Baseball Prospect Called Up … to Priesthood

Posted by Lanny Smith on February 6, 2010 under Featured Articles |

I’m posting this to give us a chance to consider by way of this young man’s example what it means to hear and respond to God’s call on your life. What I find most noteworthy is what he is willing to give up for his faith and his calling. What are we willing to change and do to heed God’s plan for our lives?

In the News

At 23, and ranked by Baseball America as the eighth-best prospect on the Oakland A’s farm team, Grant Desme was likely on a fast track to the major leagues. But last month, he informed the A’s management of his intention to retire from the game and enter a Catholic seminary this August.  

Desme said he has been feeling the call to the priesthood for the past year and a half but decided to play the last season as a way of testing the call. Ironically, his success on the ball field during that season convinced him that the call he needed to answer wasn’t the one to the majors but the one to the church. 

"I’m doing well in baseball," Desme said. "But I had to get down to the bottom of things, to what was good in my life, what I wanted to do with my life. Baseball is a good thing, but that felt selfish of me when I felt that God was calling me more. It took awhile to trust that and open up to it and aim full steam toward him. … I love the game, but I’m going to aspire to higher things."

Of Desme’s decision, Rob Fai, assistant general manager of the Oakland affiliate in Vancouver, B.C., said, "All I hope is that, at the end of the day, he never regrets [making the decision now]. So few players get to the point where he’s at. In my perspective, the guy could be a priest when he’s 35 or 60. … Here’s a guy who’s so unbelievably close to making it. The timing is the one factor I can’t figure out." Fai wondered aloud if current events, such as the earthquake in Haiti, had nudged Desme to make the move to the priesthood now.   

After informing the ballclub of his decision in late January, Desme said he felt at peace.

The process of becoming a priest takes about 10 years. "It’s like re-entering the minor leagues" Desme said.

"I desire and hope to become a priest," he added. "But it’s all up to God."

More on this story can be found at these links:

A’s prospect leaving baseball for priesthood. Fox Sports

Grant Desme discusses decision to become priest. San Francisco Chronicle

A’s prospect leaving baseball for call of the priesthood. Yahoo! Sports

The Big Questions

1. How can we tell the difference between a call from God and a "career opportunity"? Can they ever be one and the same? How do we know?
2. How do we distinguish between a call from God and a prompting of our own for change?
3. Many of the things God calls us to do involve sacrifice on our part. Does every call from God require sacrifice from us? Why or why not?
4. Does God have a call for every Christian? Is ministry the only calling, or are some of us called to other kinds of service, including things such as folding worship bulletins and shoveling snow off the church sidewalks? Are all callings equal, or are some "higher" than others? Explain your answers.
5. What helps you discover God’s will for you?

Confronting the News with Scripture

Consider the following scriptures as you ponder God’s call on your life:

• Amos 7:10-17 ¹⁰ Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable. ¹¹ He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’” ¹² Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there! ¹³ Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!” ¹⁴ But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees. ¹⁵ But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’ ¹⁶ Now then, listen to this message from the Lord: “You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against my people.’ ¹⁷ But this is what the Lord says: ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed. Your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland.’”
• Judges 6:11-24 ¹¹ Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. ¹² The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” ¹³ “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” ¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” ¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” ¹⁶ The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” ¹⁷ Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me. ¹⁸ Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.” He answered, “I will stay here until you return.” ¹⁹ Gideon hurried home. He cooked a young goat, and with a basket of flour he baked some bread without yeast. Then, carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out and presented them to the angel, who was under the great tree. ²⁰ The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told. ²¹ Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. ²² When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” ²³ “It is all right,” the Lord replied. “Do not be afraid. You will not die.” ²⁴ And Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and named it Yahweh-Shalom (which means “the Lord is peace”). The altar remains in Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer to this day.
• Luke 5:1-11 ¹ One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. ² He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³ Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. ⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” ⁵ “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” ⁶ And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! ⁷ A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. ⁸ When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” ⁹ For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. ¹⁰ His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” ¹¹ And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.
• Acts 16:6-10 ⁶ Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. ⁷ Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. ⁸ So instead, they went on through Mysia to the seaport of Troas. ⁹ That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰ So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, having concluded that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.

(From the Wired Word – 2/7/10)