Dear Jarel,

I think the principal element in preparing for or following a call to the ordained life is to be in constant, direct contact with the Author of that call. That means personal prayer as well as liturgical prayer. Do your part to develop a strong, personal relationship with Christ; ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of knowing him personally, listen to him and look at him in the Gospels, go to him in the Eucharist, find his pardon and mercy in the Sacrament of Confession, and strive in your daily life with the help of his grace to align all your thoughts, hopes and actions with his will. This is the foundation of everything else, this is the heart of being his follower.

The second element is to attend to our human formation. This covers a gamut of aspects: from our physical health, to our intellectual preparation, to the formation of our character and will, to the social graces and affective maturity. Virtues such as reliability, work ethic, perseverance, order, kindness, honesty, self-control. Today, it is very important to mention and to be careful in the area of our use of the media. Much of what is served up in entertainment and on the internet is destructive of us as human beings, and panders to areas of our life in which we are fundamentally weak and in which our basic instincts are so powerful. Often the only remedy is to avoid the occasions.

A third element has to do with the apostolic nature of our Baptism. We cant prepare well for the priesthood without imitating in our life this essential characteristic of Christs life. He went about doing good. We have to make sure our faith is a thing of action and not only of the mind.

God bless.