Dear Friend in Christ,

As I prepare for ordination to the priesthood, I have been reflecting on how God first began calling me to this vocation.

My path to the priesthood goes back almost as far as my memory. Raised as a cradle Catholic in Sidney, Ohio, I once wrote as a child that when I grew up I wanted to drive dump trucks, fly airplanes, and be a priest. As I tell grade school students today, I no longer care much about dump trucks, but I would still love to be a pilot, and I hope to be a priest soon. Ever since those early days, the sense of a possible vocation to the priesthood has ebbed and flowed, emerging more prominently in certain seasons of my life and fading into the background in others.

The turning point that finally led me to the seminary came during Mass on the vigil of Pentecost in June 2020 at Franciscan University in Steubenville. In that moment I received what can best be described as a thought that came from outside of myself: “If you are going to go to seminary, now is the time to do it.” Since the priesthood had been a consideration for most of my life, I took that gentle prompting seriously. I decided to apply to the seminary and committed wholeheartedly to its formal structure of discernment and formation for at least one full year, at which point I would reassess whether I still believed that God was calling me to be His priest.

When January 2021 arrived, my first days at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology (MTSM) took place under the ongoing shadow of Covid, which certainly shaped those early experiences. Those first weeks and months were not particularly easy, but I never seriously considered leaving before that first year was complete. In hindsight, I see that perseverance as God’s grace and a sign that He had indeed led me to the vocation He desired for me.

Of course, “seminary”, “formation” and “discernment” are not merely abstract ideas. They are lived out each day in the concrete reality of life at MTSM.

Over the years I have admired, learned from and formed friendships with seminarians from many different dioceses, classes and backgrounds. I have also come to know the resident priests and lay professors, many of whom have become mentors and examples as my intellectual life and my identity as a future priest have developed.

Daily life at the Seminary is structured around the horarium, the schedule that orders our days, especially the times of communal prayer. This rhythm of prayer and study has helped form and shape me by minimizing distractions and allowing me to focus my energy on preparing for the priesthood.

MTSM and the formation I have received here have helped confirm my own particular vocation, while also deepening my growth in the universal call to holiness through love of God and love of neighbor.

Your support of MTSM helps ensure that seminarians like me receive the spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation needed to serve God’s people well. Will you prayerfully considering giving a gift today to support the formation of future seminarians at MTSM and help prepare the next generation of priests for the Church?

As I prepare to begin my priestly ministry, I am grateful for the many people whose prayers and generosity have supported my formation. Please keep me and my classmates in your prayers as we prepare for ordination and for the beginning of our priestly ministry. I look back over my years at MTSM and see God’s hand in many small ways, guiding me toward ordination as a priest, as He has done for nearly two centuries of priests before me, and will continue to do for many years to come.

In Christ,

Deacon Jacob Schmiesing
Archdiocese of Cincinnati

Thank you for supporting the seminarians studying for the priesthood at MTSM!