Kevin Foster (center) leads a boys’ small group while serving as a staff counselor at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center in July 2023. RILEY GREIF | WKC
God opens doors
BY KEVIN FOSTER, SPECIAL TO THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
The idea of discerning the priesthood first began in 2023 while working on summer staff at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center. During the weeks that I was not a staff counselor, I often found myself in the chapel at night, attempting at least, to pray, although the typical experience usually consisted of about 15% prayer and 85% letting my thoughts go out in 50 different directions. One night, while reading a passage from Matthew’s Gospel, the thought of becoming a priest came to me suddenly, kind of catching me quite off guard. It was something I had never seriously contemplated before. Immediately, I thought, “No way!” and left it at that. I remember, though, it was from that moment on that the thought continued to remain subtly in my mind.
Soon enough, I began watching countless videos on YouTube and reading many books and articles about discernment, about the life of the priest, and about what the priesthood really is.
Finally, I brought up the topic of discernment in spiritual direction and a seemingly short time later I began the application process. I heard somewhere, probably on one of those five thousand videos I listened to, that if God doesn’t want you to walk through a door, He will close it. Facing a lot of ambivalence about the process, I kept that saying in my mind, and began walking through the doors: which were the diocesan applications, the psychological evaluation, and the seminary application. All three doors were opened, and after a lot of wrestling in prayer and making the decision to commit, I felt a sense of peace. Special thanks to Fr. Brian Roby and Fr. Mike Williams for all of their help along the way.
Kevin Foster is in his propaedeutic year at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. His home parish is St. Mary of the Woods in Whitesville, Ky.
Originally printed in the October 2024 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
