Father Radley Alcantara (Class of 2017) shares how God called him to become a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
“I am equipped, I am ready to go out there and I’m ready to serve. Some things that I want to model in my priesthood are generosity, love and accompaniment. I may not be the best, I may not be perfect, I might not always say the right thing or do the right thing, but the people of God will help me.”
Are you discerning your own calling to the priesthood? Check out the USCCB’s website: http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/discerning-men/index.cfm
In Chicago, visit https://vocations.archchicago.org/
Full Transcript:
My name is Radley Alcantara. My parents came from the Philippines and so they grew up with a strong Catholic upbringing and I knew that Mass was important and God was important, at the very least.
My senior year, this priest said, “In my 30 years of being a priest I’ve only said this to few people, but, I think you’d make a terrific priest.” And I was like, “Oh, thanks father, but I already have plans.”
It was in my year in downtown Chicago doing commercial real estate banking where I started praying more intentionally and I spent that year trying to figure out if I wanted to keep working in the bank or if God was really calling me to become a priest.
In the seminary, we have six years to think about what moves us, what drives us, and when we grow in self-knowledge, we grow in holiness. Mundelein Seminary has been this place for me because I’ve been able to be contemplative. I have made some of my best friends here, knowing that they have my back, that they support me, and they encourage me. We challenge one another, whether or not we like it.
I am equipped, I am ready to go out there and I’m ready to serve. I may not be the best, I may not be perfect, I might not always say the right thing or do the right thing, but the people of God will help me. Some things that I want to model in my priesthood are generosity, love and accompaniment.
I’m blessed and I’m thankful that I made it this far, because I doubted myself, I doubted my own vocation. But I leave Mundelein Seminary with a sense that the church has discerned well, that I have discerned well and that this is what the Lord is calling me to do.
