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TORONTO - Craig Cameron鱿鱼视频app 鈥済reat high school rebellion鈥� began one evening after a confirmation class at his local parish in Halifax. The frustrated 17-year-old came home, convinced that he did not want or need to be confirmed. After expressing his frustration and voicing his decision to his mother, he stormed to his bedroom 鈥渓ike only a teenager can鈥� and 鈥� this is where the archetypal narrative breaks 鈥� began to pray.

It wasn鈥檛 that Cameron had a problem with the morality that the Church taught, it was that he had a problem with the morality that the members of the Church were living.

鈥淭his discrepancy was a bit of an obstacle for me to receive the sacrament,鈥� he said.

TORONTO - Ten years ago, no one in Chris Lemieux鱿鱼视频app world 鈥� not his parents, not his closest friends, not the guys on his softball team 鈥� would have imagined him as a priest. That鱿鱼视频app because 10 years ago, he wasn鈥檛 even a Catholic.

Lemieux, now 40, was working as a bus driver for Mississauga Transit at the time, and planning to do so, eventually as a married man with a family, for a long time.

鈥淏ut it seems now that God had another plan,鈥� said Lemieux. 鈥淎 plan that led me to baptism 鈥� to become Catholic first 鈥� and then to priesthood.鈥�

TORONTO - Michael Goring鱿鱼视频app father likely knew his son had a unique spiritual maturity when Michael asked something along the lines of: 鈥淚s this all there is to the faith 鈥� to pray the rosary, to go to Mass? Can we come to know God in a more personal way in our lives?鈥�

That鱿鱼视频app big talk for a preteen.

A self-proclaimed 鈥渧alley boy鈥� from Pembroke, Ont., the now 38-year-old Goring said it was his Catholic family 鈥� and especially a particular suggestion from his father 鈥� that fostered in him, from a young age, a love for the Church and priesthood.

In response to his young son鱿鱼视频app questions, Goring鱿鱼视频app father advised him to read the lives of the saints. So Goring read the stories of men and women whose lives were transformed by Christ and who transformed others鈥� lives through Him. He developed a fitting fascination with St. John Vianney.

鈥淪omeone who had trouble getting through school, couldn鈥檛 even learn the Latin to become a priest, and now he鱿鱼视频app the patron saint of all priests throughout the world,鈥� said Goring. 鈥淨uite an inspiration.鈥�

Equally inspiring was an invitation from one of Goring鱿鱼视频app high school religion teachers, who told Goring and his classmates that, when they were having difficulties in their lives or felt isolated, they could call on God and that He would be faithful.

鈥淲hy should I wait to invite God into my life when things are going badly?鈥� Goring asked himself.

So that night, he knelt and said a simple prayer.

鈥淚 sensed at that moment that the Lord had come into my heart and He was telling me that He was with me,鈥� said Goring.

It wasn鈥檛 until a few years later, in university, that that sense translated into a direct encounter with the possibility of priesthood. After an evening Mass that he had attended with his brother Mark 鈥� who has since become a priest 鈥� Goring met the late Fr. Robert Bedard, the founder of the Companions of the Cross. Bedard invited them to share dinner with him. While his brother left his studies to pursue priestly formation soon thereafter, Goring continued his engineering studies and eventually became a software engineer in Ottawa.

But thoughts of the priesthood didn鈥檛 entirely leave Goring. After several years of studies and work, Goring decided to take a silent, week-long Ignatian guided retreat.

鈥淚 look at it almost like a vacation with the Lord,鈥� said Goring. 鈥淎nd about halfway through that retreat, I sensed that God was offering me a gift, and it was the gift to become a priest.鈥�

That gift will come to fruition on May 12 when Goring will be ordained a priest for Pembroke.

鈥淚 always thought myself more drawn to married life (than the priesthood),鈥� Goring admitted. 鈥淏ut I couldn鈥檛 resist such a generous offer from God.鈥�

TORONTO - Francesco Marrone believes his call to the priesthood began in his mother鱿鱼视频app womb.

The oldest child in his family, he has nine younger siblings, and another eight 鈥� including a twin brother 鈥� who didn鈥檛 make it. It was clear to him that God wanted him alive, and for a reason.

For a while, however, that reason wasn鈥檛 entirely clear to the native of Verona, Italy. Growing up, his large family endured a myriad of difficulties, from financial problems to parental marital woes. Furniture began to disappear from Marrone鱿鱼视频app home as his family grew deeper in debt, which only worsened his parents鈥� already troubled marriage. Nevertheless, Marrone recalls his father sharing a lesson that would stick with him to this day.

MELROSE, ONT. - Ordinarily committed to a prayerful life of service to others, 46-year-old Fr. Andrew Kowalczyk has clearly had to step outside of his comfort zone this past year as he has endeavoured to make the work of the Michaelite Fathers better known. 

Kowalczyk is the provincial of the Canadian delegation of the Poland-based Congregation of St. Michael the Archangel and has been organizing the triple jubilee celebrations the order observes this year.

TORONTO - A recent study out of the United States is showing that those entering religious orders and undertaking perpetual vows are  younger and more educated than their predecessors of recent years.

鈥淲e are encouraged by the report鱿鱼视频app findings that men and women are considering a vocation at a younger age,鈥� said Mercy Sister Mary Joanna Ruhland, associate director of the U.S. bishops鈥� secretariat of vocations and consecrated life, according to Catholic News Agency.

TORONTO - When Bruce Watts bought a camera for a Philippines vacation in 1965, he had no idea that the beauty of God would be waiting in the view finder. Capturing a memory was all he had in mind.

鈥淚 thought, 鈥楪ee, I should have a camera for this,鈥� and it just sort of went from there,鈥� said Watts.

Recently the amateur photographer鱿鱼视频app photos were displayed at a Followers of Jesus eco-spirituality retreat earning him a guest-speaker invitation at the Mustard Seed鱿鱼视频app Spiritual Spa.

TORONTO - To minister or not to minister is no longer the question for Jonathan Andrews, who earlier this year quit his job to become a full-time candidate for the Capuchin Franciscans.

鈥淲hen I was going to do the nine-to-five it felt very repetitive. I鈥檝e worked in warehouses, factories and offices; I鈥檝e done the full spectrum,鈥� said Andrews, who now nourishes the less fortunate at St. Francis Table in Toronto鱿鱼视频app Parkdale neighbourhood.

鈥淚 felt that there was no higher purpose. I had no spiritual thing.鈥�

PEACE RIVER, ALTA. - For Sr. Mary Jeanne Davidson, pastoral assistant at three First Nations missions in the northern Alberta archdiocese of Grouard-MacLennan, every day is an adventure.

鈥淭here is no typical day 鈥� except that I arrive in each community to spread the Good News of God鱿鱼视频app love through my love for the people.鈥�

VATICAN CITY - While the text of the Bible is fixed, the same Holy Spirit that inspired its writing continues to inspire its proclamation and interpretation in the church, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The Catholic Church's understanding of the Bible grows through time thanks to the Holy Spirit's guidance and to reflection, study, prayer and preaching, the Pope said in a message to members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, an international group of scholars who advise the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.