Give it all you've got, men! I heard those words for the first time during a halftime speech by my high school football coach. His motivating words lead our team to victory that day, and later to the state championship. Coach's words stuck with me and they were not just about football.

When I think about my vocation and time and eternity, giving it all you've got takes on a different meaning.

While growing up in Wisconsin, I was very close to my parents and I am grateful to God for the example they set for me. My father taught me always to be a strong-willed man with a determined work ethic and my mother showed me how to be kind and to esteem my faith. I would frequently recite prayers from a book I received on my First Communion. My times of prayer became times of grace where the Holy Spirit helped me understand that life is lived just once and that eternity awaits us.

After high school, I attended the University of Southern California and graduated in four years with a degree in finance. Like most students, I enjoyed the social life, but I also began to follow my mothers example of praying the rosary daily. As I grew closer in my relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the things that I thought were important to me, such as my goals of having a family and succeeding in the financial world, gave way to more probing questions about the meaning of my life. I began to consider questions such as, "What really makes people

happy?" and "What are the needs of the world and the Church?" It became evident to me that people need Christ.

The thought of dedicating my life to Christ and his Church was unfamiliar to me. My life plan, I thought, was completely in my control. I began praying about dedicating my life to

Christ and I asked God to lead me toward what he wanted. The more I prayed, the more the Holy Spirit opened my heart to Gods plan and I began to gain a deeper understanding of Christ's love for me. I wanted others to have the same joy. It became clear that God was inviting me to walk on a new path that I had never considered.

God answered my prayers on the night of my 21st birthday when I had a long conversation with a good friend. We had been speaking about different things in life, such as girlfriends and job

opportunities. The conversation went deeper and we spoke of the important questions I was considering. The priesthood was mentioned and, just after midnight, my friend said directly

to me, "You know, Todd, you would make a good priest." I replied, "You know what? I think Im going to do it." Gods timing was perfect because right at that moment my mother called me.

"Happy birthday!" she said. I told her the good news: that I decided to pursue the priesthood. From that moment on, a new adventure began when God asked that I'd give it all I've got for His Kingdom and the salvation of souls.

God led me to the Legion right after college in the summer of 1993. I visited the Cheshire novitiate and met Fr. Maciel. I saw him as someone who was dedicated to building Christ's

Kingdom of love and serving the Church with limitless passion and untiring zeal it was that same give it all you've got approach. He told us that life is a precious gift and to do something great for Christ is something with eternal value. From that moment, I knew God wanted me to be a Legionary priest.

I wish to thank Jesus Christ for my vocation and the fortitude to follow it, the Blessed Virgin Mary for her protection, Fr. Maciel for his fidelity to God's inspiration, and my family for their gifts of love.

Fr. Todd Belardi was ordained a priest in Rome on November 25, 2004. He can be reached at

tbelardi@legionaries.org.