John Parks

Vocation Story

Growing up, I remember only wanting to be one thing… a priest?  No, I wanted to be a movie star.  When I got to high school I was invited one day by a friend to come to my parish’s youth group.  I agreed.  Little did I know that that decision would have radical implications for the rest of my life.  That day I began a new phase in my life of more seriously seeking the God who loves me. 

            Among this new fellowship I began to encounter Jesus and his Church in ways I never thought possible.  I learned about Jesus and his love for me.  I realized the immensity of the gift that was being offered to me through the Eucharist and the other sacraments.  I also began to embrace my Catholic identity at a time when I so badly needed one.  Over the next few years as I went from a teenager in the youth group to a leader I fell deeper and deeper in love with Jesus and his Church.  Once I found and encountered the gospel, everything in life seemed small compared to this great mystery.  I had found the pearl of great price. 

            In college, as I tried to give more and more of my life to Jesus I began to use my gifts for God.  I started a Catholic acting troupe; I began to give talks to youth all around Arizona, I helped start a pro-life group, and I did all I could to bring the joy I had found to others who were also seeking for it. 

            In my last two years of college I began to feel that God might be calling me to be a priest.  I remember so many nights in adoration looking at Jesus in the monstrance and thinking, praying, and asking him if this is what he wanted from me.  Although God had always been faithful to me in the past when I took a risk for him, I was not sure if I was ready to take such a step, ultimately, I was afraid.  Father Don Kline invited me to a “Thinking of Priesthood” day retreat and I thought it could only help, so I went.  That day helped me to realize that I did not need everything figured out; I needed only to trust God and to take the next step.  Courageously, after graduating from Arizona State University with a B.A. in Theatre, I decided to apply to seminary….

            I am now here studying at St. Meinrad Theological Seminary in Southern Indiana.  After being here almost a year I can honestly say that coming to seminary was one of the best decisions of my life.  I have grown more in this year than any year before, and although there is still much more conversion to be done, I am closer to being a saint now then when I started…. and when I think about it, does anything else really matter?

            When I was younger I used to sit in dark movie theatres and watch the actors on the bright screen and want so badly to impact peoples lives like they did.  But after the light of Christ’s life and love captured my heart I only wanted to bring his light to others who were still in darkness. 

God has been so faithful to me and in gratitude I thank him for my vocation and for the adventure he has taken me on.  Please pray for me that I will be generous with my life as the Lord continues to reveal his will to me.

"Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,

 and Christ will give you light."

     Ephesians 5:14