Upon the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, please pray for Diocese of Lansing seminarian Jacob Derry who has the privilege of studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, close to the tombs of the two apostles, and whose journey to the sacred priesthood began at Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis where he was working after graduating college.
“At Mass [at Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral] I was just in my own prayer, just trying to say, ‘Okay, Lord, I am here, I am present, and my heart is here’," recalls Jacob who hails from the parish of Saint John the Evangelist in Fenton.
"And just in the quiet of my heart I heard the Lord respond to that. And he said, ‘Yes, your heart is here but I want to be here,’ and when he said that I saw this image of Jesus pointing to the altar. He was saying, ‘Jacob, I want your heart on the altar as my priest’.”
Jacob says he was surprised and, indeed, “really afraid” by these events but decided to respond as best he could including a particular request: “Lord, if this is from you then I need you to repeat this call.”
“And so, over the course of several months of spending more time praying and talking to the Vocations Director, visiting seminary, that eventually happened, the Lord repeated that call and those fears went away and now priesthood is the one thing that I'm so excited about right now.”
Hence, please do pray for Jacob today. Saints Peter & Paul, pray for him!
• Do you also feel that Almighty God may be to the Sacred Priesthood? Contact Father Mike Cassar, Director of Seminarians for the Diocese of Lansing at mcassar@dioceseoflansing.org