Jesse has been a parishioner at Saint Patrik Catholic Church for 10 years.  He started attending in 2008 when he was a student at the University of Puget Sound.  Jesse is a Captain in the US Army Reserves. He’s been active in our Youth Group, RCIA, Religious Education, Vacation Bible Camp, Bible Study and is a lector at Mass.

Blessing

But that’s not why he was called up for a blessing at Mass the weekend of April 28, 2018. Jesse was blessed because he’s been listening. He’s been listening to that quiet voice that we hear sometimes when we really listen to what God is trying to say to us.

Called to Vocations

And in Jesse’s case, God has asked him to consider a vocation to the priesthood. And he’s going to give it a chance. He’s willing to follow that voice and see where it leads. It’s not a quick and easy decision. In Jesse’s case, the next step is committing a year of his life to being a NET Minister. This is a group of young adults, whose main office is in Minnesota, and they form traveling teams that drive across the country putting on parish youth ministry retreats. We’ve hosted NET ministers for retreats the past several years here at Saint Patrick Catholic Church & School. In fact, Our Confirmation Leaders, Joe and Anna Skillman met while volunteering as NET Ministers. Now we’re not necessarily hoping that this same thing will happen to Jesse during his upcoming year with NET. But rather we join in prayer with him that he discovers God’s will for his – be it the priesthood, married life or single.

It’s a rare gift these days to have someone from our very own parish follow this path of discernment, so we wanted to take these couple extra minutes today to acknowledge and thank Jesse for his courage and commitment and to pray for him as his faith community sending him forth to the world.

Why NET Ministries?

Jesse’s story in his own words:

“Two-thirds of American Catholics avoid Mass. We all suffer because of this. The work of NET Ministries will change that trend. They energize thousands of Catholic youth every year. The result is a personal encounter with Jesus Christ! NET Ministries sends out teams of young Catholic men and women. These teams travel across the country conducting retreats. They spread the Gospel. In March, they offered me an amazing opportunity. NET Ministries asked me to join their team to take part in this Catholic evangelization movement.

But God had more surprises in store for me. I am an Army Reservist and my unit received mobilization orders. 

However, with incredible generosity, NET Ministries offered me an alternative. They understood my situation and sacrifice. Military obligations outweight my desire to serve with NET Ministries. Even so, they asked me to join the initial NET training. For two weeks, I’ll train with the other 185 missionaries. It will be a time to strengthen my relationship with Christ. I will also learn NET’s effective methods of evangelization. God-willing, NET Ministries is still in my future. After my mobilization, I plan to serve as a NET Missionary.”

Gratitude

Jesse extended his gratitude to the faith community at Saint Patrick Catholic Church for their continued support.  Through the generosity of the faith community, Jesse was able to attend  attended NET Ministries training.  Jesses says that the training “was a retreat-like spiritual boot camp” and noted that he will remember the experience forever.

Experience Jesse’s Moment

Check out Jesse’s emotional moment during Net Ministries Announcement Night— the last 5 minutes of the live stream!