FATHER Charles White IV

Homilies/Articles: Text

 
Secular career before entering seminary (if any):
I served in the United States Air Force. I then worked briefly as a contractor for the local auto industry and then for a few years as a security guard before entering the seminary.

Briefly describe your route to the priesthood (when you first began to think you might have a vocation, who - or what - were pivotal influences on you as you discerned your vocation?):
I am a convert to the Catholic Church. I was drawn to the Church by the fact that it was founded by Jesus Christ upon the rock of Peter and the apostles. While on my journey through the Right of Christian Initiation for Adults, I fell more and more in love with the Lord and I desired to learn more about the Catholic faith. I was hungry for the Truth. The more I learned, the more I wanted to share all that I learned with others. I felt a desire to help others grow closer to the Lord and learn more about the faith. At first, the idea of the priesthood was only one possibility among other things that I thought that I wanted to do with my life. Over time, I began to feel that God may be calling me to the priesthood. Through much prayer and spiritual direction, I eventually discerned that I should enter the seminary.

Having decided you had a vocation, did you ever have second thoughts about it? How did you resolve any doubts or fears?
During my time in the seminary, I never doubted that I was right where God wanted me. I was certain that He had led me to the seminary to give me time to discern if He was indeed calling me to serve the archdiocese as a priest. I had doubts, at times, about whether I would actually go all the way through the program, but I knew that I was in the right place to prayerfully discern my vocation.

At one point, during my second year in the seminary, I thought that God may not be calling me to be a priest. The spiritual director of the house at the time helped me to work through my uncertainty and encouraged me to persevere. During the following years of my seminary formation I became more and more convinced that the Lord was, in fact, calling me to serve Him as a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit.

What are the greatest challenges you see facing the Church? Where do you see the greatest hope? 
I think the greatest challenge facing the Church today is the culture in which we live. John Paul II, in his Encyclical "Evangelium Vitae," called the culture prevalent in the modern world a "culture of death." We live in a culture that is highly skeptical that it is possible to know truth. This has led to widespread rejection of God, Who Is Truth. If one rejects God, one loses sight of the very purpose of our existence as human beings. Each and every individual was made to know and love God.

Despite the fact that we live in a culture which is hostile towards our Catholic Faith, we can still have great hope. We have hope because Christ has conquered sin and death. A former rector of the seminary used to often remind us that Christ has already won the victory, we have only to run out the clock with style.

What are your hopes for your priestly ministry? 
I hope to be a faithful priest of Jesus Christ. I hope to faithfully serve God and serve His people. I hope that I will always be a faithful instrument in the hand of the Lord, that He may use me to lead many people into a closer relationship with Himself. As St. John the Baptist said, I must decrease that the Lord may increase. May I always be a bridge and never an obstacle to the grace that the Lord desires to pour out upon His people.

What about your priestly ministry do you anticipate will be the most rewarding? 
I am looking forward to helping others grow closer to God through the celebration of the Sacraments, particularly through offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and through hearing confessions. I am also looking forward to helping others grow in their understanding and appreciation of the Catholic Faith. I look forward to continuing to learn and grow in my own faith and sharing all that I have learned with others.