Alumni Seminarians Share Vocational Stories with TAC Students

To aid students as they discern their vocations, Thomas Aquinas College periodically invites priests and religious to campus to share their own stories of answering God’s call. Last Sunday, a priest and three seminarians — including two TAC alumni — came to the California campus to meet with young men at a vocational visit in St. Cecilia Hall.

“The whole thing at the heart of being a human person is to find someone or something to give your life for.”

Leading the talk was Rev. Peter Saucedo, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, joined by Paul Collins (’14) and Jorge Moncada (’18), both of whom will be ordained to the transitional diaconate in November, and fellow seminarian Blaise Ebiner. “I’m always blown away by the beautiful chapel, the beautiful environment you have here,” said Fr. Saucedo. “A lot of guys have a difficult time adjusting to the life at seminary, so you guys have a real gift in being here.”

Fr. Saucedo encouraged the men to use their time at the College to pray about their vocations and cultivate interior silence, so that they can better listen to the voice of God. “My job is not to convince you to be priests,” he said. “My goal is that you do God’s will. That’s where we find true fulfillment and that’s where we find great joy.”

Next, Mr. Collins spoke to the young men about vocation and, in particular, how every vocation requires sacrifice and self-gift. “The whole thing at the heart of being a human person is to find someone or something to give your life for,” he explained. “The natural way to do that is marriage … Christ shows us the supernatural way of giving your life for everybody as a priest.” He shared his own journey of discovering what he desired to give his life for, first by entering a religious community in Peru, and then by discerning a call to the diocesan priesthood. Upon his priestly ordination next spring, Mr. Collins will serve both in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and as a chaplain for the U.S. Armed Forces.

“I was certain that this was what I wanted, but I needed to make sure that this was what He wanted for me.”

In his remarks, Mr. Moncada shared how he became certain of his desire for the priesthood while a student at the College, when his spiritual director advised him that his vocation would be that which would bring him the most happiness. It was later at a friend’s wedding, where he imagined himself first in the position of the groom and then in that of the priest, when the answer became clear. As happy as marriage could make him, he desired the joy of priesthood even more.

Ultimately, however, Mr. Moncada explained that it was not his own desire, but God’s, that he had to discern. “I was certain that this was what I wanted, but I needed to make sure that this was what He wanted for me.”