Vocation Story - Raymond Enzweiler '06
	A Long and Winding Road The path to the seminary is not always direct. Even though I had considered a priestly vocation and had been interested in the Dominican Order since high school, first I was guided to a more earthly endeavor: physics. Physics was my sole focus until my Ph.D. was nearly complete. At that point, God smiled on me in a profound way. He set before me a tenure track position at the State University of New York, College at Cortland, and, after three years, He led me home to teach at Northern Kentucky University. I never expected to be able to teach near my home. It was after eleven wonderful years there that I decided to enter the seminary. I nonetheless feel that God wanted me to be a physicist. Physics tries to understand the physical world around us. We physicists answer questions ranging from why a ball falls, to how the universe works. We collect data to develop and test theories and then use consensus to advance them. These theories have helped me to better understand the world around me and to appreciate the beauty that is there. This combination of understanding and awe helps me to see the goodness of God everywhere I look. Furthermore, the lessons I learned from teaching physics have been a great gift in my life. I developed new skills and discovered abilities that I never knew I had. As a teacher I helped my students in any way I could, especially by not letting them abandon their own responsibility to learn. I tried to be a collaborator, a mentor, and a problem solver. I learned to respect the many trials we each face, and in the process I grew to admire the way people face those trials. These are virtues that I can use to help others for the rest of my life. Even though I loved teaching physics, a career which helped me to grow in love for God and his people, still I was not fulfilled. Throughout it all I had been involved in the local church. I had sung in parish choirs since sixth grade and served Mass. I was even becoming more involved at my parish as a layman. I served on a Parish Council, was chair of the Worship Committee, and became involved in the liturgical life of the parish. Yet I could not find a way to blend my involvement in the Church and physics in a way that brought complete fulfillment. The thoughts of priesthood kept returning. People would ask, out of the blue, if I had ever thought of the priesthood, and this confirmed my vocation. Finally I realized that I had to leave the job I loved in order to follow God's will for my life. Physics has made me a better person, and I believe God led me on that path. Now that path has taken me to the seminary and, God willing, to the priesthood. by Raymond Enzweiler Diocese of Covington Class of 2006