The Vocation Story of Franz Klein, Seminarian of the Diocese of La Crosse

Many seminarians and priests I know have a vocation story that starts around second grade. They knew from an early age that God was calling them to the priesthood. Many of these men pursued other interests in high school or even college (such as the opposite sex), but eventually returned to that original calling for the "happy ending" of entering seminary, or for the priests, being ordained. My story is like those of many of my peers insofar as I have come to the "happy beginning" of entering seminary, but is unlike insofar as I did not dream of being a priest as a child.

In fact, it wasn't until my sophomore year in high school that I actually went so far as to consider my faith seriously. I always went to Mass with my family on Sundays, and I believed in some sense in God and that which was taught to me by my parents and religion teachers, but I had obviously not put the slightest bit of thought into it, as was evidenced such simple facts that I separated my "belief" from the everyday living of my life.

Entering high school is often the turning point of a "young man's" life. I've been told by a philosophy professor that many of the abstract ideas we were studying in my metaphysics course couldn't even be grasped before a certain age. Looking back at a remarkable transformation that occurred in me in these tumultuous years, I have no doubt he is right, though I still struggle to understand those very same concepts today. I entered the Confirmation preparation course at my parish as a sophomore mainly because all the sophomores from St. Peter were going to be in the course; I did not enter with what could be called an excited anticipation to receive the grace, strength, and power of the Holy Spirit. All the same, I count my participation in this class and all the things that stemmed from it. I have always loved to argue, and confirmation class was no exception. I argued with the teacher regarding many of the things she was trying to teach us, and I often would win these arguments. To do this, however, I read large sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the Bible from front to back. In the end I discovered my teacher had been right even if she hadn't been able to express the things she was teaching eloquently or to argue for them effectively.

I received the Sacrament of Confirmation that spring at the hands of a priest appointed by Bishop Burke. I often envy people who are able to talk about "instant revelations", moments when God "spoke" to them in a way they couldn't doubt in any way that God was speaking to them, giving them very specific instructions on how to live their lives. I guess the reception of this sacrament is the closest thing I have to such communication with God. I read in the book of Revelation that God spews out of his mouth those who are lukewarm in their faith. As I stood behind the young woman who was confirmed immediately before me, it hit me that the whole point of believing is all or nothing, hot orcold. I realized that if one is lukewarm, one is in many ways worse of than the one who has no faith, for the lukewarm believer participates in the grace of the sacraments, such as that which I was about to receive. At that moment, watching that girl receive the grace to be "hot" in her faith, I knew I had to choose one of two paths: either I would walk out of that church and never come back, or I would walk forward, receive the courage, grace, and strength to choose the "all" of God and the "all" of what he wanted me to do. I walked forward, knelt, and received the grace of the sacrament.

My discovery of faith's prominent place in my life seems to coincide exactly with the question, "what is God's plan for me?". Through the prodding of a friend with whom I worked during the summer, I became involved in the "Hearts Aflame" group of another local parish, St. Bronislava, my junior year. Hearts Aflame was a group of high school or college-aged men and women. We worked hard to catechize the younger children at St. Brons. I remember skits, retreats, and projects we would do with all the kids. However, the thing about the group that most influenced my vocation was being with young men and women who were also on fire with a love for the Jesus Christ and His Church. Sometime a few months before Christmas, we had an evening of reflection together, and the pastor, Fr. Pat Umberger, was available for Confession. I remember sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament, asking "what do you want me to do with my life, God?". I went in for Confession, and at the end, after confessing my sins, I told Fr. Pat that I wanted to become a priest. Fr. Pat smiled and told me this desire wasn't a sin. He promised do get me in touch with Fr. Parr, who was the vocation director at the time.

To this day I'm not sure why I blurted out to Fr. Pat that I wanted to be a priest. I hadn't put a great deal of thought into the idea, and I hadn't prayed about it much at all. I think it may have been a gradually increasing subconscious idea. When I was confirmed, I became involved at St. Peters; I started serving Mass and lectoring as well. I think that amazing graces are conferred upon servers. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, and the celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist contains the moment in which the priest, acting in the very person of Christ, makes Christ present to us in the Eucharist. As I knelt before the altar time and time again, mere feet from this incredible miracle, I marveled at the dignity of the priest who was made worthy, not of his own accord but through the Blood of Christ, to change bread and wine into that very same Body and Blood of Christ. It must have been the respect I had for my own pastor, Fr. Fisher, and for Fr. Pat at St. Brons, but most especially for their priestly office, that led me to admire the priesthood in such a way that subconsciously I decided that I wanted to be a priest as well.

It was November of my junior year that I had decided that I wanted to be a priest, but for some reason I was afraid to tell anybody besides Fr. Pat under the Seal of Confession. I was very involved in sports during high school. I ran both cross country and track, and wrestled in the winter. I was pretty good at all three of my sports as well, placing at state in all of them at one point or another. It was basically a fear of what others would think of me that kept me from telling other people. The first person I worked up the courage to tell was my great aunt. My great aunt's name is Sister Miriam Therese, and she is a Discalced Carmelite nun. She and I started corresponding my sophomore year, and to this day she serves as a sort of "adjunct" spiritual director to me. I wrote her a letter, telling her that I decided that I wanted to be a priest. The response I received from her came more quickly that any she has ever sent. She wrote, "it doesn't matter what you want, it only matters what God wants!". I therefore found myself reevaluating my whole decision.

Sr. Miriam counseled me further, telling me that to know of God was calling me to be a priest, I would have to pray. I took her advice to heart and prayed. I remember my great-grandmother praying the rosary every night, sitting in the chair in her bedroom. I decided that I would pray the rosary as well, and I recall many a night on which I fell asleep before finishing. I took heart when someone told me that my guardian angel finishes all the rosaries I fall asleep praying! Darcy Maher, who was in charge of Hearts Aflame, gave us copies of the Liturgy of the Hours sometime my junior year, and I started to pray Morning Prayer when I got up, and Evening Prayer before I went to bed. I don't recall the first person I told that I was considering the priesthood, but sometime toward the end of my junior year, the word got out, and soon everybody knew. I was surprised at how my fellow students respected my choice to think about the priesthood. To be sure, I heard my share of priest jokes in the wrestling room, but even in these jokes I could tell my decision was respected.

The summer between my sophomore and junior years I started working at St. Joseph's Convent in Stevens Point, mowing grass, painting, washing cars, and anything else that needed to be done. Between my junior and senior years, many of the sisters knew that I was considering going to seminary, and they encouraged me almost every day. Many of the sisters sat down with me and told me their own vocation stories, and often they dealt with hardships such as that of one sister whose mother had died and she had to raise her brothers and sisters before she could enter the convent. During this time my great aunt sent me her vocation story as well. Reading and hearing these stories helped me a lot to make my decision, but just as with any decision, while there is evidence to be weighed, so too must the decision itself be made. I made the decision to enter seminary early in the summer between my junior and senior year, and I made it in the same way I made my choice to be a "hot" Christian, at the spur of the moment. One of my jobs at the convent was mowing the graveyards. As I moved through the graveyard with the lawnmower, I read to myself the gravestones. The older ones were in Polish, and the newer ones were in English. At the bottom of each, after the name of the sister and her date of death were the simple words, "Prosi o zdrowas Marja," or "Asks for a Hail Mary." Again and again I passed by a gravestone, hundreds in all, each sister who gave their entire life in service to the Church having the same request, "Please, just say one Hail Mary for me, that I may live in eternal glory with my Heavenly Spouse." How could I refuse such a request? How could I fail but to be inspired by such a sight of simple-minded dedication of a hundred years of virgins united with their Christ by a bond of love so strong that they gave the entirety of their earthly life to Him? Life is about making decisions, and I made mine there. I knew God wanted me to be a priest, and I resolved to give my life to Him like these holy women had.

I wrote to Fr. Parr and he sent me the necessary forms. I applied to St. John Vianney Seminary and the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities that fall, and was accepted. And yet I had nearly the whole of my senior year left before I would graduate! That year passed very quickly. Fr. Schaller became the new pastor at St. Peters, and he has been a tremendous support to my choice starting my senior year. Darcy moved from St. Brons to St. Peters and asked me told get involved with the CCD program. I had the opportunity to teach fifth graders that year. I count this as one of the most precious opportunities I have ever had. I had before me 14 children who wanted to know about God, and all that stood in the way of their knowing God was me. I worked hard throughout the year to get out of the way of Jesus as he communicated Himself to my children. Teaching is probably the best way to know how much you know about your faith and if you really believe it. Children can see through you in an instant. This year in seminary I teach seventh graders, and just like with my fifth graders, I learn just as much from them as they do from me.

I entered seminary the following fall. What is seminary like? It is everything I expected it to be, and some things I didn't expect it to be. The fraternity is amazing. I live in a building with 70 or 80 young men who all have the same goal as do I: discerning God's will in our lives. Some of my seminary brothers are sure that God is calling them to the priesthood, while some are in seminary just because they think God could be calling them to the priesthood. At the retreat before entering freshman year, my rector, Fr. Baer, said that while in seminary we are called to do two things together: STUDY: Whether we end up becoming priests, the seminary gives us an opportunity to know more about our faith than we would ever know without this experience. We take many of our classes with the other students on campus. St. Thomas is a pretty big school, with over 5,000 undergraduate students. I have classmates who are majoring in psychology and math, among other things. I will major in Philosophy and Classical Languages and minor in English. All of us take some classes together. We all have to at least minor in Philosophy, take certain Theology courses, and usually to take a few semesters of Latin as well. We also have a course in pastoral ministry. I chose to work in the Dorothy Day homeless shelter. It is invigorating to be in a class full of seminarians, for we are all seeking the Truth in whatever we are studying. PRAY: Daily we have two holy hours for which the Eucharist is exposed, one in the morning and one in the evening. I go to the early one at six o'clock because I like to start my day with prayer. Most days the early holy hour is followed by morning prayer (lauds) and Holy Mass. We pray again in the evening when we gather for evening prayer (vespers). On Monday evenings we gather by floor (there are four residential floors), and talk together, celebrating birthdays and the like, ending with night prayer (compline). These are the scheduled times we gather together to pray. They are but a framework we work within. Often we talk together about the things troubling us, just like in a family, and we practice devotions such as the Total Consecration of St. Louis de Montfort.

To me seminary is part of the journey. I have wanted to be a priest since my sophomore year in high school, but my great aunt counseled me to caution, telling me that I have to discern what God's will is. Through spiritual direction, fraternity with my brother seminarians, prayer, and study I am discerning God's will. Will I become a priest? I don't know right now. I dream of serving humbly as a priest someday, but I also dream of having a family and raising children. I will make a choice soon, for as I said before, life is all about decisions.