MOSAIC Winter 2020 | Page 10

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.