Dear Parish Family, 

  Thank you for welcoming me into your parish family past week. I am looking forward to meeting many of you at parish receptions after all Masses this weekend. Please know how blessed I feel to be assigned here. I pray for you daily and kindly ask for your prayers as I enter into parish life more deeply in the coming weeks. 

  As we continue to hear from the Bread of Life discourse in John 6 this weekend and next, I am mindful of Jesus relating His identity as Priest and Shepherd. As you come to know me as your priest and shepherd in Christ, I want to share a little about my own call to priesthood and desire to serve God and His people. The guiding thread through my story (and yours) is that remaining in relationship with Christ deepens our identity in Him and prepares us for His mission. 

  I grew up in Avon Lake as a cradle Catholic with my mom, dad, and sister. We went to Mass on Sundays, and I was taught the faith by my parents and parish faith formation programs. I had a strong belief in God as a child, but I did not grasp the significance of a personal relationship with Christ until high school where I began attending youth group events and retreats. 

  I first experienced a desire for the priesthood at one of these youth retreats when I was 17 years old, a junior in high school. There I met a seminarian and a priest who witnessed to the joy of being personally called by God. It was the first time I considered that God had a personal call for me. My prayer life ignited as I recognized how real Christ is and how personal and particular His love is for me. I had a sense that He was calling me to discern priesthood, but I did not yet know what to do with this call. 

  My discernment accelerated toward the end of my junior year when one of my best friends and classmates tragically and unexpectedly died. My faith and friendships sustained me through this time of mourning. I remember praying a few months after his death about God's call for me. At that time, God spoke in the language my heart could understand, "I don't promise you a long life, but I do promise you a fulfilling life if you follow Me." Reminded of my own mortality and God's personal love and call, I knew I wouldn't be at peace if I ignored this tug on my heart toward priesthood. 

  I found my family wholly accepting and supportive of my call. As I shared with my peers during my senior year, I found that my friendships that were rooted in Christ blossomed while those that weren't naturally faded. This was a painful process of conversion where I experienced the real-life impacts of making the choice to follow Christ. I wasn't simply going through a change of values or behaviors; I was receiving a new identity in Christ. 

  I would like to conclude my vocation story in next week's bulletin as I reflect on my time in seminary formation and early years of priesthood. My hope in these weeks' columns is for you to know more about me and to reflect more on your own relationship with Christ and how He is calling you to deepen your identity in Him. 

I am yours in Christ, 
Fr. Scott Goodfellow