BELMONT — Young men from across the Diocese of Charlotte came together at Belmont Abbey College June 16-20 for the annual vocations discernment camp called “Quo Vadis Days.” The camp focused on one question: “Where are you going?” – literally, “quo vadis” in Latin.
Since 2014, teenagers have been taking a week out of their busy summers to spend time with the Lord and each other. Over a decade later, these camps have provided more than a thousand young men with a unique opportunity to explore vocations to the priesthood, religious life and marriage.
Father Brian Becker, the diocese’s vocations promoter and director of formation at St. Joseph College Seminary, has organized Quo Vadis Days for the past five years. Father Becker said he doesn’t expect all the participants to become priests as a result of their vocations camp experience, but he hopes they all walk away with a deeper level of discernment and fraternity.
“Every year, I am impressed by the caliber of men that come to the camp. This year was no exception. One hundred men showed up to give God a week to answer this question, ‘Where am I going?’” said Father Becker. “The goal of this camp is not really to put 30 guys in the seminary every year – that’s not the goal. The goal is to get the men to come face-to-face with that question in prayer, asking where our Lord is leading them, and to give them the tools to hear God’s voice and to understand, rightly, how to respond to it.”
Each day’s activities included Mass, prayer and a rosary, and Father Becker encouraged participants to continue that daily prayer effort even after the weeklong camp is over.
“This place is not only a place to discern priesthood – it is also a great way to reconnect with God when you are lacking and really need to go back to the roots of good Christian men,” said camper Joshua Vilorio, a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Charlotte.
The young men also listened to talks by seminarians who, at one time, were in the same position and ultimately decided to pursue a vocation to the priesthood.
Seminarian Matthew Sei, who not long ago attended a Quo Vadis Days camp, assisted throughout the week. Attending the vocations camp did not result in an “aha moment” for him, he said, yet it laid a foundation for him to explore later.
“It is so encouraging to see so many kids here that are open to asking whether they want to be a priest or not,” said Sei. “It’s such a full circle moment for me.”
Other highlights of the camp were a tour of St. Joseph College Seminary in Mount Holly, a Eucharistic Procession through the Belmont Abbey campus, small group prayer and, of course, bonding time over some slightly competitive sports and a cookout.
For some of the teens, it was their second or third visit, and while they don’t yet know where they might land, they have a better idea of how to be a Catholic man and how to invite God on their faith journey.
“It is really just a great place to reconnect with guys across the diocese that are in the same place as you. They are all in high school, they are all thinking about priesthood, and they are all just really trying to discover Jesus Christ,” said 17-year-old Josiah Siebert, who has attended the vocations camp three times. “We are just really here to have a good time and play hard, but also, pray hard.”
Newly ordained Father Joseph Yellico offered the concluding Mass – one of the first Masses he has celebrated since being ordained June 14. The moment was poignant, he said.
“It was interesting because, looking out from the altar and looking at all these guys looking back at me, I remember when I was there discerning at Quo Vadis, thinking, ‘What does God want me to do?’” he said.
Newly ordained Deacon Robert Bauman gave the homily, one of his first since his ordination on June 7.
“We are all fallen men, and we have the same struggles and human nature as anybody, yet Christ has chosen us to be able for us to go forward and bear fruit in His name and the Church, and be able to communicate to them that they can do likewise,” he said. “Whatever God is calling for them to do, whether it is going to the seminary or something else, they can be great men in Christ.”
— Lisa Geraci. Photos by Troy C. Hull and provided
