Transitional Deacon Randy Skeate realized in his sophomore year of high school that the Lord had a unique path for him.
“I just had this very deep intuition … that I could choose all of these different paths in my life, but I knew that the one path that would bring me the greatest fulfillment and peace would be the specific plan that the Lord had for me,” Deacon Skeate told Rachael McCallum, producer of the “Practicing Catholic” show, for an episode set to air at 9 p.m. May 16 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Deacon Skeate said his greatest struggle in discerning the priesthood was learning how to trust the Lord in general.
“That he would provide for me, that he would bring me on the path that he wanted, and he would continue to bring everything that I needed to fulfill the mind,” Deacon Skeate said. “But just the assurance and encouragement from everyone from my whole journey of priestly formation, from spiritual directors, formation directors, brother seminarians, everyone in my life, they’ve given me the encouragement I’ve needed.”
Transitional Deacon Steve Boatwright, at a young age, looked west one late summer afternoon and saw the sun setting. In that moment, he was so amazed at the colors and the brilliance of the scenery that he felt the call to the priesthood.
“God doesn’t always draw in a straight line,” Deacon Boatwright said. “I had a wonderful family. … All throughout my life I have discerned a calling. I wasn’t always sure where the Lord was going to lead, and I was married for 44 years and my wife died of pancreatic cancer.”
Deacon Boatwright said that two bits of advice got him through the loss of his wife. One piece of advice came from a Jesuit at Demontreville Jesuit Retreat House in Lake Elmo, who told him to only remember the good times with his wife and not the negative moments, the arguments.
“Don’t be counterproductive,” Deacon Boatwright said. “The second thing that happened to me is I was reading a book and this book said ‘life is a book filled with a number of chapters. And when you get done reading one chapter you turn the page and you start another.’ … I had been a permanent deacon for 33 years. I loved the work, loved working with people and I was kind of disappointed that permanent deacons couldn’t hear confessions or anoint the sick. That is what most of the people I went to see told me. They said, ‘I wish you could hear confessions or do this or do that.’ … I decided, OK, there’s a new chapter. What are you doing to do?”
To hear more from transitional Deacons Skeate and Boatwright about their spiritual journey to discern the priesthood, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. May 17 and 2 p.m. May 18.
Also on the program, Father Jones and Wolters talk about their experiences in Rome during the papal election, and The Catholic Spirit photographer Dave Hrbacek and Father Troy Przybilla talk about finding faith while fishing.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, “Practicing Catholic” can be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
