Vocation Night provides insight to those discerning

Friday, Jul. 29, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Dominican Father Peter Hannah, St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center associate pastor, hosted a Vocation Night for the visiting Dominican novice master and novices, students and young adults in the parish to hear the novices’ stories and discuss discerning vocations July 11. 

Some of the Newman Center students attending are discerning their paths, whether that will be joining a religious order or include marriage. 

Two married couples also shared how they discerned their journey, as did another young man who is engaged.

“Don’t hesitate to approach a priest or a married couple for guidance to whatever question you might have,” Fr. Peter said. 

Fr. Peter spoke about discerning the priesthood after he converted to Catholicism; he attended a Dominican Come and See retreat, he said. At the time he was teaching high school and dating. 

“The discernment would have been difficult if I had not been nurturing my faith with God,” he said.

Trevor and Rachel Woods were one of the couples who spoke about their marriage. When they met, Trevor was contemplating the priesthood and had been avoiding dating, but something about Rachel made him realize they could be married and still give their lives to God in service, he said.

Rachel originally wanted to become a Carmelite nun, “but I wanted it for the wrong reasons,” she said. “When I was in high school, I didn’t want to deal with the world, I just wanted a schedule, to pray and not have any distractions,” she said. 

The couple met in college and were friends before they started dating. 

“I knew our relationship was right before Trevor did,” Rachel said. “I knew God wanted that for us.”

The other couple, John and Angelica Asher, have been married just over a month, after having been engaged for more than a year. They were introduced by a mutual friend. 

“We really hit if off; she has two kids and there was something in me that really craved fatherhood,” said John, who had volunteered with the Big Brother Big Sister Program for 10 years and had started a nonprofit for kids.

“We waited a year while she went through the annulment process to get married,” John said. “It has been amazing.” 

For Chris Amateis, growing closer to God was the answer to what he thought was a crisis in his life – not being married in his 30s, he said. He considered the priesthood, but knew he wanted to get married. 

“I knew God would help me find what I was supposed to do,” he said. “I have been engaged for a year and that has given us time to pray and work through a lot of issues that have helped our families. Instead of giving up, we look back at how much we have grown.”