Andrew Brinkman

St. John Vianney College Seminary
College IV
Home Parish: Christ the King, Ann Arbor

Interests: reading, skateboarding, being outside

I was 10 years old when the Holy Spirit planted the seed of priesthood in my heart. A holy man told me that there would be a man from my family that would become a priest. He did not specifically say that it would be me, but when he told that, the question never left my heart. At that time and throughout my adolescent years I did not have any interest in the priesthood.

I grew up in a faithful family and my parents were devout believers. Even though I grew up in a faithful home I did not have much interest in the Catholic Church, it did not seem that important. In spite of my lack of interest in the Church or the priesthood, the Father had other things in store for me and the Holy Spirit kept tapping at my heart, inviting me to discern the priesthood. It was in my senior year of high school that I started going to Eucharistic adoration and I started to seek a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. He started to put a desire for priesthood in my heart. As I came to experience the love of the Father, I had more of a desire to serve Him with my whole heart.

Fr. Jerry Vincke had invited me to come visit St. John Vianney seminary. At first I was not interested with this prospective of entering a diocesan seminary but I had no real excuse not to go, so I decided to go visit the seminary with Fr. Jerry. The visit had a powerful impact on my life; I saw that the seminary was centered around Jesus Christ. I saw men joyfully discerning God’s call for their life.

Upon joining the seminary, I have experienced great growth and have learned what it means to be a man of God. It is a great joy to grow in my relationship with Jesus and to discern His call for my life. In my time here, Jesus and Mary the Mother of God have shown me what a great gift it is to be called to the Catholic priesthood.