Mike Posegate

Discipleship (College III)
St. Pius X Seminary, Loras College, Dubuque, IA
St. Pius X, Urbandale

My name is Mike Posegate, and I am from St. Pius X Parish in Urbandale. During my junior year of high school, I went on a retreat in which I came to realize the beauty of the Church and her Sacraments for the very first time. It was at this retreat where I encountered the love and mercy of Christ in adoration and through the sacrament of Confession. During the sacrament of Confession, I was able to realize and experience for the first time that I was not just confessing my sins to a man; but rather, I was able to see that Jesus Christ was present in the sacrament by working through the priest who was acting in persona Christi to give me His love and mercy. This experience opened my eyes to the beauty of the Priesthood, but I did not start to feel a calling until about a year later.

Throughout my senior year of high school, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do as far as a career, but eventually I decided to attend Benedictine College to pursue degrees in Theology and Secondary Education. Shortly afterwards, the thought of priesthood kept coming up in my thoughts and during prayer, and I realized that I had never really discerned or thought about with an open heart what vocation the Lord was calling me to. As a result, I started asking the Lord in prayer what he wanted me to do with my life rather than what I wanted to do with my life. Once I fully opened myself up to the possibility that God may be calling me to be a priest, I began to notice the beauty of the priesthood and saw it as a possibility for me.

During my freshman year at Benedictine College, I began to seriously discern my vocation through attending daily Mass, frequenting the sacrament of Confession, and being around a community of people who encouraged me to grow in holiness through their witness to the faith. Throughout this time of discernment, it became more and more clear for me through prayer, interactions with others, and small signs the Lord gave me that he was calling me to enter seminary. Ever since making the decision to apply for seminary, I have felt an extraordinary peace, and I am looking forward to seeing how the Lord continues to work in my life and the lives of those around me throughout this time of seminary formation. Please continue to keep me and all of our seminarians in your prayers and know that all of your prayers and support are greatly appreciated.