Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash, provided by Fr. Tyler Kreipke, C.S.C.
I find great joy and purpose in my work as a Holy Cross priest and professor at the University of Portland. Bringing together spirituality and science, pastoral ministry and academic endeavor all in one assignment brings about a unique sense of fulfillment. But I do have to admit that it was a long road to get here. I went to graduate school before entering seminary, so I wasn’t ordained until I was 35 years old. I had essentially been a student in some form or another from the time I started kindergarten until my Ordination.
One of the difficulties for me when going through formation at Moreau Seminary was just this sense of waiting in the wings, of simply biding my time until I could go and fully live into my purpose. I watched a number of my friends progress in their careers, get married, have kids, and, you know, get on with their life.
Nevertheless, I found great consolation in the great liturgical traditions of our faith. Even as I was still in formation, even as my patience to get out there and do what I thought I was meant to do wore thin, I still can’t think of many, or really any, days during that time that felt without purpose.
The liturgical life that surrounds us as Catholics, and that I stepped into with renewed intentionality at the seminary, always gave me the sense of being a part of something greater. The Liturgy of the Hours and the Mass weren’t only for my own spiritual growth; they were part and parcel of the redemptive work of the Church. And even on those days when things would go sideways and I felt like I hadn’t accomplished much, or the end of my formation felt far off, I was still buoyed up by knowing that each day I had shared in the prayers and the praise that God Himself had entrusted to us.
Discernment and formation can take a long time. Training for our vocations can take a long time. But that time is not wasted. God is not just forming us so that we might serve Him better some day, far off in the future. God offers us each day our highest calling to take part in His redemptive work. In the liturgy, God is here and now inviting us to take our place in the great story of salvation. He is calling us to find and fulfill our highest purpose, even in the midst of waiting.
By Fr. Tyler Kreipke, C.S.C.
Provided by the Office of Vocations, July 22, 2026
