Vocation Awareness Week 2017

David Sacha in front of the coast of Amalfi in Italy, near Pompeii and the island of Capri.

Say yes to service, & listen for God in the silence of your heart. 

During Vocation Awareness week 2017 we want to encourage you to pray for vocations, pray to be open to God's call in your life and the special mission he has for you, & pray for our seminarians like David Sacha! This article was featured in our recent newsletter, but we thought it would be great to share it again here!

David Sacha is a senior at Saint John Vianney Seminary and graduate of both All Saints Academy (2010) and West Catholic (2014). His family are active St Alphonsus parishioners.

David started his Catholic school career at St Isidore and made the switch to All Saints Academy with his classmates in 7th grade when ASA opened. According to David his two years at ASA were exciting due to bigger classes, more people to share ideas with, more band options and the hardworking teachers committed to helping students learn and maintaining a strong Catholic identity!

David recently returned from a semester studying abroad in Rome with the Catholic Studies Program at St Thomas University. He was struck by the universality of the Church during his time in Rome as he was privileged to study and pray with priests from Romania, Haiti, Africa, and Italy, as well as a groups of Irish seminarians. These men  became role models and excellent images of universal Christ-centred lives for David.

When asked about hearing God’s call in his life, David spoke passionately about the important role his family, especially his parents, played in “tilling the soil of service at home and the community.” He shared how his family life helped him come to understand the importance of serving others in even the littlest things like cheering on teammates and classmates to do their best. It was the emphasis on serving others, David says, that prompted him to say “I could do that” one day during a classroom visit from Fr. Don Lomasiewicz who asked “Who will replace me?”

David went on to give advice to all those seeking God’s call in their own lives, whatever that call may be. He pointed out that this world is full of noises and demand telling us where to go and what to do. Inspired by Saint Therese of Calcuta he continued “this is not the Lord’s invitation. Vocation arises from the deepest places in our heart, not from the world. Listen to you heart in silence,  in front of the Blessed Sacrament.” David emphasized the importance of quiet time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He noted that “no one delights in us more than Jesus!” so we should quiet ourselves enough to listen to him in his presence.

Please join the ASA community it praying for David this year. He specifically asked for prayers that he may be a holy, pure and loving priest!

This past summer when a group of seminarians went to a cottage for a few days to relax! Just enjoying some spiritual reading!