[Br. Bill entered the Fathers of Mercy in the summer of 2001. Currently he is studying theology at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.-Editor’s Note]

When I was younger, I always prayed to be a soldier of Christ. I would pray: “Let me fight for you and bring victory to your Church.” In grade school and high school all of the priests that I saw never interacted with the youth, and never looked like they were having any fun. It seemed to me the only two that loved the priesthood and loved children were Jesus and the Holy Father. So I did not think that the life of a priest was for me, and went off to school to be successful and to find my way to happiness and eventually to a family, or so I thought.

The Church always played an important role in my life, but there were many ways that God used to prepare me for the priesthood. For example, when I was in engineering school at the University of Missouri in Rolla, I used to tutor fourth graders in mathematics. This taught me to speak to people at their level, and to make things that are difficult fun. It also taught me patience. Also, while in college, when I did any reading besides what was required for school, I read the Bible. I found great pleasure in reading the Bible. Whenever my friends’ children asked me for a story, I would tell them stories from the Bible and try to bring them alive for them. They always loved it and I always had a lot of fun doing that.

Brother Bill Bellrose

After getting my Mechanical Engineering degree, I worked for a few years as a development engineer. Then I moved into designing computer networks. I was living by myself in a four- bedroom house, and dating a beautiful Catholic woman, when the struggles about the priesthood really started. I felt that something was not right, but was unsure what it was. God was telling me that this was not for me. My girlfriend could tell something was wrong. So we parted.

After that, I spent two years studying the Faith and then I started getting into apologetics. My father challenged me in the Faith. First we read the Bible cover to cover. The second year we read the Catechism, then the Vatican II documents. Up to this point I had only read the Bible and Church Fathers. Then I began reading Papal Encyclicals. The more I read the more I fell in love with the truths of the Church.

During this time I saw an ad in the parish bulletin asking for help to work with the youth group at the fall festival. That is when I met Jim Bradley-husband and father- and a great man. We hit it off right away. He got me involved with different groups at the parish and with youth retreats. My love for working with the youth grew during this time. I always thought I would be a father, but I began to see the importance of being a spiritual father. I was working with troubled youth, giving chastity talks, teaching CCD, and helping other youth groups. I even gave a chastity talk to 50 Baptist teens. Though my talk was strictly Catholic and very biblically based, it went over very well-at least for the children.

My love for the Church Fathers and my understanding of the Bible came out in all of my talks. I would teach CCD and go in with the Catechism, Bible, and documents of the Church Fathers. All of my classes always knew the Bible well by the time they ended.

The last two pieces of my deciding for the priesthood finally dropped into place. First, through my Uncle Pat and cousin Ted, I met Fr. Anderson, a parish priest who had great love for the priesthood and for children. I had the privilege of helping him on many different things, including leading Bible studies and the building of a new Church. The second piece was working with Ralph Wehner as a master of ceremonies (MC) for liturgical functions. In working together, I learned a lot from him about many different things.

Trying to decide God’s call for me, I made daily Holy Hours. At the same time, I was teaching adult and youth Catechism, doing apologetics and, most importantly, attending daily Mass-all this while working 80-plus hours a week. I eventually figured out I was called to be a Religious, but it took me some time to find the right community. Just when I was about to give up, two different strangers within two weeks told me that I would be a good Father of Mercy. I took that as a sign, and decided to go to the Come-and-See weekend at the Fathers of Mercy. When I arrived, it felt just like home. I finally knew that this was where I was supposed to be.

Looking back at all the people who helped guide me to where I am now, I could not mention them all, but I do pray for them all. God has always blessed me and has put people in my life to keep me on the right path, and to prepare me for the battle of winning souls for Christ. Through prayer and study, hopefully, I will become a true soldier of Christ and will serve him the best I can.