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August 01, 2006
God or the Girl, redux
It's out on DVD and CNS reports on what's happened since the series ended - including the news that the one young man who thought he'd be going to seminary...isn't.
Of the four men featured this spring on A&E's reality show "God or the Girl," three of them decided against entering the seminary to pursue a priestly vocation.
The fourth, Steve Horvath of Virginia, who has been on a student missionary assignment in Lincoln, Neb., said he would apply to a seminary. Then he got stuck on the application.
"The last parts that I ended up not completing were ... 'What do you think a Catholic priest should be' and 'What is calling me to the Catholic priesthood?'" Horvath told Catholic News Service in a July 27 telephone interview from Fairfax, Va.. "I needed some more subjective and personal reasons (than what he had been writing). In taking that to prayer, I really didn't feel that calling."
Horvath instead will spend a third year as a lay missionary at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.
As the CNS story reports, the God or the Girl website has resources for youth ministers and others who might want to use the show in their programs.
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
At the time in April I thought this was kind of a cool concept of a show and an interesting watch. After talking to a priest friend in seminary formation work and other priest friends and reflecting myself over the whole dynamic of this show these last few months, in retrospect, the whole concept of the series was goofy. You can't discern a call to the priesthood, which is such a mysterious and interior reality, in a public way on a 2006 reality series. I am not surprised that the one guy on the show who I thought might have a vocation is now not going in. I can't imagine if he would have went in what kind of scrunity he would have been under by the seminary itself, let alone the press and others. This is a real tragedy if God was truly calling him. A lesson learned hopefully for others that this is NOT the way to discern a vocation to the Holy priesthood. And what ever happened to that goofy priest in Columbus who made the guy carry the 80 pound cross for 25 miles as well as the immature guy from Cleveland who now is a "spiritual director" of students at John Carroll university- all I can say is: FRIGHTENING!
Posted by: padrechillin at Aug 1, 2006 7:38:06 AM
Sounds to me like the application is designed to scare off anyone with an intellectual style of devotion, rather than an emotional one. Not to mention anyone who simply has appraised the hugeness of the need for priests in relation to his own abilities, and decided that this is the way he should go.
God forbid one should examine one's own gifts and think about how they would best be used, rather than wait for God to come down from Heaven and hand you an engraved invitation.
Wonder how many priests God was in fact calling, whom we lost this way.
Posted by: Maureen O'Brien at Aug 1, 2006 10:31:51 AM
Maureen,
He sounds like he is cooping out. As a priest who went through the rigors of the seminary application process as well as 5 years of the seminary itself, the application is NOT a big deal. Just fill it out and be accepted and then the REAL work of discernment begins. I'm sure his vocation director in Arligton told him that. It sounds like Steve got cold feet and is just using this as a weak excuse. As one of my good friends was a vocation director, I've heard all the amazing excuses that guys come up with usually within a few weeks of entering. It truly is sometimes weak and amazing.
Posted by: padrechillin at Aug 1, 2006 10:50:28 AM
This might come as a shock to at least some reading this blog, but 'vocations to the priesthood' were not always discerned in this way. In fact, with the shortage of vocations AND the debacle of attempted 'women ordinations' I wonder if we are too dependent on the 'subjective call' and do not recognize that the 'real' call from the Lord comes through the voice of the Church.
Let me explain this point first. Even now, a person can 'think', 'feel', 'discern' a vocation to the priesthood, but if they are NOT called by the Church in the person of the bishop, they are NOT called to the priesthood-this REALLY puts some debated issues in perspective. It is this call from the bishop that has remained permanent from Tradition (of course accompanied by ordination itself).
In the time of the Fathers of the Church-and this is seen in the lives of several of them-a man was called forth from the community. He had become known to the community by his presence, participation, conversation and more than likely was involved with some ministry such as lector-catechist (they were connected back then) or perhaps acolyte. The bishop who was pastor of the community would announce a need for a presbyter (often looking for an eventual successor) and the community would point to, or say the man's name stating he was indeed 'worthy'.
Now men like Ambrose (not even a baptized Christian at the time, Augustine (fresh from his conversion), Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen desiring to live a monastic life and Gregory of Nyssa-who was even married-were called forth AND they protested a great deal!!! (for various reasons) But they did recognize in the consensus of the community AND the call of the bishop THE Vocation coming from the Lord.
Granted, that this changes things a great deal and would raise other questions. But I wonder if a re-emphasis on the call from the Church in the person of the bishop [never lost but overlooked by so many] is not needed in a subjective and individualist mindset in which we find ourselves.
Posted by: Father Elijah at Aug 1, 2006 11:04:28 AM
Well, I'm sure all the people posting on IMDB who thought he was "too cute to become a priest" will be happy to hear this.
I do think it was a good thing that this program exposed so many people to the idea of the priesthood, and that so many of the folks who watched it agreed that Steve would be a great priest. Even if he doesn't end up a priest, at least people recognized that the characteristics which would make him a good biological father would also make him a good spiritual one.
Posted by: ATP at Aug 1, 2006 11:41:46 AM
No! Steve!
Why are aging women thinking they will be priests and this great young man doesn't think he would be a good priest? Agh!!!
Posted by: jennifer at Aug 1, 2006 12:06:03 PM
I didn't like the carnival nature of the show, where men tried to trick the vocation into appearing: carry a wooden cross X miles, travel to Niagra, avoid Miss Y, serve the poor in W town. If the vocation then "appeared" or FELT to appear, wow, they had a vocation! If it didn't FEEL to appear, then, okay, they got their answer.
I would have liked to see serious spiritual direction, but those that are serious in that department would have advised their directees to avoid the carnival. So, we're never going to see the REAL discerners on a reality show.
Posted by: Lily at Aug 1, 2006 1:45:42 PM
Re: the application
Well, of course it was a lame excuse. There's never been anything God wanted me to do that I didn't have a lame excuse to escape, and the prophets mostly felt the same way. There are very few things that I _have_ to do, or which would be extremely advantageous to me, or even which would be fun but are new to me, that I _want_ to do.
The difference is that when you're an adult, your parents can't make you do it, and there's nobody to help you with the dread. Especially since most parents don't want their kids to have a vocation, or go away to school, or do anything uncomfortable and difficult.
Re: Father Elijah's comments
That's a much more graceful way of saying what I was groping to try to say!
Seriously, a certain kind of lame panicked attempt to escape seems to me to be just as much an indication of God's call -- maybe more -- than being serenely sure that what you're doing is a good idea. But nobody ever wants to talk about clumsy reactions to callings. No, we want it all clean and pretty, with white light and an engraved invitation.
Posted by: Maureen O'Brien at Aug 1, 2006 3:39:55 PM
Has anyone seen the Fishers of Men video?
Posted by: Derek at Aug 1, 2006 4:29:41 PM
I'm not familiar with this program, but I wouldn
t give up hope on anybody who was continnuing on as a focus missionary. I know some of these kids, they are incridible. He may yet end up in the seminary.
Derek,
I was given a copy of the Fishers of Men video by a seminarian here in Denver last week. After viewing it my 7 year old son said, "You know Dad, I don't want to be a soldier anymore, I want to be a priest. I didn't know that preists were more important than soldiers, but they are, so now I want to be a priest."
This video may be one of the best things to come out of the USCCB in years.
Posted by: ben at Aug 1, 2006 5:17:19 PM
Ben,
Your son could even be a military chaplain after he's ordained.
Posted by: Chris at Aug 1, 2006 7:52:57 PM
It's sad to see what passes for entertainment these days, but I suppose we should be happy that it wasn't "God or the Guy?"...
Posted by: Augustine at Aug 2, 2006 10:58:47 AM
The idea of any of these jokers being a priest filled me with horror.
Posted by: dymphna at Aug 2, 2006 8:57:49 PM
