Cincinnati Seminarian Blog

The following seminarians contribute to this site:

Anthony Eichhorn

My vocation story is in some ways unique due in part to my upbringing away from any organized religion, and the facts that it took thirty-one years before I came home to the Church and just five years more before I entered the seminary.

My life started out in a relatively ordinary way. I was baptized at St. William Church in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati’s west side. I grew up and lived most of my adult life in Price Hill. I am always proud to relate how some of the old-timers at the seminary call it “God’s Holy Mountain,” because of the large number of native sons who have become priests. It is a legacy I hope to carry on.

I come from a very loving and supportive family. Mom and dad had gone to Catholic schools as children but they both fell away from the Church in their teen years for a number of reasons. Thus, when my brother and I came along, attending church was not part of our lives. When we did go to church it was for a wedding or a funeral. Yet, when asked, I always told people that I was Catholic, though I had no idea what that meant.

Despite the fact that we weren’t a very religious family, my parents were able to instill in my brother and me a clear knowledge of right and wrong. My Conscience became my guide. That, and a healthy fear of getting into trouble usually kept me on the straight and narrow. They also taught us to have compassion and respect for others, and to believe in God, though I must admit that I didn’t really think about Him all that much.

I attended public schools in my youth and graduated from Western Hills High School in Cincinnati. I had a number of jobs and then in my early twenties I decided to go to college where I received an associate degree in Graphic Design. I was then hired by LensCrafters and worked as a graphic designer at their headquarters in Cincinnati.

After a few years, I was living a fairly comfortable life. I had a good job, salary and benefits, and a nice, 100 year-old house. Though with all of that, I began to sense a deepening void in my life and I began searching for something to fill it. I really thought that only a woman could make me feel whole. After all, marriage and kids had always been part of my plan. Dating was never my strong suit but I began dating again and even tried an online dating service hoping to meet “Miss Right.”

In 1996, after almost thirty years of civil marriage, the Holy Spirit acting through family friends brought my parents back to the Church where they had their marriage convalidated, or as it is more commonly known, “blessed.” As for me, the Holy Spirit had a little work to do.

It took several more years before I would consider entering the Church but over time I began to sense that what I was yearning for was religious in nature. So, in the fall of 1999, I began attending RCIA classes at St. Teresa of Avila Church. This experience gave me a growing desire to learn more about the Catholic Faith. I also found a great priestly example in Father Larry Tharp. I was about halfway through the RCIA program when I began to get this crazy idea about becoming a priest. This was probably the last thing I would have ever thought of doing and it seemed ridiculous since I couldn’t even receive Holy Communion at the time. But, the feeling was so great that I soon went to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary on a “Welcome Weekend.”

That weekend gave me an excellent opportunity to learn about life in the seminary. Unfortunately, I left feeling somewhat dejected believing that I did not have the intelligence or holiness to be a priest. On the other hand, I felt somewhat relieved because I thought I had dodged the bullet!

A few weeks after my seminary visit I entered the Church at the Easter Vigil of 2000 at St. Teresa. For the next five years I kept getting the feeling that I was being urged to look into the priesthood again. I really tried to deny it the first few years. Eventually I found myself watching EWTN on a consistent basis, reading books on religion, and attending daily Mass before work. I soon became an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and also began serving at Mass. Little by little I was worn down to the point that I decided that I would again speak to the vocation’s director. After attending another “Welcome Weekend,” I came to the conclusion that I should apply for entrance.

I have now been at the seminary for almost two years. It has been a great experience that I will never regret. I must admit that there have been times when I really struggled with my discernment. I considered leaving the seminary dozens of times but through perseverance, prayer, and faith I have finally found great peace in my decision. It is a great feeling to finally accept and embrace what I believe is God’s call for me. God willing, I will someday be able to serve Him and His Church as a priest.

Matthew Lee

My vocation story begins in 1985 when I entered the Catholic Church in Russells Point, Ohio.
When I was a Sophomore in High School I noticed that there was something different about some of my classmates; it wasn’t the girls, the cars, the clothes, or the money, but something was different. I began “instructions” with the pastor, Fr. Earl Metz, and about half way through the instruction process (he didn’t call it RCIA because there was no such program at the time), Fr. Metz suggested that I start attending Mass, just to see what was going on. As I sat in the church the following Sunday morning, I saw all of those “different” classmates walk in. I turned to the tabernacle and said, “I know what they have; they have the Truth! I want that!” On August 25, 1985 I was Baptized, Confirmed, made my first Confession and received my First Communion. This infusion of grace changed my life so much that it’s like having two different lives; virtually everything that has happened to me since then is better than anything that happened before.

Not long after I entered the Church Fr. Metz recruited me to serve Mass, and while it was difficult starting at age 16, I did it anyway and was never sorry. I loved every minute of it; I felt like I truly belonged there. Serving at Christ’s altar gave me a close up experience of the miracle of the Mass unlike any other. About a year later Fr. Metz asked if I’d given any thought to becoming a priest. I hadn’t really, but I didn’t dismiss the idea entirely either. I started watching him more closely. After high school I started college and ran out of money after only a year and a half. To pay for college, I joined the U.S. Air Force.

I stayed in the Air Force for twelve years, and traveled across the U.S. and Europe. At every assignment, in nearly every parish, the priest or someone else asked me “Have you ever thought about being a priest?” or said “You should consider becoming a priest.” It seemed that everywhere I went I heard a suggestion like that. In 1996, while living in Omaha, Nebraska, I drove home to Ohio to visit my parents. I stopped at Our Lady of the Snows Shrine in Belleville, Illinois because it was half way. I got there at 3:30 p.m, Confessions were at 4:00 and Mass was at 5:00. After hearing my confession the priest reached into his shirt pocket, removed a business card and handed it to me saying only, “If you ever think about it, here’s my card.” I was speechless. This priest had never met me and probably never would again. While I didn’t use the card, I did begin to pray seriously. I said to myself, “Maybe all these people are seeing something that I have chosen to ignore.”

I began to pray before the Eucharist and subsequently moved to Germany. There I again heard that familiar comment from a number of priests, “You should think about becoming a priest.” With twelve years in the Air Force, military orders to Florida and two years from retirement, I made a deal with God. While kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament I said, “Jesus, if you want me to be a holy priest for you, then when I get out of the Air Force I’ll contact a seminary and we’ll see.” Two days later I was in a car wreck that ended my career. A DUI driver hit my car at 60 mph and crushed the car around me. It took thirty minutes to cut the car apart to get me out. When I woke up all I could remember was the Hail Mary, so I prayed it over and over. Unable to carry the necessary mobility gear, I was out of the Air Force in less than a year. When I was leaving the Air Force I got several lucrative job offers, but I turned them all down because I knew I had to hold up my end of the deal.

I went to a Ministry Evening at Mt. St. Mary Seminary eighteen days after leaving the Air Force. I met with the Vocation Director two days later and started the admissions process. I was accepted by the seminary and started formation in the Fall of 2002. My approach to seminary formation has been, “If God is not calling me to the priesthood, there is nothing I can do to make it happen; but if God is calling me to the priesthood, how dare I refuse?” Not one of us is worthy of the Holy Priesthood, but it has been said that, “Christ does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” We need only look to the lives of the Apostles for confirmation of this truth. Each year in the seminary has brought me closer to Christ, and I’ve found affirmation of the vocation from those responsible for my formation. As I look back over my life it’s like there is a giant neon sign pointing the way to priesthood, “This way, Matt.” The signs can be difficult to see in daily life, but it seems pretty obvious in hindsight. In the seminary I find myself surrounded with real men who are truly committed to bringing Christ to others, and that’s what I want do to with my life. One of the things I like to do most is to encourage young people to consider the vocation to which Our Lord is calling them. In parishes and schools I tell them this story, and encourage them to consider their own. My hope is that it won’t take them as long as it took me to respond.

I am presently in III Theology and serving as a Pastoral Intern at Our Lord Christ the King parish in Cincinnati. Serving God’s people in this parish as been a true joy for me, and it will be hard to tear myself away from the parish to return to classes next Fall. However it is a sacrifice I am willing to make, because as one priest in the USCCB video Fishers of Men reminds us, “It’s worth it all.”

Tim Ralston

My discernment to the priesthood began when I was in the 8th or 9th grade, right around the time of my Confirmation. I had grown up in an interfaith family. My dad was Lutheran while my mom was Catholic. Both my older sister and I were baptized and raised in the Catholic Church. I never attended a Catholic school, but Mom made sure that I went to Mass and CCD every week. I also became an altar server while in the 4th grade. This was very beneficial for me, and I am firmly convinced that this experience from a young age had a profound influence on my future discernment. Serving at Mass was a joy for me and forced me to pay closer attention to what was taking place at Mass. It also gave me the opportunity to become better acquainted with our pastor at the time, the late Fr. Earl Metz.
Fr. Metz provided for me a splendid example of the life of a holy and faithful priest. To this day, I can still picture walking into church before Mass and seeing him kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament in prayer. The happiness and fulfillment that he experienced as a priest was very evident to me, and I couldn’t help but thinking that the life of a priest must be great. And it was this same holy priest who was one of the first people to suggest I discern whether God was calling me to the priesthood. I remember a conversation that I had with Fr. Metz while I was still in the early stages of high school. He told me that when I had first started serving Mass, he noticed something about me that gave him the feeling that I might be called to become a priest.
As I continued through high school, other people too started telling me similar things. Various people within the parish told me things like “I think you’d make an excellent priest. You should really pray about it.” So I did. I began praying to God, asking for guidance in my search of His will for my life. Really, though, I wanted more than just guidance. I wanted an undeniable, concrete sign. The thought that I might be called to the priesthood scared me, and I felt that I needed a sign in order to get past the fear. Often, my prayer was something like, “Okay, Lord, tell me what I’m supposed to do. But you’re going to have to speak very loudly, because I think I’m spiritually hard of hearing.”
After graduating high school, I still wasn’t sure what it was that God was calling me to do. I went to college at the University of Cincinnati, hoping that everything would become much clearer. Again, various people, sometimes even complete strangers, would come up to me and say they thought I would become a priest. Looking back on it now, it seems that God was speaking to me, but was using the voice of the people around me to do so. This wasn’t the sign I had wanted, but through these other people, I began to put my fears aside more and more.
I continued to speak with Fr. Metz about this, and also met with Fr. Mark Watkins, who was the Director of Vocations at the time. They both told me the same thing. They said, “You’ll never know if you’re being called to the priesthood, unless you go to the seminary and try it out.” This made sense to me, but even after finishing college, I still wasn’t ready to “try out” the seminary. Eventually, though, I had had enough of being unsure, and knew that it was time to test my calling. About 1½ years after finishing college, I seriously began the application process for the seminary. And the further along the process I went, the more I felt the fears and anxieties being lifted from me. I began to experience comfort and peace, rather than restlessness and worry, in my discernment.
Throughout all this time of discernment, my family chose not to push me in any direction, but rather, they let me figure things out and make the decision myself. However, since my decision to enter the seminary, they have been nothing but supportive. I can see their happiness for me, and that continues to be a great comfort for me.
I am currently in II Theology at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary, and still somewhat unsure of myself. I know that I am not worthy to be called to the priesthood by God, but I trust in His plan nonetheless. I look back over my life and how I ended up in the seminary, and can see the hand of God working every step of the way. And I know He will continue to be with me and to bless me, giving me everything I may need in order to do His work, according to His will.

David Endres, Ph.D.

Growing up in Fairfield, Ohio, near Cincinnati, my experience was of the typical “suburban Catholic” variety. We were part of a large parish of over 2,000 families, Sacred Heart Church. It was there that I was baptized, made my first communion, first confession, and was confirmed. My sister and I attended the parish grade school and then a co-ed Catholic high school, Badin High School in Hamilton. Much of our lives revolved around parish and school life. Our friends and neighbors – and at times it seemed that all those we knew – were Catholic.

My call to the priesthood had its origin in this community of faith in which I grew up. Serving Mass, helping out at the parish festival, even working for our parish in the maintenance department over summer breaks – these were some of the ways that I became connected to the local Church. My family also helped me grow in faith. I was fortunate to have faithful parents, grandparents, and even a priest in my family. My uncle, Father Albert Lauer, a diocesan priest in Cincinnati, impressed me with his holiness and humility.

At the age of fourteen I first began to think about the priesthood. I was scared but intrigued by the thought, but probably more scared than anything. I resisted the thought of priesthood at first and supposed my life would take the normal path of marriage and fatherhood. Still I thought that I would do my part for vocations by praying for more men to accept the call to priesthood – but not me, other guys! Not long after, the obvious question popped into my mind: “Why not you?” Though I initially tried to flee from the idea, I kept it in the back of my mind. I thought I could shake the thought of priesthood by becoming more active in the faith – praying a bit more, serving Mass, and doing spiritual reading. The result, however, was quite the opposite! The more deeply I entered into the mystery of Christ and the Church, the more I felt called to priestly service.

As a college student at Xavier University, the idea of priesthood remained. During these years I began to attend daily Mass, began meeting with a spiritual director, and serving others through my involvement in the St. Vincent de Paul Society. My prayer and work indicated that I might have a priestly vocation, but I was still unsure. I remained “self-conscious” of even the possibility of priesthood. What would my friends think? I was also concerned with the challenges of priesthood and wondered why anyone would “choose” celibacy. Through prayer, I started to come to the peace of seeing that what God calls each person to – whether priesthood or married life – is that which will make him most happy and fulfilled in life.

Yet, I decided to wait to enter the seminary. After graduating from college, I pursued graduate studies in Church history at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. (eventually earning a doctoral degree). While in Washington, I had the opportunity to serve Mass each day at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and also taught two theology courses to undergraduates. As much as I enjoyed my work and study, I still felt drawn toward the priesthood. Though I was still not sure about my vocation, I knew that I had to explore it further. I could not discern entering the seminary any longer. After all, it had already been ten years of on and off discernment! I knew there was only one way to find out if it was God’s will that I be a priest: to apply to the seminary.

After applying and being accepted, I began studies for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West in Cincinnati. Now as a seminarian in my second year of theology, I am delighted to share my story with others. I especially enjoy speaking to parish and school groups. Doing so allows me to touch the beginnings of my vocation – the local Church. As my vocation originated in the midst of a community of faith, it is not surprising that it is sustained and nourished through the prayers and support of faithful people that I meet. They after all are those who I will serve and it is for this reason that they, God willing, will one day call me “father.”

Dan Hess

As a young man thinking about what I wanted in life, my desire was always to do something to help others. Exactly how I was called to help others, however, has not always been readily apparent. Today I am very excited that I am being called to serve Christ and his people through the priesthood. The path that led me to this incredible, humbling possibility was somewhat winding and unclear for a time, but I believe that the Lord was gently guiding me each step along the way and that I have been brought precisely where the Lord desired.
I was raised in a wonderful Catholic family where my parents were an amazing example of selflessness and unconditional love, and the six children—I have five younger sisters—have all been raised in an environment of great faith and kindness. As our Catholic faith was nourished and emphasized at home, and I also have two great-uncles who are Jesuits who are close to the family, the priesthood may seem like a natural or unsurprising possibility. Though I think I was very drawn to the idea as a young boy, the idea had no appeal once I got a little older. By high school, I had a sense of wanting to help others as well as great respect for the priesthood, but it in my mind that was service that someone else could have.
My plan at that time was to study biomedical engineering to help alleviate physical hardships. These plans changed when I decided that I liked the possibility of government service and influencing the public square. In college at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, I was blessed to be in a vibrant Catholic environment where I was able to pursue studies in political science and philosophy toward that end. Believing that I was being called to serve the common good in the public arena in some capacity, or maybe teach down the line, I applied to law school during my senior year of college.
Though I did not seriously consider the priesthood through the majority of my four years of college, the possibility of “giving up” my career and family desires for service as a priest arose as graduation neared. Despite my plans for further studies and my excitement about where that could lead, I very nearly took a year after college to enter seminary to, in my mind, at least “give God the chance” to show me if this is my calling. However, after a lot of prayer and discerning I thought that I was being directed to law school instead. I believed that God appreciated my openness and willingness to enter seminary, but it was not my calling.
The next three years of law school at Notre Dame were very blessed years, despite the challenge of the studies. There was a great community there, with daily Mass at the law school and many talented peers who wanted to do good things for our world. In the course of those years, though, I was surprised that the possibility of entering the priesthood had not been fully resolved. I essentially came to see that, as much as our society and culture does need healing and needs good people to fight the good fight, families and individuals desperately need internal, spiritual healing and wholeness as well. I came to really embrace and internalize the idea of serving others and serving the Church. I also had a very real sense of the need for priests: fundamentally, to offer the Sacraments for the people of the Church, but also to be a witness and a guide for families and individuals as they grew in their relationships with Christ and lived with an eye toward salvation.
Though I am just starting my studies at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary here in Cincinnati, I can already see how my desires to help others as well as my interests and talents are being both satisfied and intensified. I cannot think of a more profound or foundational way to help others. The life of a priest will be demanding, but I have confidence that it will be joyous and rewarding beyond my current comprehension. It took some time, but through prayer, daily Mass, the wise counsel of priests, friends, and family, and by finally taking the leap to “give God the chance,” I am at peace that I am at the right place.

Rev. Mr. Jason Bedel

I grew up in a solid Catholic family across the street from my Church and school, St. Martin of Tours in Cheviot, Ohio, attached to the west side of Cincinnati. Since I grew up across the street from the Church, I would attend Mass sometimes during the week in the midst of summer boredom that most of us experienced as childred on summer vacation. I also saw the priests around the church and grounds quite often and I admirred them. I also admired my mom’s brother, who is a missionary priest. I would serve Mass for him when he would come home on his summer vacations. This was years before I was able to serve Mass at the parish Church. Having an uncle who is a priest and living so close to the church had a great deal of impact on my life. I remember talking about being a priest at a very young age.
However, it didn’t last. While I was in eighth grade, my family and I moved to a new house that was not near church. I ended up going to public high school where nobody talked about being a priest. My new goal was to make friends and fit in, so the idea of being a priest was put on the back burner, if not forgotten completely.
After high school, I attended Xavier University, which is run by the priests of the Society of Jesus. They were very impressive scholarly priests and this rekindled by admiration for the priesthood that I had as a child but I did not act on it because I was now dating and quite interested in the ladies and a vocation to marriage.
When the idea of being a priest would pop into my mind, I thought I had already missed my chance since I didn’t go to high school seminary and college seminary like my uncle did. However, I remember attending the Sunday evening Mass at St. Dominic parish one time. The priest mentioned in his homily that he was a newly ordained priest. I wondered how this could be since he looked like he was nearly 40 years old. He said he had been a CPA for years, wanted more out of life, and became a priest. He is now the Chancellor of the Archdioces of Cincinnati, Fr. Joe Binzer. This breathed new life into my own ideas about being a priest, but still I did nothing about it.
My big excuse was that I did not know the next step. I thought God was calling me when I would hear the Gospel readings at Mass about leaving everything and following Jesus. But I did not know the next step. The church bulletin never said who to call to become a priest. If God wanted me to be a priest, He was going to have to show me the next step.
In 2001, this “prayer” was answered. My girlfriend of two years decided to enroll in the RCIA process to become Catholic. I thought this was great and it ignited in me a desire to deepen my own faith and get to know Jesus on a more personal level. So here I am with this hunger to deepen my faith and I didn’t know where to turn to fill it. I was a salesman, driving about 1000 miles per week in a company car. I got in the habit of listening to talk radio while driving all day. My mom let me know about this new Catholic Radio station at 740 AM. This was great. The programming I heard really filled that desire I had to deepen my faith through learning. Then, in the Fall of 2001, I heard a message from the vocation director on the radio inviting men to visit the seminary. I wrote down his number, but I didn’t have the courage to call. A few weeks later, the same number was on my television as I was watching Jeopardy. Consequently, this commercial was filmed at my own parish, St. Martin. It showed the parochial vicar of the parish holding up his chalice at the altar. So, I had now more excuses. God had given me the next step. Now I am in my fourth year of Theology after studying one year of Philosophy subsequent to entering seminary in 2002.