined RCIA at St.
Anthony Parish in Hillsdale, and received the sacraments of
baptism, confirmation and Holy Eucharist on April 12, 2009.
As we approached Holy Week, I was asked who I wanted as my
Confirmation saint. I remember being especially drawn to the
life of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests.
He was sent to a struggling parish that had forgotten what it
meant to love Jesus and had since turned to the world. With
unremitting zeal, however, St. John Vianney did penance and
preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Slowly, he turned a stagnant
parish into one aflame with the love of Christ.
It was this heroic sanctity and virtue of St. John Vianney that
I was most drawn to, so I chose him to be my Confirmation saint.
It is here that I see the beginnings of my own vocation to the
priesthood.
From that moment, I started wrestling with the possibility
of becoming a priest. I was now a senior in high school, and
I decided to attend college to follow my lifelong dream of
becoming a doctor. I attended Oakland University and pursued
a degree in biochemistry. While I had thought of becoming a
priest earlier, I now did my best to bury that thought and focus
on becoming a doctor.
Despite my evasions of God, the thought of becoming a priest
persistently entered my mind. The turning point happened
following a powerful confession. After the confession, while
I was praying in front of the tabernacle, I heard Jesus say clearly in
my heart: “That could be you wearing that stole.” The stole here
referred to the stole that the priest wears during confession. From
then on, I could no longer run from the idea of being a priest.
I began considering the priesthood and got in contact
with Fr. John Linden, then vocations director of the Diocese
of Lansing. After some time, we agreed that it would be best
for me to finish my degree at Oakland University, and then
apply for acceptance into seminary. In 2014, I graduated with
a bachelor’s degree, and entered formation at Sacred Heart
Major Seminary in September 2015.
My time at Sacred Heart has been a blessing beyond words,
especially as I have grown more deeply in my relationship with
Jesus and experienced His unfathomable healing and mercy.
Now, God willing, I will be ordained to the transitional diaconate
this summer, and priestly ordination will follow one year after
that. God has been abundantly gracious to me, and for that I give
him thanks.