Greg Carl

Hello, my name is Gregory Carl and I'm an adopted parishioner of Holy Name in north Omaha. I grew up in Gretna Nebraska at St.Patrick's parish. My parents are Bob and Jill Carl who live in rural northeast Nebraska, and I have seven siblings, two older and five younger. I’ve studied for the Archdiocese since 2005.

In some ways it seems I was a natural to enter the seminary. I'm from a big Catholic family, grew up next door to St.Patrick's and served Mass regularly for an exemplary priest. My parents were very active in the parish, taught their kids about the faith and prayed with us regularly. Our family life was grounded in our Catholic faith and I often thought, even at a very young age, that it would be cool to be a priest. Nevertheless it took me several years before I finally yielded to the consistent promptings of the Holy Spirit.

I went to a community college, then university, held a number of different jobs and dated but in the end was dogged by the thought of the seminary and the priesthood. The Holy Spirit simply would not stop. Over four years I was slowly drawn in; through prayer of the Rosary, confession, the intercession of the saints, and most emphatically, by our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. I tried explicitly to tell the Lord I would come back to the idea of Seminary later in life, that I was going to pursue my career and relationships for awhile, but it was simply not enough.

When I finally made the decision to come back to Omaha and make application to the archdiocese, it was not an easy one. But I immediately felt a freedom that I hadn’t experienced for years. Because I was pursuing God’s will to the best of my ability, I was accepting the adoption of my Baptism, I was becoming more myself, a child of God.

In most vocation stories that I know there’s the repeated theme of God’s persistence, and care. God the father has given us a beautiful gift in his Holy Church, by which his Son is made present to us. He’s given us the saints as inspiration, models, and intercessors, especially our Blessed Mother, and he gives us countless gifts through the people around us.

My years of formation have been incredibly challenging, and rewarding. I’ve been given the opportunity to grow in my intellectual ability and in my spiritual life, and I’ve met some of my best friends in my seminarian brothers. As I continue formation I look forward to one day being able to celebrate the sacraments and a spiritual father to people in a parish. If it is God’s Will I’ll be ordained in 2012. Please pray for vocations and if you find yourself dogged by the Holy Spirit, pray for the courage to ask for assistance.