Opinion, Conviction and Belief

My Vocation: An Opinion, a Conviction and a Belief Development is an integral part of the life of human beings. As long as man lives, he cannot but develop his physical, mental, spiritual and emotional properties. This also applies to all things which have life and I consider my vocation as something which has life. Thus, it is also capable of development. Its development is based on its transition from opinion to conviction and turning into a belief.
Once, I had an opinion with regard to my vocation. I entered in the seminary without any knowledge of what a vocation is. I have heard it many times before but its explanation and meaning, I am not familiar with. That’s why I do not know if I have that vocation or not. However, some people say that once you enter in the seminary, you are being called to the priesthood. This formed my opinion with it. Since I enter in the seminary, perhaps I have that vocation. It is often the case that opinions have “false” basis which is most clear in case of stereotypes and prejudices. Taking it into consideration, there is a possibility that what some people say as regards vocation is just a product of prejudice. Almost the whole year of my stay in the institute of formation, I hold and maintain this opinion in front of my classmates and of other people without reflecting on it. I have that vocation and I consider that opinion then as something unshakable due to the lack of reflection I associate with it. As time goes by, I realized that this opinion must not remain what it is. Rather, I must be truly convinced that I have this vocation to the priesthood and I know it can only be done through extensive reflection which in the seminary is termed as discernment. A nun once told me that for seminarians, discernment must be an integral part of their day-to-day activities. Every seminarian, according to her, must discern in their everyday stay in the seminary and not just on the moment they reach their last year of formation