A Mass and a Football Game

Helped Me Recognize My Calling

By Chris Kinkor, SJ

Chris Kinkor, SJ (center), as a second-year novice with then-first-year Jesuit novices Christian Goedel (left) and Robert Van Dyke at Saint Ignatius High School’s St. Mary of the Assumption Chapel in Cleveland.

In June 2021, I needed to make an unplanned trip home to central Iowa. While there, I learned that a high school classmate was getting ordained to the diocesan priesthood. I attended his first Mass, an event one of my Jesuit friends later called “providential.”

That Mass started my journey in further self-reflection as I considered the purpose God had for my life. Seeing my friend celebrate Mass—this friend who led my brother’s high school retreat, who was a good, normal and imperfect guy—shattered the barriers I had imposed in my mind about who God could call to the priesthood.

The first Mass sowed some seeds, which I began to reap the following November. As a longtime fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes football team, I went to Chicago to see friends and watch the Hawkeyes play the Northwestern Wildcats. On that trip, I reconnected with some Jesuits I had met as an undergraduate at Creighton University. The conversation started as just a few friends catching up, but when I brought up the first Mass, they asked about my experience there.

**Chris Kinkor, SJ,** is a Jesuit scholastic in his first year of studying for a master’s degree in Philosophy and Theology for Ministry at Saint Louis University. He entered the Jesuits in 2023.

Soon, we were talking about earlier in my life, including my grandma’s letter asking if I ever thought about becoming a priest, and my horror at learning that my local parish priest sometimes worked until 11 p.m. One of my Creighton friends showed me how happy he was as a Jesuit. Later, he offered several personal affirmations to show how great I would be if I entered religious life. Slowly, I began to wonder if I was indeed called to be a Jesuit priest. Throughout the weekend, even dreaming about the possibility gave me lasting joy and peace.

When I returned home, I did not want to ignore the invitation to explore this possible call, having passed it over a few times before. This is when I activated my discernment. I connected with the Midwest Jesuits vocations team, who set me up with a spiritual director and invited me to vocation events and faith-sharing small groups. Finally, I applied, was accepted and entered the novitiate in St. Paul, Minn.

Using the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola, I had several “confirmations” of my vocation in the Jesuit novitiate. As part of the Spiritual Exercises, I personally and profoundly experienced Jesus as I prayed over His words and deeds for 30 silent days. During my pilgrimage, I learned to depend more completely on God as He labored through the strangers who fed, sheltered and befriended me for a month.

In Peru, I received the hospitality of the international Society of Jesus as I built genuine friendships with Peruvian, Bolivian and Ecuadorian Jesuits, united in our shared mission to labor in Christ’s vineyard. Finally, while leading a retreat at Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, I realized that the Holy Spirit was leading me on this profoundly fulfilling and joyful journey through fidelity to my vocation and obedience to my superiors.

Just like that first Mass and the conversation with my friends in Chicago, God continues to shatter my expectations, moving me into a more joyful and peaceful life with Him. Through my current mission of studies, I am preparing for a lifetime spent helping others deepen their relationships with God. Perhaps, through a first Mass or a football game, He can even use me to help someone confirm or explore their own vocation.