I think I found a future priest

Yesterday after Mass I was talking with one of our seventh or eighth grade boys (I can't remember off hand which grade he is in).

He is an intelligent, inquisitive and talkative boy whom I don't think has ever met a stranger. At Masses with the grade school students he often serves Mass or reads and never shys away from offering to help.

As we talked last night I said to him, "We want you to be a priest" (I can't remember who "we" was/were at the moment). His response: "Maybe." "That's all we ask," I said. I will continue to suggest it from time to time.

Remember: suggest the priesthood as a viable option to boys. The response you receive may well surprise you (though I wasn't at all surprised with this boy; he's one, I think, that will only find fulfillment in the priesthood).

Future priests aren't really difficult to spot. They're all around us. We just need to help them see it.