‘I’m going to live on a farm,
be a teacher and have 10 kids!’
                       --by Fr. Thomas Wordekemper, O.S.B.

My earliest recollection of a vocation “seed” being planted was when I was probably in 2nd grade. I remember my Grandma Wordekemper mentioning to us boys (there were 6 boys in my family) that she was praying for one of us to be a priest.    

Become a priest?  Not me!  I was going to live on a farm, be a teacher and have ten kids.  Becoming a priest was out of the question, even if my Grandmother had her heart set on one of her grandsons leading a life of prayer.  In reality, I always saw myself as a father—but not as a priest.  In fact, a nickname in high school was “Father.” 

Even in college, time after time, I was told I should become a priest.  I certainly respected the religious men and women in my life, but become a priest?  My plan was to live on a farm, be a teacher and have ten kids.  I was simply not ready or willing to listen to God’s call.

As each year passed, the thought of joining a religious order kept creeping into my mind because, after all, everyone around me thought I should be a priest.  A dear friend, who was a Benedictine sister, mentioned the Benedictine monks at Assumption Abbey.  She gave me their contact information and I politely put the brochure away in a box, deep in a closet.

After college I became a teacher at several schools.  I loved teaching, especially elementary kids.  But I noticed wherever I went, people would still suggest that I become a priest.  “No, way!  I’m going to live on a farm, be a teacher and have ten kids!” I would recite each time.

Even in my happiness teaching in a rural school or living, teaching or working in a group home for abused children in a large city, I felt unfulfilled.  Was God calling me to something else?  Yes, but I didn’t really want to consult him or seek an answer from him in prayer…too afraid of the answer.  But I did need to know what my future was to be; I couldn’t keep drifting or running from God.  After much thought, I pulled out the brochure I had stored away several years before and made arrangements to visit Assumption Abbey.

On my bus trip to the Abbey I wondered if I made the right decision.  I was nervous when I finally arrived that winter evening in Richardton. 

Then it happened.  My life changed the moment I walked into the Monastery.  I was awash with a feeling that I was truly home and at peace.  I had never experienced such calmness and peace within.  I knew deep in my heart what God was calling me to: the life of a Benedictine monk. I finally listened to God. 

For many years I believed I would live on a farm, be a teacher and have ten kids.  The Lord had another calling—I would become a monk priest of Assumption Abbey.  For the past 12 years I have helped to spread the word about Benedictine life as the Vocation Director of our community.  On an average I log over 6,000 miles annually visiting over 1,600 grade, high and college students.  Between 60 and 80 men make inquiries about monastic life each year; some of these are invited to make a personal discernment visit.  God continues to call men to our life.  One of the biggest challenges is to help them learn to listen and respond to that call.