Hello Maine Vocations

I am posting a little blurb I included in this weeks' bulletin here at Corpus Christi Parish (Waterville). This way you can get to know me better.

I was raised in South Berwick by my loving parents, Alan and Brianne Dickinson. I am blessed with one sister, Kate.

In South Berwick, I attended Marshwood High School and was a parishioner at St. Michael’s Parish (now a part of the Parish of the Ascension of the Lord). From an early age, I was active in the parish as an altar server and was very active playing sports. While in high school, I was asked to do a research paper on a career. Since I attended a public high school, it was a unique that I decided to write on the priesthood. God was making it clear to me that I needed to consider my vocation.

Being young, I thought about my vocation for a while but pushed it off for the future. Upon the end of high school, I decided to attend Providence College, a Catholic school in Rhode Island. In college, I continued my discernment sporadically, as I dated and became involved in many activities. Between my professors and the Dominican priests, I realized that I might be called to something more in life. By junior year, I was seriously discerning where God was calling me. The voice of God continued to guide me in subtle ways to enter seminary upon graduation. During my discernment, I felt God strongly asking me to serve in Maine. What a great joy it is to be called to serve where I grew up!

The Diocese of Portland upon accepting me as a seminarian sent me to study at Theological College Seminary at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. After five years of prayer and study, I was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Richard Malone on May 28, 2011. As a priest, I look forward to providing the opportunity for others to meet Christ through the sacraments, scripture and personal encounters. When an individual truly meets Christ in their life, then they will be forever transformed.

In my free time, I enjoy reading, running, hiking, kayaking, and skiing.

I look forward to contributing to the Maine Vocations Blog from the perspective of a newly ordained priest, who has been through the discernment process. May God bless every one who views this website, that it may be an instrument to help you hear the voice of God calling you to your own special vocation.