Why I Am a Priest: Thirty Success Stories

If someone says, "I want to be a doctor" or "I want to be a teacher," we understand them, even if not doctors or teachers ourselves. But if someone says, "I want to be a priest," we feel transported to foreign, even mystical territory. In this fascinating collection, priests explain why they became priests and why they're still active today. Their answers help lower the veil of mystery around the vocation and make it more real and understandable. With essays by Walter Burghardt, George Higgins, Frank McNulty, Eugene La Verdiere, and others, the collection includes both "born" priests and those who came late to the calling. Their "jobs" range from missionary to administrator, canon lawyer to spiritual director, chaplain to theologian. Each essay candidly reveals as much about the state of the priesthood as about the individual. Together they provide an honest look at the vocation's contemporary problems, such as the shortage of priests, social justice, issues of leadership, the changing role of the laity, and more. All clergy and religious, seminarians, spiritual directors, vocation directors, and high school guidance counselors will find this title very useful. It's also interesting reading for lay people simply curious about the priesthood.

Lawrence Boadt, CSP, is an ordained priest in the Paulist Fathers, and professor emeritus of scripture studies at the Washington Theological Union. He has written and spoken widely on Old Testament topics and currently serves as the president and publisher of Paulist Press in Mahwah, NJ.

Michael J. Hunt, CSP, of the Paulist Fathers, has served as a chaplain at secular universities an is currently an associate editor of Paulist Press.