By Deacon Caleb Scherzinger
Special to The Message
Growing up, I was always involved in my faith and my parish community. As I started to get into high school, I got involved in groups outside my parish, as well, such as Teens Encounter Christ. It was through the interactions with people in my parish and these other communities that I began to feel called to the priesthood. In my prayer as a high schooler, I began to feel this tug by God toward the vocation of the priesthood but did not know how to communicate this well. It was through discussions with my pastor and people who were more mature in their faith that I began to understand my call to the priesthood. Though I did not want to accept this call at first, so after high school, I did not enter the seminary. Instead, I pursued a degree at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville.
At the University of Southern Indiana, I pursued a degree in accounting. It was during my time at USI that I began to see more clearly that was being called to the priesthood. When I was at USI, I became involved at the Newman Center on campus. While I was in college, I met other young men who were actively discussing the call to the priesthood. It was through these conversations that I felt more inclined to actively discuss the idea of this vocation with others in a deeper manner. I began spiritual direction with a local priest, and we discussed regularly why I felt called to the priesthood. As I began my last year of college, I would go to Eucharistic Adoration occasionally. During which I found it hard to pray. At first, I could not figure out what was going on. However, the longer it went on, the more I realized that throughout my time in college I was being drawn to the priesthood but was not answering the call. Though as I decided to apply for seminary in the coming fall everything began to fall into place without much effort. Things such as working and living situations for my time between USI and seminary fell into place without much effort.
As I got to seminary that fall, I entered a world that I was not really expecting. The first year was hard in transitioning from my time at USI to living in a seminary setting. Once things began to settle, I found consolation in praying in the chapel in the morning before the day started. In praying regularly at this time in the chapel, I began to feel more and more called to the priesthood. In this quiet prayer, I found comfort in the presence of Christ in adoration. It was during this time that I could more clearly hear my call to the priesthood. After six years of studying at St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, I felt that through this time of prayer and my experience in ministering to others, I am called to the priesthood for the Diocese of Evansville.