Seminarian answers call, shares story of how the seed was planted

By JAMIE MCCLURE, Globe reporter
Nov. 1, 2007

Many things can play key factors when a young boy or man opt to follow a call to the priesthood.

They might have a whole list of reasons, or there may have been one instance that has been forever life changing. For one young man, the seed was planted early - when he was about eight or nine years old.

As the second youngest in a family of six, Justin McCarty had a lot of role models and options for career paths, especially given that one of his three brothers had entered the seminary for a semester before changing paths and eventually getting married.

"When I was eight or nine years old, our parish priest looked at my three brothers and myself and said that one of us would be a priest someday," said McCarty. "He also said he didn't just tell that to anyone."

God works in mysterious ways and plants seeds that help pave the way for young boys or men, and so it was with McCarty.

"When our priest talked to us about it, it planted that seed of wonder in my mind, but I just assumed it wasn't going to be me," he said.

Now, McCarty is enrolled in the St. John Vianney Seminary School in St. Paul, Minn., and has been there for three years. McCarty said he didn't heavily start thinking about becoming a priest until he was a sophomore in high school, but there were little thoughts that kept creeping in.

For instance, when McCarty was at a Steubenville retreat, he said it was there he felt called.

"I think our priest planted the first seed and Steubenville played another crucial role," said McCarty. "If the seed hadn't been planted, I'm not sure I would have even noticed the signs at Steubenville."

At the retreat, McCarty said it was the first time he came to realize and see that he could have a deeper relationship with Christ. Before that, he said it just seemed like he knew God existed and that Jesus loves us.

Another sign that McCarty was being called was his constant tendency to be compassionate towards people and his desire to serve the poor. He loved to do mission work and never minded the physical labor.

"Sometimes on the mission trips, we would get a few people who started complaining about the labor," said McCarty. "When I did the mission work, none of the physical stuff mattered because of what I was doing. Being able to serve and reach out to help another human being who was in a worse situation than I was enough for me."

The next sign for him was his desire to know more about Jesus Christ and his desire to serve him more. He wanted to bring more people to God who didn't know much about him. He also said that other people would point out the physical signs to him that he was going to be a priest.

"They would say that I have a great personality and that I am very kind and generous," said McCarty. "When I would serve in Mass, which was very often, they said I would add dignity to the Mass and that I showed reverence. After people started to point these out, I really started to see the signs...God was calling me."

Serving at Mass he noted, fostered the spirit of service in him. Being able to serve was a way for him to fit into his parish, instead of playing a passive role. Serving became his form of prayer.

McCarty said he liked taking on leadership roles at youth retreats and being able to work with the youth.

He was involved in many things through high school that helped him serve the Lord. Some of these include the Steubenville Retreats, retreats in Des Moines, mission trips to The Lord's Ranch in Juarez, Mexico and youth group in Hartley.

McCarty said that people would be surprised to know that he went to Bolivia for a summer in 2006 to visit an exchange student that had lived with his family for a year and that he is interested in landscape architecture.

REACTIONS OF FAMILY MEMBERS

Family and friends of McCarty were not surprised to learn that he was going to enter the priesthood.

"At the time that I told my family and friends, a lot of them had already guessed that I would be taking this step in my life," said the Hartley/Melvin/Sanborn High School graduate. "My family took the news really well because my brother paved the way for me."

McCarty said he remembers when his brother left for the seminary life; there were a lot of questions from his parish, wondering about seminary life. He said when he decided to join; they didn't think much of it because it fit his personality.

SEMINARY LIFE

McCarty said seminary life was not a hard transition. He said it was more of a transition from high school to college life and learning how to be studious. He also said that going from high school to college, seminary added a lot of requirements and he was very busy his first year.

"Before I left for the seminary, I had a picture in my mind of something like a monastery, where everyone was 'super-holy', always praying and no flaws," said McCarty. "It definitely was not like that. Realities hit when I got there and I found out that there were normal people there, just like me."

Coming from a small town to a big city and living in a building with 150 other men who are also thinking about becoming priests challenged him to grow. He said everyone around him knew something different and something more.

"Some of the men had more theology background, some had more philosophy, but all of these different aspects really challenged me to grow in leadership," said McCarty. "I was not the big fish in the little pond anymore."

Now, McCarty is three years into seminary life and said he is always struggling to get to know everyone. Every year the college grows, and McCarty said it's hard to find leadership when there are so many people around.

"It just takes a lot of work to get to know my brothers and to interact with them," said McCarty. "There have been many times when I have gone through a time of trial and when I get to the end, I realize how much I have grown-whether it be just the external areas, or whether it be the internal and spiritual."

PRIESTHOOD TODAY

McCarty's views about priesthood today are that it's important to have priests because in today's society, people don't care as much about morals and they don't have a lot of time to devote to God.

"Everyone is so busy with their daily lives, and they need someone to step into their life and say, 'Don't forget about God...he's most important and I'm going to teach you about him,'" said McCarty. "We need to reach out to those around us who are lacking awareness of Christ."

McCarty likes to go biking during the summer and do anything outdoors. He and his family have participated in RAGBRAI, the bike ride across Iowa.

McCarty was born to Dan and Donna McCarty and his sibling's names from oldest to youngest are Scott, Michael, Adam, Angela and Maria.

VOCATIONS

McCarty stressed that the church is in dire need of parents, parishioners, priests and teachers to all be willing to step out of their comfort zone and invite people personally to the vocation of priesthood or religious life.

"I have not had any regrets or second thoughts about seminary life and I am pretty sure this is where God wants me," said McCarty. "I'm just going to keep going ahead with it."