The archdiocese highly recommends men discerning the priesthood to become active in the life of their local parish. Contact your local pastor and learn about the opportunities to become involved in the life of your local Catholic church. Ask your local parish priest about becoming involved in "hands on" ministry and active programs or groups within your parish. Involvement in a parish community is a very important part of learning about the diocesan priestly vocation. A man discerning priesthood who is involved in his parish will better understand what a diocesan priest is, does and means to his people.

A second step to learning more about the spirituality, ministry and role of a Catholic diocesan priest is to "shadow" a priest for a day or two. "Shadowing a priest" means spending a day with a parish priest in the midst of parish life.

Parish life has great variety, which is one of the gifts of priesthood. One or two shadow days can help a man to better understand the spirituality, ministerial work and life of a diocesan parish priest. A man discerning who walks with a priest in his daily prayer, celebration of mass, ministry within his parish and his life among his people will gain valuable experiential knowledge to help clarify his discernment.

If you are interested in the possibility of "Shadowing a Priest" for a day, please contact Rev. Joe Noonan at 312-751-8298 or email at vocations@archchicago.org