My little bro has been accepted by Bishop Olmsted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Phoenix. Please pray for him. In a letter to his parish, he tells some of his vocation story. Please read and see how Angelas holy death helped lead him back to God and surrender to His will. Im so proud of my brother for his faithfulness amidst much trial, and so grateful that God has called him in this way... Our Newest Seminarian: Justin MeehanHello, my name is Justin Meehan and about a month ago I was accepted as a seminarian with the Diocese of Phoenix. Firstly, I would like to offer a warm greeting and my prayers to all of the parishioners of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, and my heartfelt gratitude to Fr. Hoorman for his warm welcome and guidance (I, along with all of you, will miss him very much as our Father and Pastor). I was born in Chandler, Arizona to Christopher and Yvonne Meehan and I am one of their five children. I attended Desert Vista High School in Ahwatukee and I graduated from there in May of 2010. My first contact with the Faith began at the greatly packed Sunday Mass at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Mesa where watching the celebration of the Mass on a TV screen was normal for those who were late. It was here that I received my Baptism at the age of five and my first communion at the age of nine. When my family moved to Ahwatukee in my second grade year, we were in need of a closer parish. We found Corpus Christi in 2000 and it was here that I received my Confirmation into the Catholic Church in 2006; so I have been a parishioner here for over a decade and a member of the Diocese of Phoenix my whole life. During high school, I briefly went to St. Benedict’s Catholic Church for a teenage youth program called LifeTeen. Through the emphasis on Eucharistic Adoration, this youth group formed in me a desire for a profound and loving relationship with Our Lord, Jesus Christ. During these faith–filled years of unity with my LifeTeen group, I began to seek a closer relationship with Him, but I did not know how. In my last year of high school and LifeTeen, I went on a Steubenville West retreat at the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. After perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the priests asked any young men who might think that they have a vocation to the priesthood to come down to the altar for a blessing. Suddenly, I felt a need to get up for the blessing, but was not sure why. Out of fear, I did not receive the blessing. After this retreat, I put the prospect of becoming a priest out of my mind, and I felt that a vocation to marriage would better suit me. I know now that it was a mistake. The 2010 summer passed, and my first year of college approached. At this point, the youth group community that I had so desired was dissolved and in my desolation I came close to losing my faith in God, and I abandoned Him Who loved me. In confusion as to where God was directing me, I am sorry to say I fell away briefly from my Catholic faith. In this desolation, it seemed that God had abandoned me. It turned out to be quite the contrary; indeed, He loved me the whole time. (Pope Pius XII once said that at Baptism the Holy Ghost plants a seed in us which can grow and be nourished into a strong plant, even when dormant for years. I found this to be true). It took the suffering and holy death of my sister-in-law before I would finally surrender to God and say “Lord, let my life be done according to your will.” My sister-in-law, Angela, who was diagnosed with stage-4 colon cancer on Easter day of 2011, suffered seventeen months before the Lord raised her up into His eternal glory. In her surrender to God, I became faithful once again. Consequently, I contacted my vocation director, Fr. Paul Sullivan, with the Diocese of Phoenix in October 2012. It has been about a year and a half of discernment; and in August 2014 I will be representing you as your seminarian at Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio alongside Seminarian Nathanial Glenn at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and Deacon Kevin Grimditch (Ordination June 28, 2014). I kindly ask for your prayers for the three of us and any future vocations to the rank and file of God’s priesthood.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 20:02:21 +0000
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