Korean priest went through hell for vocation:

The man who spent time in numerous seminaries, the army and then a spiritual wilderness was just trying to follow the call to the priesthood

Fr benedict Lee, whose quest for the priesthood of Jesus Christ never left him despite life’s considerable obstacles. 

KOREAN-BORN Scarborough parish priest Fr Benedict Lee from Korea spent 21 years trying to follow his vocation to the priesthood.
For Fr Benedict, the door to the priesthood opened when he had abandoned all hope that his dream would come true.

Read the whole story here: http://www.therecord.com.au/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1844&Itemid=26

I’m posting this excerpt from the fascinating story of Fr. Benedict’s call to the priesthood because it reminds me of my own calling to the diaconate. Of course I didn’t have to wait 21 years but about 12 instead. And like Fr. Benedict, some of those years were very trying. I think the only big difference was that I always felt God’s call would be answered in some way, even with some of the rejection and disappointment I received.

It was back in the early seventies that I experienced , what I believe was a calling from Our Lord. I had gone to an ‘all-night vigil’ for First Friday/First Saturday being held in the chapel of the local Catholic Hospital. I sat way in the back (my habit still) and was praying when one of the men involved with setting up this vigil stopped and asked me if I would like to assist the priest  with Adoration/Benediction. I responded that I didn’t know what to do. He said, “Oh, the priest will show you.”

So I went into the sacristy and introduced myself. The priest was very friendly and explained what I was to do, especially about the incense. Well, I did  it and as I knelt there in front of the Blessed Sacrament, I said to myself: “This is so wonderful, helping the priest. I would love to do this all the time!” It was like my heart was stamped with the words “Helper,” I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Shortly after that night, I read an article about the Church restoring the Permanent Diaconate and when I read what a deacon does, I knew right away that that was what I wanted to be! “Here I am, Lord, I come to do Your Will!”

Now comes those twelve years of suffering and wondering but never giving up hope. First of all, I approached my pastor, a holy priest, and told him about my dream of being a deacon. He supported me and said to write to the diocese. At that time we lived on Long Island, New York; I wrote to  the Chancery and received a letter back stating that they had not started a deacon program yet but when they do they would let me know. First disappointment but with hope.

Then the good pastor died and a new one took over the parish. He was not open to me as becoming the parish deacon. So when the diocese finally did start a formation program for men to be ordained Permanent Deacons, the new pastor not only rejected me but announced it publicly that he chose another man in the parish to go to the formation program.

Of course I was flabbergasted because I was so involved in the parish as CCD teacher, lector and many other ministries.  But God had some other ideas for me and our life changed drastically from then on. We went through a business loss, and then lost our home to foreclosure;  then we moved to Florida in 1979, hoping to start over again.

Again while in Florida I became close to the pastor of my new parish, and doing many different ministries there, I asked him about the diaconate (it still was a burning desire for me). He thought it was a good idea but God had another idea for me.  After three years there I lost my job and because there was no work in the area and with the pastors help (he bought me the plane tickets) I flew back to New York, alone, and stayed at my mother’s apartment (may she rest in peace+). The very next day, I got a job and started to make some good money, sending some down to Florida for Marianne and the four children. This went on for about 3 months when I finally was able to find an apartment in Queens, flew down to Jacksonville, rented a truck, loaded all and everybody in and moved everything back to New York.

Of course, now that we are settled, I started doing some ministry at the Local parish of Most Precious Blood. It was 1983, when one day  as I entered the church, I saw a flyer on the bulletin board telling about a meeting in this very church for men interested in becoming deacons. What a surprise! Our Lord had me traveling 3000 miles and a few years to finally get me to where He wanted me to be.

Of course I went to the meeting, took an application home and filled it out. Then I went to see the pastor of Most Precious Blood and after I told him that I had filled out the application and could he sponsor me (required), he said: “I don’t need any deacon around here!”

Whoa! My heart sunk! What do I do now? I called the Chancery and talked to the priest in charge of the formation program, he said: “Send in the application anyway.” Which I did.

A few months later I received a letter from the diocese telling me I was accepted for the deacon formation program on the condition that I find a sponsor priest. Again I called the priest in the chancery and I said “How do I find a sponsor priest?” (I was very naive!)  He said, “Start banging on some doors!” Believe me that took a lot of courage for me to do, but I did it, and God led me to a very holy priest who after hearing my story, agreed to sponsor me. Later on, he became my pastor in another parish in Brooklyn. Isn’t God great!

After four years of formation, with many trials along the way, I was finally ordained on April 25th, 1987 by Bishop Mugavero (1991+RIP) at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Douglaston, Queens.

God bless us all+