When the Call to Be a Priest Comes in High School
- Kristine Newkirk
- Nov 3, 2025
- 6 min read
Three Colorado teens traded high school routines for an early call to the priesthood. Now seminarians at St. John Vianney, they share how faith, school and unexpected moments led them to embrace a life of mission and sacramental devotion.
Thaddeus Conder knew that fear crept in at night. As a small boy, he suffered from night terrors. He recalls once waking from a nightmare, heart pounding, eyes wide in the dark. His father was there, though, holding him close, bringing him back to a place of rest.
“My father was there for me when I was really young and in a really dark place,” Conder said.
Years later, during a backpacking retreat his junior year in Wyoming, with no phone and no distractions, he heard a question that became a foundational moment in his life: How has our earthly father affected our perceptions of the heavenly Father?
The question led him back to that long-ago memory of how his father had been there for him.
“It developed a desire in me to reciprocate that love by being with Jesus in his darkest place,” Conder recalled.
But how?
As he shared his autobiography around the campfire, he discerned the answer.
“When I tried to imagine how on this earth I’ll be happy, the only way I could see it was in the Eucharist, specifically in consecrating the Eucharist myself. That is unity — being there for Jesus in his darkest hour,” he said.
Today, Conder, along with Ashton Mendoza and Daniel Olivas-Rey, is a seminarian at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. They are now in year two of the Propaedeutic Stage, a period dedicated to study that deepens their interior life with Jesus and prepares them for the years of formation to come.
From Missionary to Vocation
Daniel Olivas-Rey looked up to his older brother. So, when his brother participated in Totus Tuus, the Catholic summer youth missionary program, Olivas-Rey followed suit. He then took a “gap” year to travel through 10 states, focusing on mission with NET Ministries in Minnesota before returning to spend a second summer with Totus Tuus.
“I would argue that it was one of the greatest years of my life,” he said. “I was able to discern where God is calling me. He stretched me, helped me grow so I could hear him calling me.”
Although clear in his calling, Olivas-Rey nevertheless entered the seminary with some trepidation of the unknown, which experience soon dispelled.
“At first, I was shocked that the men were just normal. I was expecting them to be levitating during Mass or their time of prayer,” he joked. “It helped me realize the humanity of the priest and the seminarian.”
From Catholic Convert to Seminarian
Ashton Mendoza was born into a family that had largely stepped away from the Church. Through the modeling and influence of his grandparents and extended family, though, he became curious, then was moved to act, choosing to be baptized in 2020 before beginning high school at St. John Paul II in Windsor.
“During my freshman year of high school, I started thinking about the priesthood, primarily due to the wonderful priests that I was around,” he said.
The sacraments available at St. John Paul II sealed the deal. He recalled the rhythm of daily Mass, readily available Confession and the presence of priests and people really striving after their faith.
“All these elements foster vocation. To have the idea, you need to see priests and the fruit of those priests as well — or you have nothing to consider,” he explained.
By his senior year, in a seminary chapel while on retreat, Mendoza felt a sense of certainty.
“I felt this was home. It was the final confirmation that this is where the Lord wants me to be,” he said.
While most family and friends support his religious convictions, Mendoza said some in his family have been confused by his choices since they aren’t practicing Catholics.
“It has been a beautifully profound opportunity to really show that Jesus is worth it all,” he explained.
A Chance Encounter
Before the clarity won in the Wyoming backcountry, a seemingly chance meeting put Conder on the path to seminary. He was taken by surprise on his first day at Bishop Machbeuf High School in Denver when a Servant of Christ Jesus who was teaching at the school invited him to a retreat at the seminary.
“I never ended up going. I was like, ‘Why would you ask that?’” Conder recalled. “But the Servant saw something, and he planted a seed.”
From there, his high school experience shaped his faith.
“The environment at Bishop Machbeuf High School was so good. It led me to the right people to talk to. My experiences gave me the opportunity to choose Catholicism for myself — it became my faith,” he said, leading him into the seminary.
Daily Living
Mendoza didn’t necessarily feel ready to enter seminary after graduation.
“More so, though, it’s where I felt the Lord wanted me to be, and I am content with that reality,” he said. “God’s not going to call me to where he expects me to fail.”
Nor did God call these teens to a life of loneliness. At St. John Vianney, priestly formation occurs in the context of a community; you don’t walk alone. Using a parish house model instead of dormitory-style housing, seminarians and priests live together in residence with their formator, traveling daily to campus for classes, Mass, lunch and recreation.
Conder, Olivas-Rey and Mendoza reside at St. Joseph Parish in Denver, living in the same house as other seminarians, a house deacon and their formator. In this dynamic setting, Olivas-Rey found himself making fast friends.
“I’m surprised by how well we do together — Ashton and Daniel are great friends of mine. We live together and I know them well,” he said.
Another benefit of the parish house model is seeing the mixed assignments of the priests who live with them. Mendoza recalled that last year, one of the priests was a high school chaplain. Another priest was a pastor with no church, building a parish from the ground up.
“Two very different experiences, yet it is the same priesthood that is willing to go out to both places and minister in both ways,” he said of how diverse the priesthood is.
Created for Vocation
Although not a “normal” college experience, Olivas-Rey wouldn’t have it any other way.
“In many ways, I’m grateful to be called at such a young age,” he said.
For those considering a similar path, he advised prayer and a few concrete steps.
“The Lord can’t move a parked car, so you need to put it in drive to take steps towards him, knowing God has created us with a specific vocation in mind,” he said. “He’s created our hearts to love in a specific way. The way to live our life to the fullest and joyfully is to pursue that vocation he’s created us for.”
“That’s really the only way that the vocation continues to be postured. Hearing the voice of God calling, encouragement — it can only be done through prayer and by moving your heart toward God,” Mendoza added.
The Greatest Blessing
For young men discerning the seminary, consider the blessing it is to be chosen by God to be a minister, confessor and celebrant. Conder calls to mind Psalm 65:4:
Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.
“Whatever God calls you to, he calls you there because that’s where he is going to make you happy,” Conder explained. “If God calls you to be a priest or religious, you will be happy as a priest or religious.”
Having overcome the feeling of being unprepared, Mendoza now firmly believes in the phrase often heard at the seminary: God does not call the equipped; he equips the called.
“God isn’t expecting you to be ready. That’s the point of the seminary, a place where he can make you ready to be a priest. Have courage that the Lord will really take care of you and equip you,” he said.
