Man for Others

Father Greg Morgan, from the archdiocese of Sydney, Australia: "One night I decided I would go and kneel down right in front of the Blessed Sacrament and I simply asked God if He wanted me to be a priest, but without holding anything back for myself for the first time, I just wanted to listen. And at that moment I had a very special experience. It's not for want of saying that Our Lord appeared to me or Our Lady appeared to me in a vision and said I was going to be a priest. It was in some respects even more supernatural because it felt as if for a few moments God focused his attention on me and I'd never felt more loved, never felt more certain about my Catholic faith and, for whatever reason, I'd never felt more certain that God created me to be a priest." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Bishop Elias Sleman, from the Valley of Christians in Syria, in Arabic: "..." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Évêque Elias Sleman, de la Vallée des Chrétiens en Syrie (in French): "Il y avait un prêtre qui vivait une vie de sainteté, le curé du village. À l'âge de dix ans, j'ai dit à mes parents 'Je veux devenir prêtre comme ce prêtre.' Et par conséquent, j'ai été au Liban dans le seminaire patriarcal maronite où j'ai été à l'âge de dix ans. Bien sûr j'ai souffert parce que j'étais enfant séparé de sa famille, dans un autre pays, tout ça c'est difficile. J'ai eu beaucoup de maladies après, beaucoup de dépaysements mais ça m'a fait beaucoup, beaucoup de bien, parce que à partir des souffrances on découvre l'amour de Dieu et on découvre réellement le Christ, le Christ. " Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Matthew Devereux, from New Zealand, is a Legionary of Christ priest: "It would have been much more difficult for me to have discovered my priestly vocation if it had not been for the example that I was given by someone else, and that someone else was my elder brother. And so what amazes me is that, when someone is generous and open to the will of God in their life, then they may not only themselves undergo a conversion and receive a total transformation of the heart but that many times and almost always becomes a catalyst for other people to do the same. Obviously the vocation always comes from God and so it's always to God that we must turn for light in the process of discernment, which is important for anyone, whether it's to the married life, to the consecrated life or to remaining single. It's always a matter of discerning our vocation and it's where the help of other people is very important but also reading the hand of God in circumstances in our life and people that we can meet. So I'm very thankful to my older brother for his being brave enough to leave his little town, his home country, to travel 17,000 km to try out the life in the seminary and, because of that generosity and example, well that opened up the door way for me to discern the vocation. And interestingly enough a number of years later my youngest brother also joined the seminary and he's also a priest." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Christian Irdi, from Australia, speaks about how central Our Lady has been in his vocation story: "The one constant was that prayer of the rosary and my love and devotion of Our Lady, and also of the Mass too. It was in and through that prayer that I began to hear the Lord's call, it was a delicate tug at one's heart's strings, I guess you could describe it as, and an attraction towards the priestly life, which made me eventually leave the legal practice. I worked as a lawyer for a couple of years but it wasn't what I was meant to do, I felt this attraction and a call to the priestly life. So that was what I began to do and it was with the help of a good priest from my archdiocese, the vocations director, who helped me to discern more clearly what the Lord was asking me to do and, as part of that process of discernment, I went to Calcutta to work with Mother Teresa's sisters and it was there that I saw for the first time very clearly what the Lord was asking me to do." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Eduardo Howard, from Chile, gives his vocation story, reflecting: "Now when I think what happened, I think that I didn't have any idea what to be a priest was, I didn't have any idea what vocation was. I just did what I thought God was asking me. Afterwards I was learning more, maturing my vocation, and I understood better what is the meaning of being a priest and that Jesus is calling me to be another Christ today in the world. So that's a real challenge because we, the priests, are very human people, as all people, and we must fight with ourselves because sometimes it's not easy to be a priest. We have, as I say, to fight with ourselves and we always have God's grace but, as all people, sometimes we feel that nothing happens, we continue with our problems, with our difficulties, and it seems that God is not with us. But I have learned that He is always with us, in the good times and in the bad times too, and He is with us, accepting us as each one is and giving his grace so that we can be better. ... Each priest is unique, different and I think that each priest is a gift for our Church." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Ciaran McGuinness M.Arf., a White Father from Ireland, remembers the parish priest of his childhood: "I’d just like to speak about somebody whom I admired greatly in my life and he wasn’t in any way outstanding, he was just an ordinary parish priest in rural Ireland in the 50s and early 60s, and his name was Fr James Donlon. .. What I remember of him is that he was somebody who brought Christ to the people - when we went to church we always realised we were in a special place and that the Lord was truly present in the Blessed Sacrament. How he did this I do not know, probably by being faithful to his vocation, by saying Mass as he did say it (not in any particularly good way). .. He was someone that I remember: approachable, sincere and, above all, when you went into the church or you met him in confession or wherever, you realised that you were in the presence of God and the presence of Christ. That is what I like to remember about him and thank God for him. May he rest in peace." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Bishop John Wilson, from England: "The first priest that I was sent to as a newly ordained priest is and continues to be a great inspiration to me. The first night I arrived in the parish, he took me in the car and drove me round the boundaries of the parish and he said to me: "To be a priest is to be an extension of the love of Christ, in service of his Church and in love of his people." And for me that sums up what it is to be a priest." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Conrad Osterhout, a Franciscan friar of the Renewal from America, gives his vocation story: "I always go back in a communion of hearts with my confessor, who was a friar, and to my high school years for the strong impetus that they were, to my parents that taught us how to pray so that I would have a longing for prayer, the inspiration comes through those years, and the good Franciscan sisters who taught us, taught us actually to wear our rosaries on our belts as young second graders and so we already had the form of looking like religious even though we weren't religious. So I would say there were many, many opportunities, the strongest being my confessor I guess, who carried me with grace and with Our Lady's prayers to choose the vocation to religious life and priesthood. Amen. Alleluia!" Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Niall, a seminarian for Portsmouth diocese, England, shares the story of his conversion, which began with a trip to Medjugorje (thanks to his mother) and includes JMJ Madrid:: "So when I returned home, I thought 'Right, it's going to go away soon' but after a few days it just kept growing and growing. And I knew I needed to speak to someone about it so I emailed a priest who'd travelled with us to WYD Madrid, and said 'Hi, Father, something has gone horribly wrong in my life. I think I want to become a priest. Please help me!' And he returned the reply and said 'Look, come and have a chat with me. We'll see what's going on.' So I went up and had a chat with him, and I must have been there for two or three hours, talking about all sorts but obviously centred around this sense of calling to the priesthood, which I was hoping he'd say 'Yeh, you're being ridiculous. Don't worry about it, it'll go away in a week.' But he didn't! He said, 'Look Niall, I think you need to take this seriously because the Lord never leads you down a dead end. So whatever He is leading you to at the moment, it may be priesthood, it may not be, but take it seriously and see where it goes.'" Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Robbie D'Lima, a priest from Pakistan, gives his vocation story: "I was finishing school in 1995 and it was a time when I was searching for a deeper meaning in life. Like any young person, you start to wander what's more in life, is there something more than just living? I just kept wondering about this and at that time one of my religion teachers kept telling us that 'you know, God has a plan in your life. He made you not just to eat, drink, make merry and die.' But then he also told us 'Only God can tell you what this plan is. No priest, no sister, nobody else can give you the answer.' Well, I was looking for something deeper at that point in life and I decided to actually do what he said. I would go on my balcony, the 4th floor of an 11 storey building, and just look up to the sky and say 'Lord, what do you want to do with me? Do you have a plan for me?' And, to be honest, I don't think I ever wanted an answer, I don't think I expected an answer, but the frightening thing was that within about two weeks time something started to happen, answers were coming. It's hard to describe what was happening; there was something happening in me, something was going on." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Alan Neville MSC, from Ireland: "In that parish there were two priests, Father John and Father Jim, who were just really wonderful priests, great sense of humour, lovely sense of humanity, and as I grew up with them, because I was an altar server there and then I was a reader when I was considering a vocation to the priesthood, it didn't occur to me to consider any other group. It was always going to be the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Padre Pablo Zamora, de Mexico, en español: "..." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Gareth Leyshon, from Wales: "From there I was headhunted by Cardiff University and spent four years doing a PhD on dust in distant galaxies. But half way through the doctorate I asked the big question again 'Lord, what should I do next?' and this time the answer was different. I was driving a friend home from another Youth 2000 retreat when, somewhere past Reading on the motorway, I turned to her and I said "Still don't know what I'm doing after this PhD but when I become a priest, I shall ..' Oh, what did I just say? It was then that I knew that the idea had gone from somewhere in my head to somewhere in my heart and it was time to take the next step. So I approached the archdiocese of Cardiff and, after finishing the PhD, I went to seminary at Wonersh and was ordained priest in 2006. I served five years in the parish of St Dyfrig, Pontypridd, and then came to the city of Cardiff where I now serve as a Catholic priest. The journey with God hasn't finished yet. I don't know what's in store next but I don't need to know. I know I'm in the right place, doing what He has asked me to do: "Do this in memory of me."" Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Charles, from Burkino Faso: "Priesthood for me is a way of serving people so when I applied to go to the seminary it was maybe to become a priest to please people first, but then it was to serve them and make them discover the Gospel of God." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Richard Nesbitt, a parish priest from England: "The parish priest came bounding up to me, big smile on his face, and he just gave me this big hug and said 'Richard, don't worry, be happy!' And I just knew - when he gave me that hug, when he said those words to me - that that's what I wanted: I wanted to be happy, to know real, deep joy in a way that I hadn't really in my life up to that point, and that this man, this Church, this community, this Christ whom they worshiped, that was the key to this happiness. And that began my journey. I began to go back to that church week after week, and not only on Sundays. I would find other churches in the city that were open during the day and between English lessons I would go in and just sit down. Every church had a copy of the Divine Mercy painting in, and I couldn't speak very much Polish but when I could look at that image literally walking towards me, almost coming out of the painting towards me, I began to talk to Him, I began to share my heart, my hopes, my anxieties, my ups, my downs, and that was the beginning of a relationship for me with Christ, the beginning of my prayer life really. And I've always been really grateful to that, that's how God brought me to prayer, in such a direct way, heart to heart with Jesus." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Alan Robinson, a parish priest from England: "The heart of Fr Augustine Hoey's whole life - and we're talking about a man now who's approaching 100 - the thing that is consistent in his life is his life of prayer. He has always been a huge prayer, whether it's within the community, in Mirfield, in Sunderland, whether he's been in South Africa, when he was setting up a flat in Manchester as a sort of hermitage praying in the middle of quite a deprived area, the routine is always the same: huge amounts of prayer and it's that which has been the consistent thing in his life. Now, in his 100th year, he still rises very early and spends about three hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament, concelebrates a public Mass, goes from church to church saying the Divine Office, praying for the unity of Christians. And that's really the heart and answer to everything for Augustine. He's a great prayer and he always says 'There are thousands of books about how to pray but the only way to learn how to pray is to pray, is to get on with it. It's like cookery books: you can buy so many cookery books but in the end you've just have to go in the kitchen and get on with it, start cooking!"" Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Hugh MacKenzie, a diocesan priest from London: "I think my vocation to the priesthood is rooted in my prayers as a small child with my father. He was ill during my teenage years and he didn't continue it then and maybe I didn't want to anyway, but the quite strong experience of knowing God as a small child, particularly praying with my Dad, I think rooted much of my priesthood and my vocation. As a teenager I still went to Mass and for some reason when I was under the stars, looking up at the beautiful sky, I had a real sense of the Creator behind this amazing universe. But outside of that, as a teenager, I didn't really pray and I drifted. But I still enjoyed discussing philosophy and the existence of God, a bit. Then, as I was leaving school in my sixth form, I have the distinct memory of praying under the stars again actually, saying 'Look, you're there God, but where are you? I don't know you. I know you're there but surely you're not just beyond the universe. Have you come into the universe?' Even though I was going to Mass, I didn't link the two at all. .. I do remember saying 'I'm quite happy to give up being Catholic in order to know you, so where are you?' … I've sensed that this type of family, this type of fatherhood, this type of commitment that is the priesthood is the one that I happened to be called. .. I just never really lost for more than a few hours this basic peace and excitement of loving people and being loved by God." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Danny Horan, a diocesan priest from Ireland: "For me, the Holy Mass is beyond all doubt the most powerful prayer in the world. There's nothing to compare with it … That is my belief, that is my trust, that Jesus becomes really and truly present for all us through me. I'm the most unworthy servant to be on his altar but, by his grace and the love and the mercy of the Mother of God, I am there and I'm proud to be a priest." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Father Francisco Javier Oseguera, a Legionary of Christ priest from Mexico: "What I would like to share with everybody is just the reality that God really is present in our lives more than maybe we can imagine and He really has a plan for us. But it's up to us to really be open, to be in his hands totally, to really trust Him that, when He permits something in our lives, it's really for the good of us and for the good of others. Sometimes we may not understand those things, maybe they are going to be painful or difficult, but if we really hope that He is there and trust Him, He really surpasses our expectations. I've been very happy in my congregation, in my religious vocation, and excited about the things that God wants to do through my priesthood." Music by Mike Mangione. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by Saint John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.